Plastic Milk

I was trying to find a recipe I could use to produce a chemical reaction for the Mad Scientist contest and the chemical reaction contest. I came across this one and thought is was interesting. For this tutorial I will be making Plastic milk.

Step 1 Recipe

Recipe ingredients:

• 2 Cups Milk
• 2 Tablespoons white vinegar

This recipe came from here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIvAl4lu1uA.

It is very helpful to view this video so you can see the process of making plastic milk.

It is a quick and easy project.

Comments

[techturtle2]

Can you speed up the drying process by heating/cooling the plastic?

[kristinsilver]

In reading through many of the comments, I didn't see anything regarding the smell. I am thinking about doing this for a scientific art project for kids, but want to avoid a room full of drying expiring milk stench. How stinky is it when it dries?

[babelsgp]

Congrats! I noticed that you also wanted to paint what you create, I wonder if the paint made from milk would adhere to itself? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casein_paint

[babelsgp]

Possibly before the plastic dried?

[phanalax]

Ok, for all of you who don't know what you're talking about, this is not cheese. there is a chemical called casein within milk which is very similar to the long polymers in plastics you see today. once formed it makes A knid of plastic called galalith: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galalith , so yes this is a real plastic.

[babelsgp]

Casein has lots of uses, from glue to paint to plastic AND cheese. Cheese is produced by coagulation of casein http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casein. Paneer, an Indian cheese, really is made in this fashion, they do not use rennet or anything else to solidify the casein, like most cheeses are. They just acidify and separate the milk, pull off the curds aka casein and flatten and fry and go! Very tasty I might add.

[sunshiine]

Thanks for the information! I appreciate your comment!
Sunshiine

[bajablue]

Woot-woot-woot! Congrats on making the finals!!! I'll be pulling for you!!!

[sunshiine]

Thanks friend! Have a bajablue kind of a day!
sunshiine

[yazoo32]

this is just dried out Paneer, an indian cheese

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paneer

[sunshiine]

Thanks for sharing! Have a super day!
Sunshiine

[Shadow13!]

I've been looking for some type of plastic or rubber like handle/grip for some of my homemade knives. Would this be strong enough and durable enough to work and would it be able to stand up to repeated use?

[sunshiine]

Hello Shadow: I have some information that might interest you that came from one of my comments.
Here is a comment made on potato plastic page:

I just thought I'd mention that we're constantly posting answers to specific questions that people have about making bioplastic at home on the website,

http://green-plastics.net

We've had recent questions about everything from how to make home-made bioplastic waterproof, to explaining the chemistry behind why the vinegar helps improve the bioplastic that you are making.

It would be great if you could let people know about our Q&A board in your instructable!Here is a link to make plastic using potato. I think he may have some answers you are looking for. I don't think my plastic will hold up to regular use but this guy might have already used it so he could better answer your questions.

Here is the potato plastic link : http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Potato-Plastic!/
Hope you get answers to your question! Have a great day and thanks again for commenting. Sunshiine

[sunshiine]

I have not forgotten you! My plastic may take another day to dry. I have posted some pictures on my page to show shrinkage that might interest you though. I will get back to you, promise. Sweet dreams!
Sunshiine

[Shadow13!]

Thanks and in the mean time I'll keep looking around.

[sunshiine]

If you find anything please do share! Are you looking for something to make yourself for the knife? They do sell the rubbery stuff that they use on tool handles at Home-Depot not sure that is what you are really looking for though. I am serious an inner-tube just might do the trick. My husband used it on our garden tools and it was great. Thanks for commenting. Sunshiine

[Shadow13!]

Yes, I'm looking for something to make myself for my knives. I have one knife in particular right know that I want it for. It is a kerambit, which has a finger ring that I am trying to make thicker width wise without making the hole too much smaller. I've considered the tool dip but I would like to find something I can make myself if possible.

[sunshiine]

My pieces have dried and they seem fairly strong. If I were you I would make up a batch and use it on a dud or a plastic knife and try it. I am happy with mine but I did not try real hard to break it. This plastic has an odd texture. It takes a little working with it to get it to form a close bond. It does not dry real smooth. The plastic on the link I sent looks like it has a much smoother texture. Sunshiine

[Shadow13!]

When I have some free time I'll give it a try, thanks for all of your help.

