The Kombucha wallet is made from what is called a vegan leather, this leather is actually a type of cellulose produced by a colony of bacteria and yeasts that grow on the surface of the probiotic known as Kombucha.

This vegan leather closely resembles animal leather in color and texture.

This cellulose is extremely resistant and is an excellent sustainable alternative to the use of animal leather, paper and cardboard.

Step 1: Growing the Kombucha (Bacterial Cellulose)

First, we need to grow our vegan leather in a container of at least 43cm x 28cm of area at the base by 12cm in height.
Using these dimensions, to obtain a suitable thickness for our design, we need at least 6 liters of culture medium.

6 liters of filtered water

600 g of crystal sugar

6 green tea bags

600 ml of apple cider vinegar

1 Scoby (symbolic culture of bacteria and yeasts)

Important Only add the Scoby after the temperature drops below 30 degrees Celsius.

Boil the water, extinguish the heat, add the sugar until dissolved and add the tea bags.

Depois de uma temperatura cair abaixo de 30 graus Celcius, adicione o vinagre e o SCOBY, coloque-o dentro do recipiente e cubra-o com um papel ou um pano esticado para evitar a contaminação de sua cultura.

After a temperature drops below 30 degrees Celcius, add the vinegar and the SCOBY, place it inside the container and cover it with a paper or a cloth stretched to avoid the contamination of its culture.

Keep your Kombucha culture at a temperature between 25 and 30 degrees Celcius for maximum yield.

After 2-3 weeks, develop a gelatin about 1cm thick on the surface. Remove and wash with running water and soap with caring. Then dry in a piece of wood, the wood should be a plate or board, not varnished or sealed to help absorb water during drying.

PS: SCOBY(Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) or mother culture can be obtained in two ways: you can receive a donation from someone who grows Kombucha or buys it over the internet.

Step 2: Drying

After some time the bacterial cellulose will lose about 97% of its water, and its color will change from milky white to dark brown.

It is recommended to turn the side of the S.C.O.B.Y sheet once a day so that drying occurs evenly

Be careful not to over dry and leave the material brittle as this will prevent your fold.

Step 3: Surface Cuts

For this project I chose dimensions that would fit well into the wallet both credit cards and business cards, such as banknotes and documents as a driver's license. I cut first the outer dimensions 25cm wide and 32cm long. Then I made markings on the folds and internal cuts.
On the sides along the 32cm I made a marking of 1.5cm on each side, with two small cuts with 1.5cm perpendicular to an average length of 16cm. Other fold marks are parallel to the base of 25cm wide, one fold will be 8cm, another 16cm and the last one 24cm from the base forming 4 sectors.

Other important cuts are located in the lower center section which are half moons 6cm long bounded on the sides from the center by 2cm. Use a metal cap of 7cm in diameter as a cutting and marking template.

Step 4: Main Folds

The first folds are on the left and bottom right sides that is 1.5 cm wide.
Then fold the top flap to the middle and bottom flap to the middle. You will notice in the side views that the ends are left over, fold these side flaps into the wallet.

Then just fold in the middle as in the last photo.