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Make glue from milk

By 39 Comments

Did you know you can make a 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.

How to make glue from milk

What you need:

Milk

White vinegar

Baking 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
 
  • Strain the mixture using a sieve. You should be left with solid lumps which you can mould together to make a ball. These are the curds.
Ball of milk 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 it a good stir and let it 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 are heavy ). It worked!!!

Stick egg boxes with glue

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

Here’s what happened to the milk. By adding the vinegar, you create a chemical reaction which makes the milk to 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.

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

    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

  10. dawn

    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

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  20. Boyd Ramsay

    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

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