Craft: got plastic?
You can make a plastic from the protein called casein. Casein is found in milk, it is the substance that makes custards, cheese, and in this case: plastic. This recipe works with spoiled milk as well, so it makes a good recycling project.
You’ll need a stove top, a small pan (for heating), 1 cup of milk and some lemon juice or vinegar, and a wire strainer or some cheese cloth. You might also want some small candy or chocolate molds and a few paper towels handy.
Warm the milk 50°-70° (F) and add about a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk. Stir continuously as the milk curdles and remove from heat, strain the liquid from the solid using the wire strainer or cheese cloth (you can discard the liquid) and squeeze remaining moisture out of the solid curds with fingers or by patting with paper towels.
Congratulations!
You now have a plastic that you can sculpt or press into a mold. After sculpting or molding allow to air dry for 3-4 days. Try making buttons, rings, ornaments and small toys from the casein plastic, the more the casein is worked the smoother it becomes, so don’t worry about handling it too much. It can be cut, sanded, painted or lacquered for further finishing once dry.
Increase quantities and drying times as needed for larger batches of casein plastic.
(If you happen to have any formaldehyde laying around you can use it to dry the casein faster but that sort of takes it out of the ‘child safe’ project arena.)
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That’s a great recipe for plastic! Might be a good way to make some inexpensive yet unique Christmas ornaments.
I wonder if a dye can be added to the mixture, or if any type of preservative is needed to keep the finished plastic items long term?
Thanks Tammara,
Food coloring drops work (I didn’t mention it in the post because it
does come off on hands and clothes while the plastic is wet and being
worked.) The base color of the finished plastic is a whitish cream to a
dusty yellow and will be slightly transluscent– I’m not sure what causes
the color variation other than it might be the acidity or base heat.
It’s really a plastic so once it’s dry it’s like any other plastic, no
need to add preservatives.