How to make slime

So, we thought we’d show you how can make it, too!

Here's our slime recipe for making your very own stretchy slime...

What you’ll need:

White PVA Glue (we used WHSmith’s own brand version)
Liquid or gel food colouring, in a colour of your choice
Borax powder, usually found on from eBay - usually costs less than £3
Boiling water to dilute the Borax powder
A jug or jar
A teaspoon
Cups and bowls for (roughly) measuring ingredients

Things to note:

Don't buy Borax Substitute powder as it doesn’t work. And if you can’t buy Borax on eBay, substitute it with Contact Lens Solution which MUST contain boric acid as an ingredient.

We also know that there's a little bit of controversy surrounding the use of Borax in slime recipes. As a result, we know this recipe won't be everyone's cup of tea.

More like this

All we'd add is: use your own judgement - and be really, really sure Borax you use is PROPERLY diluted.

1. Take a heaped tablespoon of Borax and put into a jug or jar, with approx 250ml of boiling water, and stir. Allow this to cool (you won’t be using all of this liquid, so store it in a jar, to use at a later date).

2. Pour about 180ml (3/4 cup) of glue into a bowl. Measurements don’t need to be precise!

3. Add a teaspoon of the Borax liquid you’ve already made, and keep adding spoon by spoon of the Borax liquid, while mixing the glue continuously.

The glue mix should stiffen and start clumping together. It’s nearly there once it starts sticking to the spoon and peeling away from the bowl – we added in total 14 teaspoons of the Borax solution.

4. Add a few drops of food colouring and mix some more.

5. Slime should be stretchy and ready to play with! Store it in an air tight container, like some tupperware, and it should last a while.

Some handy slime tips...

If your child keeps mentioning the word ‘activator’, remember they're talking about what actually turns the glue into slime - usually the Borax or contact lens solution.

 If you ‘over-activate’ the slime - that means you've added too much Borax solution, and the slime has hardened, is no longer stretchy, and has become more like a putty - add a teaspoon of hot water to the slime, work it in, and it should loosen up.

 If your slime is too sticky, add a few drops of Borax to make it unsticky.

 If you get slime stuck in carpet, pour neat white vinegar into carpet and rub vigorously – the slime will lift and rub out.

Got slime on clothes? Don’t fret, it will wash out.

How to jazz up your slime and make it a different type

By adding extra ingredients, you can have all different types of slime. Here are just a few ideas you can try:

Butter slime – Add some Superlight Air Drying Soft Clay from Hobbycraft (at just £1 per pack!) to make a super smooth, buttery slime.

Glossy slime – Add a few drops of baby oil which makes you slime shiny and glossy.

Cloud slime – Add some fake snow (eBay) which will give your slime a weird, sandy looking texture.

Fluffy slime – Pop a few blobs of shaving cream, to make a nice smelling, almost bubbly slime.

Fishbowl slime – This is made using clear PVA clue (which can be quite tricky to work with) and throw in fishbowl beads (available from Amazon), and you’ve got fishbowl slime.

Floam slime – By adding floam beads (which are like tiny polystyrene style balls, available from Amazon) your slime can look like it has some sort of disease. And yes, the balls will fall out of the slime and you’ll find them everywhere! So, whether or not you try floam slime is your prerogative ?

Scented slime - If you add a few drops of scented oil to the above recipe, you'll have scented slime!

Final image: YouTube, Etsy and Etsy

Danielle GraphCommunity Manager