Like baking, making slime is a science. When you combine the ingredients, you create a new substance that, depending on how you interact with it, can become sticky, hard, lumpy, or everything that you don’t want your slime to be.
Making slime seems simple enough since most slime recipes only have three ingredients. However, different factors such as the environment and the ingredients can affect how the slime turns out. Since most DIY slime is glue-based, you’ll likely get very sticky slime that’s not very fun to play with.
Does lotion make slime less sticky? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is no. If you have lotion on your hands, it may be easier to remove sticky slime, but adding lotion to the slime itself does very little to make slime less sticky.
If you have very sticky slime and want to learn how to improve it, below are some of the ways that you can make your slime less sticky.
Does Lotion Make Slime Less Sticky?
If you have very sticky slime that is sticking to your skin, applying lotion can help remove the sticky slime from your skin. However, the slime itself won’t be any less sticky.
Instead, adding lotion can help increase the stretchy properties of your homemade slime, so if you have very rubbery slime that is difficult to play with, adding a little bit of lotion can make the slime stretchier.
However, sticky slime requires another solution altogether. In the next section, let’s learn about some ways that you can make your DIY slime a little bit less sticky.
How To Make Slime Less Sticky Without Baking Soda
Making slime, while fun, can be quite tricky. This is a process that involves creating a chemical reaction between the ingredients, so if you don’t follow the instructions properly, you likely won’t get a very good result.
Our first advice for making the perfect slime is to follow the recipe to the letter. There are so many different recipes to make slime out there, and each one requires very specific measurements and processes. Following the recipe will make sure that you’ll always get the perfect slime.
However, sometimes mistakes can happen, and you can end up with an undesirable, sticky slime that’s not fun for anyone. In that case, there are still some ways to improve the slime without throwing the entire thing away.
Below are three ways that you can make the slime less sticky:
1. Knead The Slime
One of the most popular ingredients of slime is Elmer’s glue, which is a non-toxic glue that’s designed to be sticky. In most slime recipes that use glue, you’ll need to use an activator, like Borax or starch, to form links between the long chains of the chemical.
This is a chemical process that makes the entire solution less sticky and slimier. If the product still remains sticky, it means that the link between the chains is not fully formed.
In this case, there are two things you can do. You can continue kneading the dough over a flat, dry surface to allow the ingredients to continue interacting with each other. Kneading can help reduce the water content, which can hugely improve the slimy texture.
If, after kneading vigorously for about 10 minutes, the sticky texture still remains, you can try the next thing, which is to add a bit more activator to allow the chemical reaction to continue.
2. Activator
Each slime recipe uses a different activator. The most common activators are Borax, baking soda, saline solution, liquid starch, etc. These activators are added to the recipe to encourage a chemical reaction that reduces the glue’s stickiness.
If you don’t have baking soda, you can use another activator, which will do the trick just fine.
If you have followed the recipe correctly and the slime still feels too sticky to your liking, you can try adding a little bit more activator, a little bit at a time. After adding the activator, you can continue kneading the entire dough to mix the activator well with the rest of the ingredients.
If the slime is still sticky, you can add a little bit more and continue this process until you have reached the desired texture.
It might be tempting in this process to add a huge chunk of activators at a time to save time, but we encourage you not to do that. The chemical reaction happens slowly, and if you add too much at a time, you can end up with a brittle slime dough that won’t resemble slime at all.
In that case, you can add a little bit more glue and water to counteract the activator, which will return the slime to the desired state.
3. Add Baby Oil
If all else fails, baby oil is a wonderful option to help slime become less sticky.
Just a few drops of baby oil can do wonders to remove the slime’s stickiness, so you should add one to two drops at a time and knead well to combine the oil with the dough, and all the sticky textures will be completely removed.
How To Make Slime Less Sticky If It Is Not Glue-Based
While Elmer’s glue is the most ingredient in homemade slime, it’s not the only one. Non-glue-based slime can be made from soap or shampoo, in which case, you won’t be able to follow the tips above to make the slime less sticky.
If you have a soap-based or shampoo-based slime that is too sticky, you can follow the tips below to improve the texture.
1. Freeze It
Yes, sticking the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes can significantly improve the stickiness of the dough. The water content in the dough will freeze up, allowing the dough to thicken after just a few minutes in the freezer.
If you follow this trick, make sure to store the dough in a Ziploc bag or an air-tight container before putting your slime in the freezer.
2. Add More Starch
Shampoo or soap can be quite runny, so if you find that your slime is too sticky, you can add a little bit of corn starch and knead it into the dough to allow the slime to thicken.
Similar to the tips above, you should add a little bit at a time so that you can stop right when the desired texture is achieved.
If you find that the slime has become a bit brittle, you’ve added too much corn starch. In this case, adding more water or shampoo can relax the dough and return it to the desired slime texture.
How To Take Care Of Slime
After going through all the trouble to make the perfect slime, you should know how to store it properly so that it can stay in the desired texture for longer.
First, you should store your slime in an air-tight container or Ziploc bag in a dry and cool place. The ingredients in slime can dry up and become brittle quite easily, so putting your slime in an air-tight container can prevent it from drying out.
You should also keep the slime away from any heat. Heat can also cause the water content in the slime to evaporate and dry out, causing a brittle texture. Storing your slime in a dry, cool place will help to prevent that.
If you have a slime that’s been in storage for a while, before you want to play with it, you should open the container and let the slime be exposed to air for a few minutes to relax it before kneading it. This step will create the best texture for the slime.
If you worry about the slime sticking to your hands, then applying lotion to hydrate your hands before playing with slime can really prevent the stickiness and add a bit of stretch to the slime itself.
Related Questions
Why Isn’t My Slime Working?
If you have followed the instructions and your slime is still not turning out the way you want it, chances are, your ingredients have gone bad.
Elmer’s glue, baking soda, or Borax all have expiration dates, and if they have been sitting in your cupboard for too long, they’re not going to make good ingredients for slime.
If you have a questionable bottle of glue in your cupboard and you’re wondering whether it’s still good to make slime, check the expiration date. If it’s past the expiration date, you shouldn’t use it for slime.
Can You Substitute Baby Powder For Baking Soda In Slime?
While the two are very similar in texture, you should not substitute baby powder for baking soda to make slime. A baby powder won’t be able to recreate the same chemical reaction when you make slime, and it can make the slime even stickier than before.
This is why you should never use baby powder to substitute for baking soda when making slime. If you do, the slime will not be usable, and you won’t be able to fix the stickiness.
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