[lobster_johnson]

Have you tried a manual stovetop frother? It's made of metal, and it has a plunger with a frothing head (looks like a coil-type whisk) on the end.

You fill it with milk, put it on a gas burner or electric hot plate, warm it until the milk is hot enough (around 60-65C). Then you take it off the heat and push the frother up and down until the milk is sufficiently aerated. Here's the one I have:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X7GF40

It produces microfoam that is at least good as those electric frothers from Nespresso etc. Not as good as a steamer wand, but close.

[car]

These also work with cold milk (3C), and heating the foam in a microwave afterwards.

[greglindahl]

The manual frothers usually say that they work best with non-fat milk. Yuck.

[lobster_johnson]

Mine works great with whole milk, actually. I don't use anything else; lower-fat milk just isn't capable of foaming, in my experience.

(The HIC one doesn't come with any instructions and I'm pretty sure they don't say anything about the type of milk to use.)