Rust on fabric or walls inspires most of us to get out the bleach, but the designers at NUNO see opportunity instead. In the Scrapyard series, they printed with common rust, following in the footsteps of traditional Japanese dyers, who colored cloth using natural plants and materials. The process involves sandwiching rusted nails, barbed wire, or iron plates between layers of white rayon cloth, covering this assemblage with a blanket, and “putting it to bed” for a period of several days to a week. The oxidizing metal results in dramatic, intense red-brown designs being transfer printed onto the white fabric. The use of hand labor prevents any two pieces of Scrapyard from turning out exactly alike. But the hardest part is getting modern rust-retardant treated iron to cooperate. Acetic acid provides the required catalyst.