Preserving breast milk for jewelry

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The discussion centers on the challenges of preserving breast milk for jewelry-making, specifically focusing on finding effective preservatives and methods to prevent spoilage and discoloration. Participants explore various chemical options, including Optiphen and sodium benzoate, while emphasizing the need to eliminate moisture and lipids from the milk. Suggestions include using plaster of Paris to create a powder that can be mixed with resin, although some users report unsatisfactory results, noting that the final product resembles powdered plaster rather than the desired aesthetic of breast milk jewelry.Several users share their experimentation experiences, highlighting the importance of thorough dehydration and the potential use of food preservation powders like sodium propionate and potassium sorbate to inhibit yellowing. The conversation also touches on the use of UV stabilizers and hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS) to maintain color integrity in resin. A participant mentions finding a commercial preservation kit on Etsy, which includes various ingredients aimed at achieving the desired preservation effect, although concerns about the potential for yellowing remain.
  • #31
aymami25 said:
I have been experimenting for over a year with so many different types of chemicals and the longest time a pendant has gone without yellowing is 9 months which I used food preservation powder for (sodium propionate to be specific). Please let me know how your process is going as I’m at my wits end here. All I want to do is preserve some breastmilk into jewellery for myself and a few ladies from my breastfeeding group I’m apart of. I’m so dedicated haha
Hi, I have been experimenting too and still searching for the answer!
My most recent experiment was with Potassium sorbate this is also a food preservation powder, I'm wondering now if using this along with some hindered amine light stabilizer might stop the discoloration.
Has anyone tried this?
 
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  • #32
mamabear2021 said:
It’s something that you will have to experiment with. No DNA artist will give you their formula and where to buy the items.
it takes us a lot of years to perfect our methods and don’t want backyard artists coming along to under cut us and or methods. Do some research and some experimenting
It takes 6-12 months minimum to see if any of our methods work and wait for any yellowing to occur.
There are ready made powders available on the market
After looking around all I can find is small amounts suitable for only a tiny piece of jewelry- one bead or ring etc. I am looking to make a really large piece. I have been nursing for 4 years and am an over producer- I don't want my jewelry piece to be dainty and small when I have so much milk!
 
  • #33
Sellantra said:
After looking around all I can find is small amounts suitable for only a tiny piece of jewelry- one bead or ring etc. I am looking to make a really large piece. I have been nursing for 4 years and am an over producer- I don't want my jewelry piece to be dainty and small when I have so much milk!
Consider turning milk into paint. Paint covers a wide range of objects including ceramics, plaster, much jewelry, canvas and other cloth. I prefer canvas board for casein paints, prepared with acrylic gesso. Other acrylic art compounds act like glue to attach cloth remnants holding the casein (milk protein) paint. As shown above, casein works well on flat panel but also for writing.

Same basic substance applied in layers.
 
  • #34
chemisttree said:
Water will react with most resins so the water fraction of the fluid must be “fixed” in a chemical manner. This can be easily done by adding plaster of paris (the hemihydrate of calcium sulfate) and allowing it to harden. The result of this reaction is the dihydrate of calcium sulfate. This is simply gypsum powder like you would find in “desert rose.” It helps that the plaster is a brilliant white just like milk.
The instructions call for grinding the hardened (they refer to it as dry) plaster into a powder and suspending that into the resin. Drying something like this will prevent bacterial growth if kept sealed from atmospheric moisture... like maybe suspending it into some epoxy. The white of gypsum will stay that way for the ages! The resin will darken long before the remaining proteins and fats will cause any problem.

Hi,
Thank you for you help. You mentioned plaster of paris and gypsum powder, should I mix both to preserve the milk?
 
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  • #35
Clacla said:
Hi,
Thank you for you help. You mentioned plaster of paris and gypsum powder, should I mix both to preserve the milk?

