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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not see the point in making your own playdough?

84 replies

emkana · 15/10/2008 20:26

I'm surrounded by mothers who make their own playdough.

Surely homemade playdough is sticky, leaves your hands covered in a dusty gooey mess, and is v v difficult to roll out?

So what is the point?

OP posts:
snooks · 15/10/2008 20:48

we are planning to buy dn (2 years) a job lot of playdough for christmas - db and sil have a very tidy house and do not like mess

in the old days when i only had ds1 i made my own baked beans once (needless to say he didn't eat them)

life is short

loobeylou · 15/10/2008 20:52

as far as the coeliac society are aware in their advice to parents of coeliac children, there is NO commercially available gluten free play doh/soft stuff/whatever brand you want to name

the kids know they are not supposed to eat it, but they wipe/pick their noses, chew their fingers etc etc and dd is "super sensitive" to gluten

and IMO making it is part of the fun of playing with it - I remember making it when I was about 6 and my brother was 4, he had blue and I had orange - we played with it loads

also when mummy is doing "proper" baking for something where they can't help,cos you are in a hurry or got posh guests coming and want it to look like it was made by a top notch pastry chef not like it was made by a pack of toddlers who mhave been throwing it round the floor! - they can get out their own dough and play to their hearts content

Maveta · 15/10/2008 20:53

Ooh i´d like a recipe too if anyone can share? lol at this anti-homemade playdoh thread taking an about-turn

Olihan · 15/10/2008 20:56

This is Franny's recipe but it's idiot proof and makes playdough that lasts for years....

3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
6 tsp cream of tartar
3 tbsp oil
3 cups water
Whatever colour/glitter/fragrance you want to add

Put all ingredients into large pan, stir constantly over a medium heat until it forms a ball then knead for 1-2 mins.

Voila, playdough!

There is a point, mid-cooking, that it appears to be going terribly wrong but if you carry on it all turns out beautifully .

OP, YABU, home made playdough is far nicer than the manky shop bought stuff and doesn't dry out (as long as you keep it in an airtight box) or get that minging sticky gloopy-ness that ELC playdough is prone to. It's also far cheaper.

Habbibu · 15/10/2008 20:58

"but it's idiot proof" . Oh, I am sorry, pol. Am in sick bed and clearly being an old meanie. I shall stop...

policywonk · 15/10/2008 20:59

Speaking as an idiot, can I just point out that cream of tartar and tartare sauce are NOT equivalent.

policywonk · 15/10/2008 20:59
Habbibu · 15/10/2008 21:00
policywonk · 15/10/2008 21:03
TheConfusedGhostoooohw · 15/10/2008 21:03

PW, you just know you are never going to live that down, dont you

policywonk · 15/10/2008 21:05

I was hoping to make a name for myself on here as a fearless, pithy poster with a sinuous intelligence. Instead, the 1 per cent of the MN community who know I exist associate me with inappropriate condiment use.

Olihan · 15/10/2008 21:06

OMG, I remember that policywonk. I nearly wet myself laughing reading that thread .

at the memory of fishy playdough .

Habbibu · 15/10/2008 21:09

"a fearless, pithy poster with a sinuous intelligence" you are pol. You just have too much faith in Waitrose staff...

SazzlesA · 15/10/2008 21:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

KatyMac · 15/10/2008 21:15

When I made mine last Tescos value flour was 9p for 2kgs (I'm sure it's gone up since then)
& that will make about 4 lots

The oil/cream of tartar/colouring are marginal expenses

lisad123 · 15/10/2008 21:20

i make mine with my DD1. easy, cheap and can add glitter and smells too

hunkermunker · 15/10/2008 21:24

PW, I want you to know I don't remember the thread where you mistook tartare sauce for cream of tartar at all. Not even a bit.

[snigger]

funnypeculiar · 15/10/2008 21:24

Sorry, have I missed something - pw, did you make playdough with tartare sauce? On the advice of Waitrose staff?

I am not laughing.

Nor even sniggering.

Honest guv.

policywonk · 15/10/2008 21:28

Might've.

LOOK THE WOMAN IN WAITROSE SWORE BLIND THAT THEY WERE THE SAME THING

I am confident in the knowledge that fp knows my local Waitrose and can confirm that the staff are plausible yet stupid.

onepieceoflollipop · 15/10/2008 21:31

I had a terrible vision of the Waitrose lady leading you over to the condiments aisle and then saying "oh dear, we are out of tartare sauce...perhaps ketchup or hp would be worth a try?"

funnypeculiar · 15/10/2008 21:34

It IS true, they do have a ring of credibility- but 90% of them were there when it was Morrisons .... hence probably not entirely to be trusted in complex recipe decisions.

God, I might have to try that recipe.

Was there not a point as you uncapped the tartare sauce (does tartare sauce have a cap?) when you suddenly thought, "Wait a cotton pickin' minute..."

policywonk · 15/10/2008 21:35

lollipop

Aaaanyway, what a terribly rude hijack this is. I have very, very strong feelings about thread hijacking.

Habbibu · 15/10/2008 21:37

it's not a hijack. It's a Public Service Announcement.

sunnygirl1412 · 15/10/2008 21:45

Emkana - I don't think you are being unreasonable - it's up to you how you spend your time (and money). I never made playdough, and my boys seem to be reasonably well balanced. That said, I do have a very real urge to have a go at the recipe that was posted here - which is probably rather strange, seeing as the boys are 11, 13 and 15!

TooTicky · 15/10/2008 21:51

Shop dough is foul. We have some Franny dough and it is beautiful.