Gluten is the component of flour that gives kneaded dough its strength and elasticity. Gluten is a mixture of proteins and comprises most of the protein in flour. It is easy to extract from flour by washing away the starch.
Mix, then knead, 200g of flour and 120ml of water to make dough. Then wash the starch away by kneading the dough, with both hands, under under running water from a tap. Initially it will be crumbly and and tend to fall apart, but as you keep working it, it will form an elastic ball of gluten.
Chaos - it's not just a theory... 
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May 26, 2012 at 9:20 PM
Jacinda
After reading this post last night, we tried this while making bread this morning. It all fell about, we kept going but in the end nothing was left in our hands. We tried again with the mixture you describe but the same happened. Any hints? I might do some more research. Good conversation anyway.
May 27, 2012 at 4:17 AM
John McCombs
Try making a dough, then keep squeezing it together as you wash it.
November 13, 2012 at 12:08 AM
Christine Smith
What is the name of the person who did the video and gave us the above information? I’m doing a science experiment on extracting gluten and want to mention this but if I do I need to mention his name. At least one of them, first or last. If you can reply it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
November 14, 2012 at 11:45 PM
John McCombs
Sure, no problem, just mention our blog.
November 9, 2013 at 7:31 PM
Ethical Junkie
Wikipedia: Generally, bread flours are high in gluten (hard wheat); pastry flours have a lower gluten content. Kneading promotes the formation of gluten strands and cross-links, creating baked products that are chewier in proportion to the length of kneading. An increased moisture content in the dough enhances gluten development.
Try kneading the dough as much as possible before running the water over it, this will cause more gluten to form and bind together before rinsing away the starch. Otherwise there might not be enough gluten to bind and it’ll fall away in chunks.