Probably easier to buy this $5 preservation kit from Etsy. This never crossed my mind when I was breastfeeding. It would be nice to have some sort of token for the thousands of hours I put into it. 🤣
 
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  • #36
pksy said:
yes a plaster is not a good idea. It failed. I will let you know the exact chemical preservatives like the mix kit you bought.Let me watch results of different mixtures for few more months and i will share. Take care
Hi! Any results to share by now? I've been following the thread for a long time and am very curious :p
Thanks anyway for testing!
 
  • #37
Hi guys, so I'm running out of time with my breastfeeding journey and milk stash so I did order a kit. Including this " magic powder" . Now my question is, is there any home DIY way to find out what this post is? Or what can I do with it to find out? After I'm done with my breast milk ring, I would love to do this for living so I'm desperate to find out. Thanks
 
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  • #38
If the stuff is from a large company, the product may be registered with government. If so, there could be an SDS (MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet) available on-line.

Or.

Find an analytical laboratory and have them analyze it. There are WAY to many possible compounds/chemicals for a DIY investigation. (and a whole bunch of equipment needed!) :cry:

Or.

Search on-line for the product name, followed by 'MSDS', or preceeded by 'contents',... well, you get the idea.

Or.

Follow the idea from @Fervent Freyja in post #35 https://www.physicsforums.com/posts/6498631

Good Luck!

Cheers,
Tom
 
Last edited:
  • #39
sarajf said:
Hi guys, so I'm running out of time with my breastfeeding journey and milk stash so I did order a kit. Including this " magic powder" . Now my question is, is there any home DIY way to find out what this post is? Or what can I do with it to find out? After I'm done with my breast milk ring, I would love to do this for living so I'm desperate to find out. Thanks
Let us know if you run it to an analytical library! I'm actually looking to do this myself so I will update if I find out. The "secret ingredients" are killing me as I'm just trying to make some for my group of breastfeeding mommies.
 
  • #40
I found an Etsy page and bought the download! Here are the ingredients:

  1. baking powder
  2. baking soda
  3. arrowroot powder
  4. pickling lime (calcium hydroxide)
  5. calcium chloride pulverized
  6. borax
  7. EDTA (calcium disodium)
  8. lye (pulverized)
The download has a ton of info like amounts and directions. Worth it in my opinion for those of us who want to do this full time, otherwise just buy a small amount of the powder for your own personal use. https://www.etsy.com/listing/103142...der&ref=sr_gallery-1-6&organic_search_click=1
 
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  • #41
Hi Everyone. I read the whole thread. Any new information about this? Did someone find some good ingredients to make this very secret and magical preservative powder for breastmilk jewelry?
I am from Argentina and to buy the "magic" overseas is really, really, expensive for me.
 
  • #42
Ty2828 said:
Hi, thanks for the response! Yes I want to completely eliminate all fluid/ anything that can go bad from the breast milk! Our goal is to preserve the milk into a dry powder form that will not mold/turn colors in the future. (We want the powdered milk to remain a white/off white color to be appealing to the eyes) There’s some others online that have discovered a way to preserve it through the pasteurization process that I believe eliminates the bacteria, that would cause it to go bad eventually (unfortunately they will not share their processes) During this they add a mixture of powdered chemicals that help to preserve it. I’m comfortable working with resin and the jewelry making process, I just need assistance with what chemicals would be best to achieve the preservation of the milk.

The only videos online are of the DIY kit nature and do not tell what the included preservation compound is made of. I’ll attach the link so you can better see what I’m trying to accomplish.

thanks!


Did you find the way to do it?without buy the magical preservative powder?
 
  • #43
JediJ2308 said:
I found an Etsy page and bought the download! Here are the ingredients:

  1. baking powder
  2. baking soda
  3. arrowroot powder
  4. pickling lime (calcium hydroxide)
  5. calcium chloride pulverized
  6. borax
  7. EDTA (calcium disodium)
  8. lye (pulverized)
The download has a ton of info like amounts and directions. Worth it in my opinion for those of us who want to do this full time, otherwise just buy a small amount of the powder for your own personal use. https://www.etsy.com/listing/103142...der&ref=sr_gallery-1-6&organic_search_click=1
Did you use it? Let me know how it works, please. Thanks!
 
