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.

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.

Utensils needed:

• Liquid measuring cup
• Measuring spoons
• Coffee filters to absorb the liquid
• Fine weave strainer
• Spoon
• Plate
• Pan
• Cookie cutters
• Skewer not shown
• Wax paper not shown, line the plate with wax paper.

Measure:

• Measure 2 cups milk and set aside.
• Measure 2 Tablespoons white vinegar and put it into a small glass reserving until later.
• Line the strainer with 2-3 coffee filters or paper towels.
• Line the plate with wax paper.

Pour the milk into the pan and heat on stove. Do not boil! Heat until almost too hot to touch but not boiling

• Add vinegar.
• Stir gently.
• Allow it to separate into globs.
• Stir again.

Remove from the stove:

• Place strainer in sink.
• Pour Contents into the lined strainer.
• Allow to drain a couple of minutes.
• Carefully pull up the filter and gently press with your fingers to remove liquid from ball.
• You might need to place it in another doubled coffee liner and squeeze again to remove excess moisture.
• It should begin to form a paste.
• Let it set 5 minutes.

Method:

• Gently roll the plastic in a tight ball.
• Gently press flat to form shapes.
• This part is tricky you need to work with it and try to keep it together nicely.
• You accomplish this by pressing down and pulling toward the center with your hand.
• Using the cookie cutters make the shapes.
• Form a couple of balls if you desire.
• Using the skewer poke holes where you want if you are going to make jewelry.

Place the shapes on the plate lined with wax paper:

• Place the shapes on a plate.
• Set in a safe warm area away from children and pets.
• Allow to dry
• Turn over after a few hours to allow the back side to dry.

Please note: I made a ball because they mentioned it was rubbery and I thought I would see if it bounced. We will see.

Uses:

• Allow to completely dry before working more with it.
• You can make shapes from the plastic clay.
• Paint it when it is dry.
• Write on it.
• Make jewelry.
• If you can mold a perfect circle it bounces.
• Embellishments for many things.
• Gift tags.
• Dog Tags.
• Key ring tag.
• Picture frames?
• Dolls.
• Game pieces.

This list is very long.
I can't wait until the paint dries so I can create something that I will post here when it is done.

This was a fun experiment. It would make a great craft project for the family.
What I did was turn milk into a solid through a chemical reaction known as a polymer molecule strand.
The individual protein strands within the milk and the vinegar solidified making plastic.

The plastic is based on a protein called casein - adding the acid causes it to unfold from its usual tangled form,and change into longer sections, which are the lumps that are removed to form the ball .
Casein-plastic used to be used to make shirt buttons.
Some cheeses (like the processed cheese slices) are made in a very similar way, so can be genuinely called "plastic cheeses".
I Painted the shapes thinking I would glue them on boxes for embellishments or make jewelry. I am very happy with the results.

Thanks you for stopping by and please check back soon as I am working on some interesting things to share.

Have a nice day!

Sunshiine