Slime makers of Australia rejoice! Finally Elmers glue is back!
It is being stocked at a number of shops. We have seen it at Coles, Woolworths and Spotlight stores BUT you need to be quick as they literally run out the door in no time, every time they re-stock. If you’ve seen YouTube videos and recipes from America it’s the one glue that everyone uses as it is made there, and is the best for slime making. This is what it looks like below. We have also used J. Burrows brand from Officeworks with success and the Kmart brand one also works. However Elmers glue works consistently and the slime lasts for ages. We’ve been making slime for years but sadly when the supermarkets stopped stocking Elmers Glue about 2 years ago, we found it was very hit and miss with other glue brands.
Having spent a small fortune on glues and ingredients over the years, with a lot of trial and error, this recipe for Fluffy Slime is one our favourites and it should work every time. We’ve also got a few tips below for fixing slimes when they are not quite right.
Ingredients for making Fluffy Slime
- Elmer’s School Glue White 225ml bottle
- Approx. 6 teaspoons of Borax solution (made from 1 teaspoon of Borax mixed with 1 cup of warm water)
- Approx. 1 cup shaving foam
- Approx. 1/2 cup foaming hand soap
- Approx. 15 pumps of body lotion
- 1 Tablespoon Baby Oil
- 2 Tablespoons cornflour
- Washable Kid’s Paint – we use the Crayola brand and we loved this Neon Colours pack pictured below.
How to Make Fluffy Slime
Step 1: Make the Borax solution by mixing 1 teaspoon of Borax with 1 cup of hot or warm water and mix to dissolve. We like to put it into a sauce bottle so we can dispense and store it easily. We recommend that you don’t allow young children to do this step on their own.
Step 2: Pour the Elmer’s glue into a mixing bowl.
Step 3: Add in the shaving foam, foaming soap, body lotion, cornflour and baby oil. It doesn’t really matter what order you add these.
Step 4: Stir all the ingredients together and break up any clumps of flour.
Step 5: Slowly add a teaspoon at a time of the Borax solution into the mixture and stir. Do not add too much all at once. If you put too much Borax solution the slime will harden and won’t be stretchy. Add enough Borax until the slime comes away from the sides of the bowl and forms together like a sticky dough. We used approximately 6 teaspoons. We can’t stress enough to be careful that you do not add too much Borax solution. The slime can turn to a hard rubbery mess, that breaks instead of stretches, very quickly if too much Borax solution is added. If you do go overboard see our Slime Making Tips here to fix.
Step 6: Take the slime out of the bowl and knead it with your fingers.
Watch our video below to see what happens when you add the activator – the Borax solution- to the glue mixture. This is when the magic happens.
We like to add the colour last. This way you can divide up your white slime and make more than one colour from each batch. Just pour on some washable kid’s paint and mix it into the slime. Keep adding more paint until you have the shade you like. You can also add sequins or foam balls or anything you like to the slime.
The best thing about using washable kid’s paint is that it doesn’t stain hands, clothes or surfaces (unlike food colouring). Plus the colours are fabulous.
TIP: With this type of white glue slime we find that glitter doesn’t really work. It doesn’t really sparkle – it appears more like little dots. It’s best to use glitter with clear glue slime. See the recipe for Easy Glitter Slime here.
Step 7: Add the Kid’s washable colour paint to the slime and mix it in with your hands.
Store your slime in an air-tight container – plastic containers, glass jars or zip lock bags all work. You will be able to enjoy it for many weeks if stored properly. Read our tips for handy hints about slime making, what all the ingredients do, why they’re included, how to clean off slime and how to fix it if things go a bit wrong:
See our Tips for Making Slime & How to Fix Slime here
See our Easy Recipes for Glitter Slimes here
CLICK HERE FOR OUR FULL SEP/OCT 2021 SCHOOL HOLIDAY GUIDE
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication.
Image Source: All photos by Play & Go
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Is it possible to substitute contact lens solution for the borax solution? I am a teacher and don’t want to take the risk using borax with other people’s children. Have you tried the saline/contact lens solution before?
Sorry, we haven’t tried the contact lens solution ourselves but have seen plenty of recipes using it. However the contact lens solution needs to be one that contains boric acid for it to work, so it’s basically the same thing.