  • #44
Inelemind said:
Did you use it? Let me know how it works, please. Thanks!
Not yet, just found it. ;)
 
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  • #45
JediJ2308 said:
Not yet, just found it. ;)
Can you friend me on Fcbk? ele Novo. I would appreciate if you can keep me on track about this. Thanks
 
  • #46
Hey all. I have been doing some experimentation too. I have been sucessfully keeping powdered milk (just pasteurized, dehydrated and ground into powder) for 2 over two years and it didn't change color. It was already yellowish a bit after dehydration, but not off colored. Could the interaction with the resin be the problem? I'll be posting my results here.
 
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  • #47
Geee said:
Hey all. I have been doing some experimentation too. I have been sucessfully keeping powdered milk (just pasteurized, dehydrated and ground into powder) for 2 over two years and it didn't change color. It was already yellowish a bit after dehydration, but not off colored. Could the interaction with the resin be the problem? I'll be posting my results here.
Hello,

Some resins react with uv light and become a little darker. I use a resin with an uv filter. So far there is no change in color.
 
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  • #48
Geee said:
Hey all. I have been doing some experimentation too. I have been sucessfully keeping powdered milk (just pasteurized, dehydrated and ground into powder) for 2 over two years and it didn't change color. It was already yellowish a bit after dehydration, but not off colored. Could the interaction with the resin be the problem? I'll be posting my results here.

Oh wow! That would be great! I'm looking forward to reading the results!
Are you willing to share the process?
 
  • #49
JediJ2308 said:
I found an Etsy page and bought the download! Here are the ingredients:

  1. baking powder
  2. baking soda
  3. arrowroot powder
  4. pickling lime (calcium hydroxide)
  5. calcium chloride pulverized
  6. borax
  7. EDTA (calcium disodium)
  8. lye (pulverized)
The download has a ton of info like amounts and directions. Worth it in my opinion for those of us who want to do this full time, otherwise just buy a small amount of the powder for your own personal use. https://www.etsy.com/listing/103142...der&ref=sr_gallery-1-6&organic_search_click=1
Do you know if this "recipe" keeps the color forever? If it's worth it, i would love to download it as well. But I'm just a little bit scared that this is a scam. Or it starts yellowing after 6 months.
 
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  • #50
Naomidom said:
Do you know if this "recipe" keeps the color forever? If it's worth it, i would love to download it as well. But I'm just a little bit scared that this is a scam. Or it starts yellowing after 6 months.
There are two things that can turn yellow, the preserved milk or the resin. Every resin will turn yellow at some point, because of oxydation. The milk can also turn yellow if not well preserved. The recipe on Etsy looks very sound and rational, as the ingredients will all help to prevent everything from degrading. However, I suspect the result will be whity-white, not really the color of human milk...

All of the ingredients prevent microorganisms from deteriorating the milk. This is something I think you can achieve with heating and dehydrating well. I also skim my samples, because fat doesn't seem to go well with resin. What I made two years ago was a pasteurized milk torouhgly dehydrated and it preserved well for two years... However, it wasn't kept in the sun. And I didn't make a jewel back then.

No matter what you try, this recipe or another, you can inspire yourself from tried and true manners of preserving food stuff: desinfecting everything, heating, dehydrating, removing air (sous vide), using chemicals to make the food inhospitable for microorganims, like using salt. One could even think of radiation. But since you are not going to eat it, you can also inspire yourself from the cosmetic industry. It makes a very large playground. :)

My personal goal is to try to stay very close to the milk itself. I do not like how white a lot of milk jewel turns out. I fell what I am seeing is more the colour of the preserving powder, not the actual milk. So I'm continuing to experiment.
 
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  • #51
Geee said:
There are two things that can turn yellow, the preserved milk or the resin. Every resin will turn yellow at some point, because of oxydation. The milk can also turn yellow if not well preserved. The recipe on Etsy looks very sound and rational, as the ingredients will all help to prevent everything from degrading. However, I suspect the result will be whity-white, not really the color of human milk...

