Udder quarters with chronic and incurable intramammary infections are of great importance in the dairy industry. Milk from these quarters is a quality risk for bulk milk and an infectious source for healthy cows. Furthermore, these quarters are responsible for a high percentage of costly clinical mastitis cases in dairy farms. The paper reviews the practical knowledge for drying off single udder quarters in lactation. This gives the opportunity to reduce these risks but an effective, gentle and approved method is not available yet. In a survey for cattle practitioners, they confirmed the need for a certain method. Furthermore, it shows that different methods are used in the field, some of them are also described in literature. One of these methods, also used in dairy practice is the topical application of iodine solutions, which is highly effective but not gentle, due to an irreversible damage of udder tissue. Another interesting method is the topical application of caseinhydrolysate. This substance leads to a reduction of milk secretion via emulation of the natural dry off process. This method needs further studies to make it available for practice. This would help to solve a big issue in the dairy business.