[sunshiine]

You are welcome! Please let me know how it worked! Sunshiine

[sunshiine]

I am sorry to say I can't answer that right now. It is still wet. I will get back to you on that when I can give it the tough test. But from my stand today, I don't think this is what you will want. Not sure but, they did use to make buttons out of it, buttons are washed so I guess we will have to wait. Are you familiar with sugrue? I think it would be a great thing for a knife. Do an Instructable search on knife and sugrue and see what others have said. I think you might appreciate that. OH, I just thought of something! How about an old bike inner tube? If I think of any more I will let you know! Sunshiine

[Kozz]

Very cool! I was wondering about milk-based plastics after listening to a podcast about The Toaster Project: http://www.thetoasterproject.org/
This guy initially tried to make plastic from potatoes, but it was far too brittle for his application. I wonder if milk plastics approach would have given him better material?

Thanks for writing this up.

[sunshiine]

I tried to find what you were talking about but do you have a direct link about the potato thing? My plastic is still drying.

[Kozz]

Google turns up quite a few good results, some right here.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Potato-Plastic!/

[sunshiine]

Interesting, I looked at his page and I am not sure if milk plastic would be a better option. From the looks of it I am wondering if it is about the same, except milk plastic hardens like glue. The ones I made are not a smooth slick surface like plastic would be. If I could make a perfectly round ball it does bounce some. I might try making another instructable and make a large version of something like he did. Then I will post the results here. They used to use this for buttons but the way my plastic is turning out I am not sure they would be machine washable. This plastic would be great for craft projects, making small boxes, shaping shapes. But as far as needing something that will be used a lot I would not think it would last very long. Thanks so much for sending me this link, I will do some more checking and after making something out of these I will post pictures. My plastic can be dried in the microwave according to a comment here but I don't want to take any chances right now. I will be patient and allow it to dry this will let readers know how long it takes to dry. Sunshiine

[sunshiine]

I will check out this link to see what you are talking about tomorrow. I have noticed that this is not a hard plastic but that might be because it has not totally dried. I will post a reply when I can answer your question. Thanks for sharing and do have a great day!
Sunshiine

[Aegian2424]

is this actual plastic or just some cheese like mass?
how long does it last? indefenetly?

[sunshiine]

A comment by member: According to a post on a Department of Energy website, that's simply casein glue which was used long ago as an adhesive.

According to another article, microwaving works as well for the heating stage. They say 2 minutes for 250mL/9oz. but of course that depends on a lot of things.

The heat and acetic acid (vinegar) denaturate and polymerize the proteins.


The simplest explanation I found, along with some really interesting milk facts was at this link. Sorry I could not get the link to work but if you visit my page you can check it out. I added pictures in the comments section. They are still drying.

Thanks, good luck.

[sunshiine]

I am not sure because this is the first time that I have made it and it has not dried enough to determine. I promise to get back to you when I can answer that. But from working with it I am thinking it will only be strong enough for craft type stuff, maybe a key chain tag. But don't think it will pass the tough test. Thanks so much for commenting and I will get back on that.
Sunshiine

[GuiltyPixel]

Great project but I would love to see more on the actual reaction, some chemistry. Looking that up now and going to try it. :)

[sunshiine]

It really reacts fast so there is not much chemistry. It looks like cottage cheese when you strain it. It is still not dry so I can't work with it. I want to make something that I will post here. Thanks so much for your input! If you might add a comment if you find any more facts on it that would really be appreciated as I would add that information to my instructable. Have a great day!
Sunshiine

[GuiltyPixel]

The simplest explanation I found, along with some really interesting milk facts was at this link.  Could you do us a favor and measure the shrinkage on your results?  Like, cut a piece 1 inch long, measure when dried, calculate % it shrinks?

Thanks, good luck.

[sunshiine]

These are mini cookie cutters.

[sunshiine]

Thanks there GuiltyPixel! Here are the pictures I will load them after the contest but it looks like it shrunk less than 1/4 inch around. In one picture it appeared to have shrunk only in length.

[GuiltyPixel]

According to a post on a Department of Energy website, that's simply casein glue which was used long ago as an adhesive.

According to another article, microwaving works as well for the heating stage. They say 2 minutes for 250mL/9oz. but of course that depends on a lot of things.

The heat and acetic acid (vinegar) denaturate and polymerize the proteins.

[sunshiine]

Thanks for the heads up! Hope the pictures helped! Sunshiine

[Squeaky333]

technically thats called cheese, but hey

[sunshiine]

Dried hard cheese!

[sunshiine]

Thanks for your input! Have a great day!

[Kiteman]

Nice write-up.

It's good to see real science in a "mad science" contest.