How To Make Slime: The Ultimate Guide With Multiple Recipe Options

How To Make Slime. These are the very best tried-and-true slime recipes and instructions plus troubleshooting tips, slime videos and everything you need to know to make the best slime ever!

Have you tried making slime? It’s so much fun! But there are dozens of homemade slime recipes out there and when we first started making slime, we had some pretty epic failures. So we decided to do some testing to find the best slime recipes ever. We tested dozens of different types of slime and learned a ton about how to make slime— what works and what doesn’t. This post will teach you everything you need to know to become a slime master!

If you would rather watch a slime video, scroll down to the bottom of this post! I have also included a printable page with all six slime recipes so you can print it out to refer to while you make slime. It’s at the very bottom of the post too!

What Do You Need To Make Slime?

Slime can be made in several different ways with different ingredients, but basically you need two parts: glue and an activator.

These are the most common slime activators:

• borax (boric acid or sodium borate)
• liquid starch
• baking soda + contact/saline solution
• liquid laundry detergent

We had great success with both borax and liquid starch, but time and time again we had problems using baking soda and contact lens solution, so we don’t recommend recipes that use them. We didn’t like contact solution slime at all!

We also found a recipe that doesn’t require glue, so you can still make slime even when you’re out of glue.

If you have sensitive skin or are worried about touching the slime, you can wear disposable gloves while mixing slime. I didn’t find this to be necessary and had no adverse reaction to any of the chemicals used, but it’s totally up to you.

How Do You Make Slime?

We’ll start with the classic easy slime recipe using white Elmer’s glue and Borax. We like this recipe because the slime is stretchy, durable and really fun to play with. Borax can be purchased at stores like Walmart in the laundry detergent aisle. It’s a powder that comes in a big box, so to use it for making slime, you’ll have to dissolve it into hot water. Once you have mixed up the Borax solution, you’ll have way more than you need for just one batch of slime. We put ours into a little travel sized bottle so we could save it for later.

Troubleshooting Tips: If your slime is sticky, add more borax while kneading. But be careful… if you add too much, the slime will be too stiff and lose its stretchiness.

How Do you Make Slime Without Borax?

Some people have concerns about children using borax because it can cause skin irritation. Have no fear! We have a really great slime recipe that doesn’t use any Borax.

For our borax-free slime recipe, we used liquid starch. This is also available in the laundry aisle at stores like Walmart and a giant bottle is only a few dollars. Yay! This slime feels almost exactly the same as the borax slime. We love that it’s stretchy and fun to play with and it’s easier to make than the classic slime recipe. We actually prefer this slime recipe over the one with borax!

If you want extra stretchy slime, add a squirt of hand lotion to the mixture and smoosh it in. Not only will your slime be stretchier, but it will smell amazing too!

How Do You Make Fluffy Slime?

The next slime recipe is our favorite because of its unique, fluffy texture. Fluffy slime is light and airy but still stretchy. It’s like playing with a cloud!

Can You Make Slime Without Glue?

What if you want to make slime, but you’re out of glue? This next recipe is for you! We were able to make a fun slime that doesn’t require any glue. It isn’t as stretchy as the other slime recipes and is a bit messy, but it has a powdery soft texture and is still fun to try.

You don’t need to add food coloring to this slime because it will stay the color of the dish soap or conditioner. This slime was our least favorite, but in a pinch it works. It doesn’t last overnight either, so if you make this slime, you can only play with it for a day before it gets too crumbly. It smells great, though!

How Do I Make Clear Slime?

Clear slime is the prettiest because the colors are more vibrant. It’s the best kind of slime to add glitter to, because you can really see it. You can make clear slime with either borax or liquid starch as the activator. If you want to make glitter slime, you can also substitute clear glue for glitter glue and it’ll make an awesome glitter slime.

How Do I Make Butter Slime?

Butter slime (also called cloud slime) is hands-down our favorite slime as far as texture. It’s soft and stretchy and forms really cool shapes. And it’s not sticky or wet at all! The only downside of butter slime is that it takes a special ingredient, Model Magic. You can buy it in the kids craft aisle at Walmart, but it’s much cheaper on Amazon.

What Can I Add To Slime?

The best part of making your own slime is that there are so many fun ways to personalize it! Once you’ve mastered one or two of the recipes above, you can get creative and make all kinds of fun slime variations.

Here are some of our favorite things to add to slime:

• Glitter makes slime look so pretty and sparkly!
• Foam Balls give your slime a really fun, bumpy texture.
• Confetti will give you lots of color variation. Just be sure to pick metal confetti (without sharp edges) because paper confetti will dissolve in the slime.
• Cut Up Rubber Bands add color and texture. We used our stash of loom bands from making rubber band bracelets.
• Craft Paint will give you the brightest, most saturated colors of slime and there are more colors available than just using food coloring. Just squirt a dollop of paint into the glue at the same time you would normally add food coloring and stir to mix it in. The price on Amazon is high, so I’d buy it at a craft store.
• Beads are a fun addition and there are so many different sizes, colors and types available.
• Metallic Eyeshadow Powder gives your slime the look of liquid metal!
• Glow in the Dark Powder

We also found this awesome slime kit that has lots of cool slime add-ins all in one. It’s going on our Amazon wish list for sure!

How Do I Store Slime?

We recommend storing your slime creations in a plastic container with an airtight lid. You could use a plastic zip bag, but sometimes it’s hard to get it back out. If you leave your slime sitting out exposed to the air, it will dry out and lose stretchiness, so don’t forget to put it away when you’re done playing.

If you want to see these awesome slimes in action, you’ll definitely want to watch this slime video.

Slime Video

Looking for another fun slime idea?

Check out this BOOGER SLIME. My little boy thinks it’s hilarious!

Note: If you can’t access the files above, it is probably because you are on a work or school computer that blocks access to Google Drive. Try again at home or on an unrestricted computer.

Thanks for stopping by to learn all about making slime. Pin the image below to save this idea for later!