Recipe · Cloud

Cloud slime: the soft slime made with instant snow

Cloud slime drizzles apart in soft flakes thanks to instant snow powder. A recipe made with contact lens solution, with exact amounts and safety tips.

By the Slime & Co editorial team · Updated

White flakes that look like instant snow
Photo: camera obscura on Unsplash.

Cloud slime is super soft, and when you stretch it slowly, it breaks apart into tiny strands that look like rain or snow. The secret is instant snow powder, which puffs up when you add water.

The original Little Bins for Little Hands recipe uses liquid starch. We use the same baking soda and contact lens solution base as in our other recipes, which gives a similar dough.

Ingredients

Supplies: two bowls, a spoon.

Need more or less? Recalculate the amounts for this recipe to fit your bowl or the number of kids.

Why these ingredients? What the activator does and which glue to choose.

Steps

  1. In one bowl, prepare the instant snow using the amount of water listed on its package. It puffs up in seconds.
  2. In the other bowl, mix the glue, water, and food coloring, then the baking soda.
  3. An adult adds the contact lens solution a little at a time until the dough comes away from the bowl.
  4. Add the snow in small handfuls while kneading, up to about ½ cup (120 ml).
  5. Stretch it gently: the strands should drizzle apart like rain.

How do you know it worked?

A good cloud slime is soft, almost foamy, and “rains” when you stretch it slowly over the bowl. If it turns sticky after you add the snow, add a few drops of solution.

The most common slime fails

It got sticky with the snow
The snow adds water: a few more drops of solution, then knead.
It doesn’t “rain”
Not enough snow: add a small handful.
It feels scratchy, full of tiny grains
The snow hadn’t finished puffing up. Next time, let it soak up all the water listed on its package before you add it to the slime.

Another problem? The Slime Fixer goes through every symptom.

Why does it work?

Instant snow is a superabsorbent polymer: tiny grains that soak up water and swell enormously. Trapped in the slime, these swollen grains cut the dough into tiny pieces when you stretch it, which creates the rain effect.

Variations and ideas

How to store it

Airtight container. It dries out a little faster than classic slime: close the container as soon as you’re done playing.

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