Recipe · Basic slime
Easy slime recipe (no borax powder)
The simplest slime recipe: white school glue, baking soda, and contact lens solution. Exact amounts, step-by-step instructions, and tips for slime that works.
- DifficultyVery easy
- Time10 minutes
- Makes1 ball (about 9 oz / 250 g)
- Recommended ageAges 6+, with an adult
This is the recipe everyone starts with, and the base for three quarters of the slimes on this site. It uses three ingredients that are easy to find at the supermarket or drugstore: white PVA school glue (the washable kind), baking soda, and contact lens solution. No borax powder, no laundry detergent.
Plan on ten minutes, plus two or three minutes of kneading. What you get: a stretchy slime that pulls and makes bubbles when you squish it.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (120 ml) white PVA school glue (washable)
- ½ cup (120 ml) warm water
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) baking soda
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) contact lens solution whose label lists boric acid and sodium borate
- A few drops of food coloring or washable paint (optional)
Supplies: a mixing bowl, a spoon, a measuring cup, an airtight container for storage.
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
- Pour the glue and warm water into the bowl and stir until the mixture is smooth and even.
- Add food coloring if you want some, and stir again: this is when it spreads most evenly.
- Sprinkle in the ½ tsp of baking soda and mix well. It helps the slime form and hold together.
- An adult adds the contact lens solution a little at a time while stirring. The mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- When it forms a ball that comes away from the bowl, take it out and knead it for 2 to 3 minutes. It’s a little sticky at first: that’s normal, keep going.
How do you know it worked?
Your slime is ready when it comes off your fingers, stretches without snapping all at once, and slowly settles back into shape when you put it down. If it’s still sticky after three minutes of kneading, add a few drops of solution, no more: too much makes slime rubbery.
The most common slime fails
- It still sticks to your fingers
- Add contact lens solution a few drops at a time (about ¼ tsp), then knead for a good minute before you decide. Slime is almost always sticky at first.
- It’s hard and snaps
- Too much activator. Soak the slime in a bowl of warm water for a minute, then knead; a dab of hand lotion or a spoonful of glue can also soften it.
- It stays runny
- The baking soda may have been left out, or the solution doesn’t contain boric acid and sodium borate. Check the label: a plain “saline solution” without these two ingredients will never set the glue.
Another problem? The Slime Fixer goes through every symptom.
Why does it work?
White glue contains long chains of molecules (a polymer). The borate in contact lens solution links those chains together, like little bridges: the liquid turns into a dough that stretches. Baking soda makes the mixture a little less acidic, which helps those bridges form. Lamap, a French science education foundation, offers a teaching sheet (in French) on this reaction, handy if you want to turn it into a little science experiment.
Variations and ideas
- With clear glue, you get clear slime.
- With shaving cream, a light, airy fluffy slime.
- With soft air-dry clay, a butter slime that spreads like butter.
How to store it
In an airtight container at room temperature, it usually keeps for one to two weeks. Throw it out if it starts to smell different, gets spots, or turns dusty. All our tips: how to store slime.
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