Learn to make your own slime
If your kid is obsessed with slime, you might find yourself spending a small fortune on this viscous substance. Luckily, it’s fairly easy to make at home with just a handful of ingredients.
Not only does making homemade slime save you money, it’s also a fun project for you and your children to do together. Older kids can even make slime by themselves with minimal supervision once they’ve learned the process.
There are several different ways to make slime, which we’ll go through below. It’s also simple to customize slime using colorings of your choice.
What is slime?
Slime is a polymer substance that has long been made as a simple science experiment to teach kids about chemical reactions and polymers, but it’s also fun to play with. Slime is a non-Newtonian fluid, which is a substance that sometimes acts like a liquid and sometimes acts like a solid. Depending on factors, such as temperature and pressure, it can sometimes feel like a solid that is easily stretched, squished, and manipulated, and can sometimes feel more like a liquid that will flow and run through your fingers. It’s created by a chemical reaction that occurs when you mix the various ingredients — basic household items — together. You can customize it with food dye and plastic-free glitter for a range of fun colors and effects.
Basic slime recipe
Use this recipe if you want a simple, viscous slime with a slightly sticky, gloopy consistency. It contains just three ingredients, or four if you choose to add coloring, and comes together in no time.
Ingredients
8 ounces of Elmer’s white school glue
1.5 to 2 tablespoons of contact lens solution (must have boric acid and sodium borate listed as ingredients)
1 tablespoon baking soda
Food coloring (optional)
Method
Mix together the glue and food coloring, if using, and stir until combined. It’s best to add the food dye a few drops at a time until you get your desired shade. After the coloring is mixed in, add the baking soda. Next, measure 1.5 tablespoons of contact solution and mix in the bowl. The more you add, the firmer the texture of the slime, so if it’s too sticky, add half a tablespoon more at a time until the consistency is correct. Knead the slime lightly until it comes together. It may seem a bit gooey and wet at first, but it will come together if you keep kneading. After this step, the slime is ready to play with. Once you’re done, keep it fresh and malleable by storing it in a lidded container or a resealable bag.
Fluffy slime recipe
Fluffy slime uses similar ingredients as basic slime, but it has a fluffier texture akin to a marshmallow. Some kids have a strong preference for fluffy slime or more goopy slime, and it’s worth trying out both to see which you and your kids prefer.
Ingredients
4 ounces of Elmer’s white school glue
3 cups of shaving foam (not gel)
1 tablespoon of contact lens solution
1 teaspoon of baking soda
Food coloring (optional)
Method
Measure the shaving foam and add it to a bowl. Don’t worry if you’re not 100% precise as the recipe is fairly forgiving. Add the glue, baking soda, and food coloring (if using) and mix it all together. Once combined, add the contact lens solution and mix. Once it comes together into a sticky, dough-like consistency, knead it for a few minutes until it becomes less sticky and more pliable. Like basic slime, store it in a sealed container when you’re done playing with it to keep it fresh.
Oobleck slime recipe
Oobleck slime is like standard slime, a non-Newtonian fluid, but it’s less viscous and messier than regular slime. You can grab it and punch it and it will seem solid, but if you hold it in a relaxed hand, it will run through your fingers — pretty neat! The great thing about making oobleck slime is that you probably already have what you need to make it in your pantry.
Ingredients
2 cups of cornstarch
1 cup of water
A few drops of food coloring (optional)
Method
Oobleck slime is extremely simple to make: measure the ingredients, add them to a bowl, mix them together and it’s ready to play with. It’s much messier than regular slime, so you’ll need to play with it in the bowl to avoid staining surfaces. It will dry out overnight, so make the most of playing with it on the day you make it. Once dried out, you can recycle it with your food waste, if your area has that service.
Slime troubleshooting
While making slime is fairly straightforward, sometimes you don’t get the results you expect. Luckily, it’s usually possible to fix problems with your slime.
If your slime is too sticky
Too-sticky slime can usually be solved by adding a little more contact lens solution to the mix and kneading it in. Add roughly half a tablespoon at a time, knead it in and see what it does to the texture before adding any more.
If your slime is too brittle
You can also have the opposite problem and end up with slime that’s not sticky or gloopy enough that breaks easily when you try to stretch it. This is usually the result of adding too much contact lens solution. In this case, you’ll need to start again, adding a little less contact lens solution than you did before. Remember, add half a tablespoon at a time, kneading it in well before adding any more!
If your slime won’t come together
The boric acid and sodium borate in contact lens solution is a necessary part of the chemical reaction that turns slime ingredients into slime. If your slime ingredients won’t come together at all, you may have used the wrong type of contact lens solution or a saline solution. Make sure your contact solution contains boric acid and sodium borate and buy a different brand for slime-making purposes if not.
Lauren Corona is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
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