When most people spill coffee on their shirts, they see annoying stains. Alex White and John Mohr saw an opportunity. Having worked as a screen printer for large commercial clients for more than three decades, Mohr wanted to do start something new. He and his son-in-law Alex White embarked on a journey on which they not only figured out how to make textile ink from coffee grounds but also started a flourishing business, called Domestic Stencilworks.
The team began by experimenting with a variety of natural pigments like beet juice, red wine, and even beer. “In the beginning it was pretty simple, if an ingredient was capable of staining clothing we figured it was a good candidate for experimentation”, says White in an email interview. But while staining was simple, printing with natural pigment on garments and getting the prints to last through wash and wear proved challenging. “In fact, this obstacle has taken us almost three years to overcome”, says White.