In Mexico, designer Moisés Hernández has replaced synthetic dyes in his chairs with those made from ground-up insects. Hernández tells dezeen he makes the dyes for his Grana chairs by soaking them in a slurry of water and crushed cochineal bugs. The process has been used to dye fabrics in Mexico for centuries.
He hopes the chairs will inspire other designers to look for more sustainable production methods.
“Synthetic paints and dyes have helped the furniture industry to fulfil massive worldwide product demand but unfortunately, some of them are extremely toxic for the environment and humans,” he adds. “There are some new and innovative technologies that are transforming the industry but ancestral techniques can represent another approach for a promising future.”
Different colors can be made by changing the dye’s pH, a process that was known to Mesoamericans as well. In a more acidic mixture, the dye is orange, while it turns purple in alkaline preparations.
“Thanks to the immersion technique we developed, the pigment penetrates deep into the wooden pieces, while traditional paint is only applied to the outside with a brush or sponge,” Hernández adds.