To ask if you've joined the slime bandwagon

[Lostbeyondwords]

My dd is having a tough time at the moment and has been desperately trying to make this slime stuff that's all over the place at the moment, without success.

We've bought spray starch (liquid, dr beckman and aerosol from dylon, this seems better), a ton of pva glue, small amount of clear glue as it's harder to find, shaving cream, used every shampoo or laundry detergent available...nothing has actually made something passable.

Have any of you or your dc made any successfully? What exactly have you used? Like down to the brand... I know it's a stupid fad but it's helping dd (sort of) to distract her so I'm trying to find a way to make it. Can anyone help?

I'm surprised if you can still buy real Borax. It was withdrawn from most household sale (still used industrially and with some metals) due to concerns about birth defects. If sold it may be marked with health warnings.

Some places sell "Borax Substitute" which I think is a laundry whitener but probably not a fungicide and insect poison.

DD made it at ladybirds. Glue, shaving foam, contact solution and vanilla/orange essence. And food colouring.

When I was a year 7 science teacher we were really careful about Borax - did make slime but they had to wear gloves and weren't allowed to take it home.

CLEAPPS (the lab safety organisation) have this information:
science.cleapss.org.uk/Resource/SSS039-Boron-compounds.pdf

Google edible slime - you can make it with opal fruits Starbursts

We made a big bowl of slime last week using PVA glue and Formil liquid detergent from Lidl, I didn't think it had worked but my son carried on kneading it and eventually it did turn into a big ball of slime.

DD made some with some antibacterial hand sanitiser, she said it worked really well. I'll ask her for the recipe when I see her on Wednesday

Here's how I make mine:

Ingredients

PVA Glue (testing may need to be done first as different glues vary! make sure it is PVA though)

Shaving Foam (optional, but makes slime fluffy)

Paint (optional again)

Formil Biological detergent from Lidl (the green one! this is a substitute for borax which reacts with the glue)

OR use Almat Non Bio from Aldi instead of Formil

OR use Contact lens solution with half a teas spoon of baking soda

Method:
Mix PVA, foam and paint in a bowl.
Then, slowly add your activator (Formil, Almat or solution). Do this little by little until the glue clumps up. You should notice slime starting to form!

Once you have the basic method you can go ahead and practise this a few more times until you've found the perfect slime. Hope this helps everyone!

Here's how I make mine:

Ingredients

PVA Glue (testing may need to be done first as different glues vary! make sure it is PVA though)

Shaving Foam (optional, but makes slime fluffy)

Paint (optional again)

Formil Biological detergent from Lidl (the green one! this is a substitute for borax which reacts with the glue)

OR use Almat Non Bio from Aldi instead of Formil

OR use Contact lens solution with half a teas spoon of baking soda

Method:
Mix PVA, foam and paint in a bowl.
Then, slowly add your activator (Formil, Almat or solution). Do this little by little until the glue clumps up. You should notice slime starting to form!

Once you have the basic method you can go ahead and practise this a few more times until you've found the perfect slime. Hope this helps everyone!

Contact lens solution with boric acid in it is what you need.
Bausch and lomb renu and Boston have it, several eye drops too.
Mix with pva glue, bicarbonate of soda (a pinch) and food colouring.

We tried with Almaty and it failed. He contact lens solutions works immediately, you can see the difference in the glue straight away so it's effortless and fun.
You just add the contact lens solution until the glue stops being sticky and use a pinch or so of bicarbonate too.

We made yesterday, 1 cup pva glue (WH Smiths was selling bottles reduced to £1.34), 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, mix then add contact lense solution. We didn't have any but I raided my daily contact lenses and used 13 of them to make a tablespoon of lens solution which made the slime less sticky and its still going strong!

I've tried and failed so many times

Which comfort is it??

contact lens solution is key!! this one is borax free:

:)

There have been a few threads on this recently which I have been on. My 11 year old sells slime and borax on Etsy. Not all PVA glue works. We have spentr a small fortune on large tubs of the stuff that I have ended up giving to schools etc as they did not activate. The 2 we know work are pound shop craft pva(not their DIY one) and Wilkos craft PVA. You can get any amount of borax on ebay but if you just want a little bag which makes up into a couple of small drinks bottles full, DD sells it for £1.50 free postage under Gumtree slimes on Etsy. She puts PVA in a bowl, adds random bits like colours/scents(usually hand soaps/shampoo) and shaving foam sometimes and then stirs in small amounts of liquid borax until the whole thing holds together. I have to say there is an art to handling slime and if I pick it up it sticks all over me, but she seems to be able to play with it without it doing this. I think I have very warm hands which does not help.

Hi OP we have finally (after many many failures) perfected the recipe. A few others have posted a similar one to us but with a key ingredient missing. You will need a takeaway tub (with a lid-to store the slime or it will creep everywhere). Rubber gloves. Plastic or wooden stirrers.
So to begin you will need at least; 180ml of non toxic pva glue. Next you will add your colour. I strongly advise using acrylic paint. With this ratio you will only need 1 teaspoon or it will change the consistency. Now the all important secret ingredient! 1 tablespoon of vegetable glycerine you can get this almost anywhere (I suppose you could try conditioner but it's too liquidy-we've only really used conditioner to save a too-rubbery slime) The glycerine keeps the slime smooth and moist.
So after you've mixed all the above together. You will need to slowly drip drip drop add the activator which can be borax solution (if not in uk) we don't have access to borax so we use Superdrug eye wash and eye bath
Add a few drops at a time while stirring (You may need to assist the child here especially if they're heavy handed)
You will soon see the slime beginning to form and stick to the stirrers, it should all come away from the tub. Pour away any excess liquid. Get the gloves off and knead gently. If it's too tough or snaps while kneading then you've probably added too much of the activator. But don't worry it can be saved. Adult should put it in a microwaveable container and give it 30 second blasts until it's liquid again and add roughly a teaspoon more pva and a little conditioner or glycerine if you have it. Stir until it cools and it should take shape again. Adult must knead carefully as it will be quite hot.
Good luck xx

This is what we use...it contains boric acid. So avoid prolonged contact with hands if possible (fine once it's mixed into slime)
This little bottle goes a long way!

Some examples here...its a bit cold so they're holding form. Once played with they warm up and become very flexible and stretchy. In a very warm room they start to 'run' (not melt - they remain somewhat solid) We had a few more but these are all we have left...my DD9 is selling it on a daily basis. My favorite is the white one is made using glow in the dark acrylic paint (look in the pound shop!)
You could also add glitter during the first few steps.
Add polystyrene balls for 'crunchy slime