Borax Casein Recipe

One of the easiest ways to work the Milk Paint protein Casein, is to use the Borax alkali to activate the glue in the Casein Protein. This recipe will yield a pH neutral glue that can be used for artist's paints, carpenter's glue or interior wall paint.

This recipe is the foundation for our Milk Paint recipe, although we have added a few more ingredients to make it more durable for interior and exterior painting and to extend the shelf life.

Preparing Borax Casein is easy and only requires two containers and stirring utensils. We recommend the following ratios:

• 5 Parts of Casein Powder mixed with 9 Parts cold water
• 2 Parts crystalline Borax mixed with 9 Parts hot tap water

Preparation of the Casein Glue

1. Combine the above listed ratios of Casein Powder with the cold water. Allow the Casein Powder to soak into the water for a few hours or overnight.

2. In a separate container, measure out the above listed hot water ratio into the container. Add the Borax and stir well. This should look like you are dissolving salt into hot water.

3. Once all of the Borax has dissolved, add this solution to the soaked Casein/water mixture. Hydrolysis will start and convert the Casein to glue. The resulting mixture should look like the above picture. 

In its finished concentrated form, the Casein solution can be used as a natural glue. If you want to make milk paint from the Casein glue, dilute the glue by 50% and add pigment to the resulting mixture.