Major strides have been annunced by MycoWorks, the developer of Resihi, the premium mycelium-based alternative to leather for the luxury materials market.

The company has established an e-commerce site at reishi.mycoworks.com, enabling Resihi to be ordered directly for the first time while achieving new performance results enabling the production of luxury products with intricate construction techniques, including stitch-and-turn and edge applications.

In a collaborative effort between the MycoWorks Innovation Centre in San Francisco and its tannery experts in Igualada, Spain – a region well known for its traditional leather tanning expertise – the company has rolled out Rei-Tanning technology, an exclusive formula enhancing the performance consistency of Reishi sheets.

During this unique process, Reishi sheets are treated to achieve desirable properties such as fullness and softness, durability and resistance to water and other elements. Specific retanning guidelines are available under license for use by clients and the process is said to unlock new applications, overcoming challenges that have long made such achievements difficult for biomaterials.

The latest test results show that Reishi outperforms a range of luxury leather benchmarks, setting a new bar for both the biomaterials industry and leather alternatives.

Tested on harvests of Reishi grown at the company’s commercial-scale plant in South Carolina, these results validate Resihi’s ability to measure up to – and even surpass – key quality indicators.

Validated through third-party testing, Reishi with Rei-Tanning applied has achieved new standards in five key qualitative evaluation areas, exceeding most indicators, namely:

- A Bally Flex resistance for flexibility and creasing of up to 20,000 cycles.

- Martindale Abrasion Resistance of up to 25,600 cycles.

- Colorfastness  in dye transfer pf over 200 cycles in Veslic dry rub testing.

- An ageing test pass at 50°C and 90% RH.

- Finish Adhesion of 0.5N/mm.

As a strategic MycoWorks partner, French furniture brand Ligne Roset has also conducted proprietary tests on Reishi in its internal lab, using rigorous standards that exceed typical furniture industry benchmarks. These tests included the successful completion of the Martindale Abrasion Resistance test of up to 50,000 cycles and a sitting simulation test replicating a 100kg human body for over 25,000 cycles.

Scalable, high-performing and now surpassing standards for both new and legacy materials, Reishi is being used across a diverse range of industries including leather goods, accessories, furniture and interior design. Supple and durable, the material lends itself well to the craft and assembly of beautiful, sophisticated objects.

www.mycoworks.com