My biggest reader question is always what are the best ingredients for slime? Are you unsure of the ingredients you need to make your homemade slime? Do you struggle locating the right slime supplies? You can pick up the BEST slime ingredients on your next trip to the grocery store. So when you make your grocery list this week, add in our slime recipes and the best ingredients for making them!
THE BEST SLIME INGREDIENTS FOR MAKING HOMEMADE SLIME!
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE SLIME
You can DEFINITELY make homemade slime with the kids this season. It is not hard at all, and we have tons of videos, tutorials, and tips to share with you. At the bottom, you will find lots of clickable slime resources to help you.
It might take a little practice and a little tweaking from what we do, but it should be pretty spot on. I receive tons of emails and comments from readers so happy to have finally been able to make homemade slime with their kids!
THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS FOR THE BEST SLIME EVERY TIME!
Making homemade slime is all about having the right slime ingredients! I do get slime fail questions. Many of these failures are simply because the right slime ingredients weren’t used! Substitutions don’t work! Read on to find what ingredients for slime you will need…
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO GET YOUR FREE PRINTABLE SLIME INGREDIENTS LIST
WHAT ARE THE BEST SUPPLIES FOR MAKING SLIME?
What ingredients do you need to make slime? There are 3 key slime activators that we use in our basic 5 slime recipes. Read on to find out why a slime activator is an essential slime ingredient.
In order to understand why the right slime ingredients are so important, you need to understand the science behind the slime!
WHAT IS SLIME?
Slime is made from a chemical reaction between a polymer (glue) and a slime activator (contains borate ions). The borate ions in the slime activators (sodium borate, borax powder, or boric acid) mix with the PVA (polyvinyl acetate) glue and forms this cool stretchy substance. This is called cross-linking!
The glue is a polymer, which means it is made up of long repeating, and identical strands or molecules. These molecules with flow past one another keeping the glue in a liquid state. Until…
You add the borate ions to the mixture, and it then starts to connect these long strands together. They begin to tangle and mix until the substance is less like the liquid you started with and thicker and rubberier like slime! Slime is a polymer.
Picture the difference between wet spaghetti and leftover spaghetti the next day. As the slime forms, the tangled molecule strands are much like the clump of spaghetti!
Is slime a liquid or a solid? Read more about the science behind slime here.
BEST SLIME INGREDIENTS
There are 3 main ingredients for classic homemade slime that I will talk about below. Water is an essential ingredient as well! Baking soda is an important addition to saline solution slime and fluffy slime. It is necessary for the activator to fully work.
For more awesome slimy supplies and fun mix-ins, see our RECOMMENDED SLIME SUPPLIES. You will also find our favorite storage options.
1. GLUE
From what you read above, the right type of glue is very important and is the foundation for a good homemade slime. You want to look for a washable PVA based glue which is usually also listed as school glue.
Our choices usually include Elmer’s brand of washable school glues {see recommended supply list here}. Clear, white, and glitter are all good choices. Now many of you might not have access to Elmer’s so I would make sure you are finding that PVA based glue {polyvinyl-acetate}.
2. SLIME ACTIVATOR
Each of our basic slime recipes uses a different slime activator. The slime activator is the key ingredient for slime. When mixed with the PVA glue, the activator causes the specific chemical reaction that produces your slimy texture. If you don’t have the right slime activator, you don’t have slime.
Let’s talk a minute about slime activators, none of them are borax free. That’s right! Slime recipes are NOT completely borax free. Each of the popular slime activators that you see in all of those recipes will have at least one ingredient from the boron family.
Slime Activators are:
- Liquid Starch
- Saline Solution
- Borax Powder
Liquid starch contains sodium borate. The saline solution usually has two key ingredients including sodium borate and boric acid {yours might also just list one of these}. The borax powder contains, of course, borax.
It’s up to you to decide what you want to use, but I have seen a lot of sites claim that recipes using saline solution and liquid starch are borax free. This is NOT true 99% of the time.
There are tons of ways to make borax free homemade slime that include borax substitutes such as fiber, cornstarch, marshmallows but these WON”T give you the unique texture and stretch that you get with our classic slime recipes.
SLIME INGREDIENTS FOR OUR HOMEMADE SLIME RECIPES
No more having to print out a WHOLE blog post for just one recipe!
Get our basic slime recipes in an easy to print format so you can knock out the activities!
—>>> FREE SLIME RECIPE CARDS
LIQUID STARCH SLIME
To make our liquid starch slime recipe {which is super easy to make}, you need a bottle of liquid starch. This can be purchased in the laundry detergent aisle of your grocery store, big box store, and even online if necessary.
SALINE SOLUTION SLIME
The saline solution slime recipe trips people up the most because of the variety of saline solutions out there. This slime is the new popular slime in our recipe collection. It’s a good slime for UK slime recipes as well as Canadian slime recipes.
When you are looking for your saline solution, make sure the ingredients include sodium borate and boric acid. I can’t write it enough! You need these slime ingredients for making homemade slime. My favorite brand of saline solution is actually Target Brand!
BORAX SLIME
This is your most classic and most controversial slime recipe, and it requires a box of borax powder. I know that in Canada and the UK this is not a popular ingredient. Listen to Steve Spangler discuss borax in a video on Facebook.
This slime ingredient can easily be found in the laundry detergent aisle as well.
MORE HELPFUL SLIME RESOURCES
- HOW TO FIX STICKY OR HARD SLIME
- HOW TO GET SLIME OUT OF CLOTHES
- 21+ EASY HOMEMADE SLIME RECIPES
- THE SCIENCE BEHIND SLIME FOR KIDS
- YOUR BIGGEST SLIME QUESTIONS ANSWERED
THE BEST SLIME INGREDIENTS FOR AWESOME HOMEMADE SLIME!
Click on the image below or on the link for more easy homemade slime ideas!
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO GET YOUR FREE PRINTABLE SLIME INGREDIENTS LIST
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