All of the ingredients prevent microorganisms from deteriorating the milk. This is something I think you can achieve with heating and dehydrating well. I also skim my samples, because fat doesn't seem to go well with resin. What I made two years ago was a pasteurized milk torouhgly dehydrated and it preserved well for two years... However, it wasn't kept in the sun. And I didn't make a jewel back then.

No matter what you try, this recipe or another, you can inspire yourself from tried and true manners of preserving food stuff: desinfecting everything, heating, dehydrating, removing air (sous vide), using chemicals to make the food inhospitable for microorganims, like using salt. One could even think of radiation. But since you are not going to eat it, you can also inspire yourself from the cosmetic industry. It makes a very large playground. :)

My personal goal is to try to stay very close to the milk itself. I do not like how white a lot of milk jewel turns out. I fell what I am seeing is more the colour of the preserving powder, not the actual milk. So I'm continuing to experiment.

Hello, I just found this thread after searching for hours on what the “secret ingredients” for this breast milk preservation powder are. This is the closest I have gotten! I would also like to start making crafts for other moms and unfortunately the process seems to be such a closely guarded secret. I also want to keep the color as accurate to the milk as possible.

Do you think all of the ingredients in this Etsy recipe would really be necessary in order to prevent deterioration of the milk? If they all essentially do that, maybe we could just use some of those ingredients and achieve the same effect, without too much impact on color?
 
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  • #52
I think yes and no - the rationale for every ingredient in the recipe is sound. I'm not a chemist, my last courses were in high school, however, I wouldn't try to change the recipe from Etsy too much, it seems very well balanced and everything has a function. Ingredients interact with each other, if you understand well why each one is there, you could try to omit some, however, it is biological stuff and milk will degrade. If her recipe, as she claims, is tried and true, you would have to experiment yourself and see what happens in time. The point is not really the impact on the color, but creating an environment inhospitable for microorganism and preventing the impact of UV. You are essentially preventing food from rotting...
 
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  • #53
breast milk + preservative (Optiphen) + citric acid (mix those three)
boil in double boiler (not sure if best boil then mix or mix then boil)
leave to dry on wax paper for minimum 2 days then put in mold then apply resin (anyone can suggest UV filter resin?!)
 
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  • #54
pksy said:
Thank you for your reply, i am in experimenting process. I have a gold and silver jewelry studio on my own. Once i’ve done with experimenting, i will be doing any kind of design. I totally understand that you don't want to share your secrets, but this forum/ platform is for sharing information, not to sneak , read new ideas and say i won't share mine.

hi folks, once i’ve done with experimenting i will share which products i use with measures. I just need few months to share here . Wait for it :)
Hi are you found it
 
  • #55
I found this on reddit if anyone wants to try..
 

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  • #56
Lesha said:
I found this on reddit if anyone wants to try..
and they provided pic of their result
 

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  • #57
chemisttree said:
Yes, exactly. How much of the plaster to add and how much optiphen will be your experiment. Use cow’s milk until you are satisfied with it.
If it sets too slowly, add an accelerator.
https://www.usg.com/content/usgcom/.../gypsum-plaster-accelerator.160216.html#!back

If it sets too quickly, try a retarder.
https://www.usg.com/content/usgcom/en/products/walls/drywall/plasters/gypsum-plaster-retarder.html

borax is a good set retarder for plaster and it has antifungal properties as well. Two-fer!
What the!? that's amazing, this "special preservation powder" is sold in the 5 grams for a bit of money, to realize its something as simple as plaster of paris is amazing, and even more amazing is the way you have explained how it works! thank you very much!
 
  • #58
Hi is there any updates ??
 
  • #59
Lesha said:
breast milk + preservative (Optiphen) + citric acid (mix those three)
boil in double boiler (not sure if best boil then mix or mix then boil)
leave to dry on wax paper for minimum 2 days then put in mold then apply resin (anyone can suggest UV filter resin?!)
Have you tried and tested this? Seems quite simple. So I'm curious to learn if this method works, even after months no discoloration.
 
  • #60
Lesha said:
I found this on reddit if anyone wants to try..
Has anyone tried this? Does it work?
 

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