The Milk Trick

Posted by Miss Cellania in Video Clips on April 22, 2008 at 2:51 pm



(YouTube link)

This neat little parlor trick using milk, food coloring, and dishwashing liquid will be perfect for my daughter’s birthday party. It’s probably a classic, but I’ve never seen it before. Don’t drink the results! -via Grow-A-Brain


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COMMENT

37 comments to "The Milk Trick"

  1. Ali S.
    April 22nd, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    Whoa. Psychedelic man! *puts on Hendrix’s Purple Haze*

  2. xander
    April 22nd, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    hey that is neat! the same works with vinegar and toothpaste.

  3. biltmore
    April 22nd, 2008 at 3:15 pm

    That’s awesome!

  4. Thespian24601
    April 22nd, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    Washing up liquid haha.

  5. CheeseDuck
    April 22nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    I did that once! You can also direct how it forms by stirring it

  6. estapler
    April 22nd, 2008 at 3:50 pm

    Put the soap on the tip of your finger then dip it in the milk. At least that’s what they did with the pepper trick.

  7. Emily M
    April 22nd, 2008 at 4:39 pm

    Wow never seen that before.

    I deem it at neat!

  8. bean
    April 22nd, 2008 at 4:55 pm

    If it involves mixing milk and detergent, it’s not appropriate for a children’s birthday party.

  9. Miss Cellania
    April 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 pm

    She’s eleven, and her friends are twelve. They won’t be tempted to drink it.

  10. joisey mike
    April 22nd, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    I wonder how many frames jesus appears in. *cough*

  11. The Slapster
    April 22nd, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    How long will that hold a modern child’s attention? I bet it would go over bigger with the “experimental” college crowd. Well, at least it would have back when I was in that crowd!

  12. Matt
    April 22nd, 2008 at 5:51 pm

    > Put the soap on the tip of your finger then dip it in
    > the milk.

    Even better… Take one of those striped drinking straws, put the soap all around the end, and dip it in the milk. The white and colored plastic parts have different properties, so you get a star-shaped explosion effect.

  13. otterly
    April 22nd, 2008 at 5:59 pm

    I do remember this one on Mr.Wizard. Its better to use a larger pan. I think Mr.Wizard used a cookie sheet with tall sides..

  14. MrPumpernickel
    April 22nd, 2008 at 5:59 pm

    I drank the result.

  15. stacyj
    April 22nd, 2008 at 7:04 pm

    @Slapster - I dunno, I babysit a couple of kids who are 5 and 10, and “modern children” or not, they’re still mighty impressed with much the same things I was impressed with when -I- was a kid - paper airplanes, Legos, cool little science tricks and what have you … I think they’d both be quite impressed with this, too - the classics never fail!

  16. MoniA
    April 22nd, 2008 at 7:26 pm

    wow!! I’ll have to try this. I wonder if it will work with soymilk

  17. Geekazoid
    April 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 pm

    Hey, farrrr out man!

  18. jodie
    April 22nd, 2008 at 8:08 pm

    i think it’s TOTALLY appropriate for a children’s bday party AND i predict that they will LOVE it. don’t underestimate kids intelligence by thinking they’ll drink it. likewise, don’t overestimate the simple things that children will enjoy.

  19. anoctothorpe
    April 22nd, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    whole, 2%, or skim?

  20. Alannah
    April 22nd, 2008 at 10:07 pm

    That’s an awesome trick! Any idea how it works, tho? I don’t understand why dish liquid would create such a reaction in milk.

  21. WillF
    April 22nd, 2008 at 11:29 pm

    tried it with 1% milk and it didn’t work. Do you think it needs higher fat content?

  22. Viola
    April 22nd, 2008 at 11:37 pm

    Would this work with organic soy?

  23. otterly
    April 23rd, 2008 at 12:01 am

    Heres a variation on that trick..

    http://www.metacafe.com/watch/305366/kids_magic_trick/

  24. Jason L
    April 23rd, 2008 at 12:21 am

    I was tripping on lsd for a second there…

  25. Thespian24601
    April 23rd, 2008 at 12:47 am

    Jason-
    That was the coolest thing I’ve seen all day. Awesome.

  26. su.wei
    April 23rd, 2008 at 2:11 am

    i imagine that whole milk would be best. as the effect is from the fats interacting with the soap. hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions of some sort?

  27. Sylvain
    April 23rd, 2008 at 4:05 am

    You’re right su.wei, the dishwater liquid has molecules with an hydrophilic side and a lipophilic side (with anionic thing too, to allow the water to spread out else it would be in drops shape).

    So the fat is stuck to the lipophilic side and the water to the hydrophilic side (that’s why it cleans your dishes else water and fat don’t mix together).

    So, fatter the milk is (which is basically a mix between saturated fat, water, sugar - lactose - and casein - a protein -. the K-casein allows the mixing to be stable as an emulsion) and more reactive the mixing would be.

    (forgive my english language)

  28. alice
    April 23rd, 2008 at 4:59 am

    This is the coolest thing ever in the history of cool things.

  29. ted
    April 23rd, 2008 at 6:38 am

    Come on, kids, drink the milk. Everybody else is doing it.

  30. Tara
    April 23rd, 2008 at 7:41 am

    That was pretty cool. I’m going to wait until someone is tripping out to show them.

  31. fsmarch
    April 23rd, 2008 at 8:56 am

    Reminds me of one of those lava lamps, the way it moves.

  32. LoveZombie
    April 23rd, 2008 at 10:01 am

    Some people just need to lighten up already.. Sheesh! I thought this was very neat and if kids wouldn’t think its cool then they are far too gone already!

  33. Michelle
    April 23rd, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    I did this with my 8 and 10 year old boys after I watched the video. It worked and they thought it was the coolest thing ever! I scored some mega Mommy cool points with this! They want to show everyone at school.

  34. Jamie
    April 24th, 2008 at 1:06 pm

    Wow, that is very cool! I’ve never seen that before.

  35. Jill in Atlanta
    April 24th, 2008 at 2:17 pm

    2% didn’t work either

  36. tigergal39
    April 24th, 2008 at 10:56 pm

    This is a cool video. Is it real? I would love to show this to my Brownie Troop. Has anyone really tried this?

  37. Miss Cellania
    April 25th, 2008 at 9:32 pm

    OK, we tried this at the birthday party tonight. I used half and half, which is 5% fat. It worked perfectly! The colors roiled for a long time til they were perfectly blended, and continued to roil after it was hard to see it. The kids loved it! Princess even made me do it a second time so she could record video with her new camera. It’s a bit too long and giggly to post, but she is going to send it to her science teacher.


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