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Home » Kitchen Science » Make glue from milk

Make glue from milk

Modified: Feb 15, 2023 · Published: Feb 6, 2012 by Emma Vanstone · This post may contain affiliate links · 22 Comments

Do you know you can make homemade glue from milk? All you need is milk, white vinegar and baking soda. The vinegar is used to split milk into curds and whey.

This fun kitchen science experiment is very simple but requires adult help to heat the milk.

Image of curds separated from milk in a hand

How to make glue from milk

What you need:

Milk

White vinegar

Baking soda ( bicarbonate of soda )

Pan

Water

Strainer

Make glue from milk

First, you need to split the milk into curds and whey.

  • Heat 1 and a half cups of milk in a pan; once warm, add 3 teaspoons of white vinegar.
  • Keep heating and stirring the mixture, and you should see the curds ( solid part ) and whey ( liquid part ) separate.
curds and whey from milk in a pan
Curds and whey
  • Strain the mixture using a sieve. You should be left with solid lumps which can be moulded to make a ball. These are the curds.
  • Place the solid mixture back in the pan and add a little water and a tablespoon of baking soda.
  • Heat the mixture until it starts to bubble.
  • Give the mixture a good stir and leave it to cool. You can now use it as glue. You might need to add a little more water or baking soda until you get the right consistency. It should look like a thick paste.
  • I tested ours by sticking two egg boxes together ( both contain eggs, so they are heavy ). It worked!!!
two eggs boxes stuck together with glue made from milk

How can you make homemade glue from milk? Why does it work?

Here’s what happened to the milk. The vinegar creates a chemical reaction which makes the milk separate into two parts, a solid (the curds), and a liquid (the whey). The curds are milk protein, called casein. Liquid casein is a natural glue.

When you add the baking soda, it neutralises the vinegar ( which is acidic ). The bubbles are caused by carbon dioxide gas being given off as part of the reaction. The curds form a liquid again after being neutralised.

More science experiments using milk

Learn about emulsions with a colourful milk display made with milk and dish soap.

Curds can also be used to make small decorations. In the early 1900s milk was sometimes used to make buttons and other items! You can find out more about this in my book Gross Science!

collage of gross history experiments including milk split into curds and whey, a vegetable mummy and toilet paper for an absorbency test

Last Updated on February 15, 2023 by Emma Vanstone

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Safety Notice

Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mammozza

    February 06, 2012 at 10:27 am

    It’s very interesting. I have this idea in my mind but I haven’t realize it yet. Every sunday we do a scientific experimet and maybe one of the next sunday we will make it.
    Greetings from Ital

    Reply
  2. Actually Mummy...

    February 06, 2012 at 3:55 pm

    Ah! Interesting – not doing this one though when there are more beautiful things i still haven’t done – like the Christmas sugar crystals!

    Reply
  3. HELEN

    February 07, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    amazing! that’s very clever…although I cant begin to imagine the smell!
    x

    Reply
  4. sherri

    February 11, 2012 at 11:02 am

    My kids would love this! Fantastic idea! Thanks!

    Reply
  5. Beth

    February 14, 2012 at 9:20 pm

    WOW!! How cool! You come up with the neatest ideas!!! Thanks for linking up to TGIF =-)
    Beth

    Reply
    • Victoria Labelle

      February 24, 2014 at 5:13 pm

      Ya, this is cool. But not THAT sticky.

      Reply
  6. Cerys @ Rainy Day Mum

    February 15, 2012 at 9:01 pm

    Very cool I think I need to store these ideas up for when I go back to teaching

    Thank you for linking up to Tuesday Tots

    Reply
  7. Nien

    February 09, 2013 at 6:49 am

    Sweet! This is awesome.

    Reply
  8. dawn

    August 21, 2013 at 2:55 am

    This is awesome. Going to do this tomorrow. Then I’ll take it a next step. My daughter wants to know if add in borax would have the same effect on this glue as store glue.

    Reply
  9. tabluei

    January 22, 2014 at 3:25 am

    this is the best experiment ever.
    im doing this experiment for my science project
    wish me luck..:)

    Reply
  10. Carmela Mante

    November 07, 2015 at 12:20 pm

    Does this experiment work with evaporated milk?

    Reply
  11. Autumn Haynes

    May 05, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    This is a graet idea!!!!!!

    Reply
  12. Lauren

    November 21, 2016 at 8:24 pm

    AWESOME!!

    Reply
  13. nanoalabad

    February 10, 2017 at 11:12 am

    how much will this glue still works before it dries

    Reply
  14. Jon Jones

    April 21, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    Very cool! This type of glue was used in the early days of wooden aircraft construction.

    Reply
  15. Pamela Bronson

    January 04, 2018 at 2:05 am

    I believe this works best with skim milk.

    Reply
  16. Adrian Paul H.Tamayo

    January 24, 2018 at 8:25 pm

    WOW! Thanks Science Spark I can do this from my SIP(science investigatory project)

    Reply
  17. Boyd Ramsay

    September 16, 2018 at 1:43 am

    I recall reading that the very earliest Bell Helicopters – the one with the clear bubble –
    used casein to mold the bubble. This was because they could mold casein, but
    did not yet have the technology to make the bubble out of acrylic resin.

    They had a big incentive to develop the acrylic bubble. If left out in the rain, the
    casein bubble tended to turn “milky”.

    Reply
  18. Alice

    February 18, 2019 at 5:43 am

    So very cool! A McIver minute

    Reply
  19. Martha

    February 18, 2019 at 3:01 pm

    Can you save this glue for a long time ?

    Reply
  20. Anita Manns

    March 04, 2019 at 4:52 am

    LOVE ALL OF THESE RECIPES KEEP THEM COMING! ANITA L MANNS IN COMPTON

    Reply
  21. Lourdes

    April 12, 2019 at 4:39 am

    Great Science activity . Thanks

    Reply

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