This is a repeat from a post I did 8 years ago, but is just as much fun today as it was then.

Strange as it may sound, you can make twisted tie-dye swirls and churning volcanos of color by simply mixing milk, soap, and a little food coloring. Plus, you don’t need any fancy gear and all it costs is lunch money.
Your fifth grade baking soda volcano may not have turned out so well, but take my word for it this experiment is an easy and fun way to make abstract art!

You never know what creations will come out of this churning rainbow wonderland and it’s good times for everyone from kids to Great Uncle Horrace.  And although it’s quick and easy to clean up, it won’t be short on the wow factor.

THE INGREDIENTS:
Whole milk (not reduced fat or fat-free)
Dinner Plate
Food coloring (red, blue, green, yellow)
Dish-washing soap (Dawn seems to work best)
Q-tips

STEP 1: POUR THE MILK

Set your dinner plate somewhere level and safe from getting knocked over, and then pour in a layer of milk.
A thin coat will do, you don’t need to go overboard.

STEP 2: ADD A DASH OF COLOR

Grab your droppers of food coloring and add a few drops of each color to the center of your plate of milk.
The food coloring will allow you to see the reaction that happens in the next step so feel free to experiment with the placement of your dye drops for different effects.

STEP 3: GET SOAPY

Apply a good dollop of dish soap to one end of a clean Q-tip.
Twirl the soap around a bit to make sure the whole cotton swab is coated.

STEP 4: DIP YOUR Q-TIP

Dab your soapy swab into your milk and dye mixture and watch the colorful explosion!
You can keep dipping your Q-tip and reapplying soap to create new shapes, colors, and textures.

STEP 5: CAPTURE THE COLOR

Grab a phone, compact, or DSLR and start snapping.I found that increasing the saturation, contrast, and sharpening, helps to get pictures that really pop.

Try using a macro lens with your phone or DSLR for super close ups.

Also, using a fast shutter speed will help prevent the moving colors from blurring.

You can experiment with new color combinations, try using a different type of milk, drop colors around at random, use two or three Q-tips at once, or anything else you can think of to spice up your pics.

HAVE FUN!

Here are some images that I was able to get: