2017 Bellya Summer In Review: Craftzilla - DIY Floam Slime! - The Bellya - Bellevue Public Library: Young Adult Department

Earlier this July, teens took to our large event room to science up some floam slime! It can be a tricky process: too much or too little of an element can result in a tough dough or a sticky mess.

But with careful instructions--and perhaps a little intuitive sense (*gasp* Is that...unscientific?) (No. 😉)--you can repeat the perils and pleasures of slimemaking.

🖸🖸 📅 Eyeball future Bellya calendars for ventures into fluffy slime and other variants!

For now, peek into the floam slime laboratory (explosion included):

A stretchy success!

(Borax-Free) Floam Slime Instructions

Borax is a mineral/chemical compound that can form naturally or be produced synthetically and is found in many cleaning products, cosmetics, and enamel glazes. There has been a lot of debate about whether it is safe to use these items (e.g., laundry detergent) to create slime, but no certain answers.

So to avoid any potential skin reactions, this recipe calls for contact lens or multi-purpose saline solution instead. The right kind of solution will contain small amounts of sodium borate or boric acid. These are disinfectants and anti-fungal agents used to prevent the growth of microorganisms on the eyes. Can't find them in the ingredient list? If the label reads "buffered solution," then it will work!

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Slime Troubleshooting

Keep your slime in a sealed container or it will dry out and harden. There's no saving it! But if it's only a bit stiff, you can try adding water a little at a time (about a tablespoon) and knead it until the slime softens. This takes time, so be patient!

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Step 1: start at this station with a mixing bowl, stir stick, and glue!

(Librarian tip: got a lot of glue-coated bowls and some leftover saline solution? Rub it into the bowls to make the glue easier to remove! Scrape what you can into a trash can first, rather than straight down the sink and into a clogging nightmare.)

Step 2: the contact lens solution station!

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Slime Troubleshooting

Too much solution can affect the elasticity of the slime, resulting in a rubbery snap that can rip instead of stretch. This is difficult to fix, but you can try adding a little more glue and baking soda mixture to balance it out. Otherwise, you may need to start over!

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A crucial meeting of chemicals: when a polyvinyl acetate (PVA) glue like Elmer's is mixed with a buffered saline solution, slime forms! It will be very loose at this point, which is the perfect time for:

Steps 3 and 4: color blending and the floam-tastic texture!

Food dye drops can be used for basic coloring and blending (e.g., blue + red = purple, red + yellow = orange, etc.) or search some skin-safe craft dyes for a larger range of hues.

Styrofoam balls are available in different sizes and colors. This floam slime features a tiny styroball in classic white. 😃✨

Step 5: better too little than too much! You can always add in more.

Finally, mix 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (or about a pinch) and a little water in separate container (like plastic cups) until thoroughly dissolved. Then pour into your slime bowl and stir, stir, stir!

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Slime Troubleshooting

Too much baking soda = a thick and unkneadable slime. Try working in some lotion, a little at a time, until it slackens!

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