How to change and soften slime?

Slime is a soft and elastic toy that easily stretches and takes the desired shape. One of the features of slimes is their short service life. To extend it a little, you need to learn how to properly care for the slimes and store them.

The slime needs additional care if it has been used for a very long time or stored in the wrong conditions. To extend the life of your toy, you need to buy it from a trusted manufacturer.

Factory slimes that can be bought at the store have the longest lifespan. The fact is that in their manufacture, preservatives and chemical thickeners are used. This makes the toys more durable and practical. When buying, you need to pay attention to the quality of both the slime itself and the container in which it is located. A poorly packaged and suspicious-looking product usually does not last long.

When buying from masters who are engaged in the production of slimes at home, you should pay attention not only to photos of slimes, but also to reviews about sellers. It is quite possible to find high-quality slime with a long service life from such manufacturers.

As a rule, in order to make a slime that has become firm, softer and more elastic, people use the means at hand.

It is possible to make the slime softer at home by adding a little citric acid to the base. It should be remembered that this product is a strong emollient. Therefore, the amount of powder used must be controlled. Otherwise, literally in a minute, the slime will turn into a colored puddle.

Immediately after adding a small amount of citric acid to the jelly mass, mix it well. At first it will be slightly sticky, but after a couple of minutes everything will be back to normal.

You can "revive" an old antistress toy by slightly warming it up. For this the slime should be placed in a deep bowl and add a little hot water there. After that, the container with slime must be sent to the microwave for 15 seconds. During this time, it will slightly melt, and it will be easier to recover it.

Taking out a container with slime from the microwave, you need to wait until it cools down. After that, you need to mix it gently. If the slime turns out to be too liquid, add a couple of drops of the thickener to the bowl. After that, it must be thoroughly mixed.

Another easy way to soften hardened slime is to mix it with a little toothpaste and shampoo. To prevent the toy from changing its color and aroma, you need to use transparent products with a neutral odor. After adding the paste or shampoo, the slime should be slightly kneaded.

When choosing this method of softening slime, you should pay attention to the fact that it does not work with all slimes.

So that the slime does not dry out and remains elastic and pleasant to the touch, you can gradually add vegetable oil to it. After such processing, the product must be kneaded for several minutes each time. You can also use massage oil or baby oil instead. The result will be the same.

This product is also used for slides quite often. The dried slime must be carefully rolled into a cake. The lotion must be distributed over the entire surface of this mass. After a couple of minutes, the toy must be kneaded in your hands. If it has not hardened very much, you can not wait.

In addition to the most popular products that are used to soften slimes, others can be used.

1. Water. Plain water can be used to soften most types of slimes. "Handgums" should be placed in a deep bowl or jar. You also need to add a teaspoon of water there. After a couple of minutes, remove the slime from the bowl and knead it gently. If you wish, you can go the other way. In this case, the slime will simply need to be lowered under a stream of hot water, and then kneaded.
2. Antibacterial gel. Like water, this product is great for working with all kinds of slimes. To process the product, add 3-4 drops of gel to a bowl of slime. After that, the slime must be gently kneaded with your hands. Repeat the procedure if necessary.
3. Mouthwash. This is a budget softener that you can buy at your drugstore or supermarket. It should only be used if the slime is not very old and dry. Working with this material is easy: you just need to add it to a bowl of slime and mix everything well. A couple of minutes after this, the slime can be used for playing.
4. Hand cream. This product is used to soften dense slimes. Before starting the procedure, you just need to lightly grease your hands with cream. After that, you can start working with the slime.Knead the slime until it becomes quite soft.
5. Glycerol. This is another popular pharmacy product that is very cheap and can be used to soften all types of slimes. You need to add it directly to the jar with slime. You need to use a small amount of the product. You can also add a little glycerin to a jar of slime for prophylaxis. This will also extend the life of the slime.
6. PVA glue. Stationery glue is used to work with dense matte slimes. You can add it both to the purchased slime, and to the hand-made one. In order to soften the toy, put it in a tight plastic bag. A small amount of glue must also be added there. After closing the package, the slime must be kneaded until smooth. When working with a transparent slime, stationery glue can be replaced with silicate glue.
7. Petrolatum. This product with a thick consistency will make the slime soft and supple. It must be squeezed out of the tube into an enamel container and melted in a water bath. The mixture must not be allowed to boil. The warm product must be carefully spread over the surface of the dried slime. After that, the product must be quickly kneaded until smooth.

If the slime is constantly torn during play, acetone can also be poured into it. Add 10 ml of nail polish remover to a small container with a toy. It is also necessary to squeeze out some shaving foam there. All this mass must be mixed with a wooden stick, and then kneaded with your hands. It is necessary to work with acetone carefully, making sure that the product does not come into contact with the skin or eyes. Using this method, you can save even a completely spoiled slime.

So that the product does not become completely dry and does not crack, you need to adhere to certain preventive measures.

1. When making slime at home, add the thickener gradually to the bowl. In this case, the mass must be thoroughly mixed each time. This will allow you to stop in time and not overdo it with the thickener.
2. The slime must be stored correctly. The toy must not be left unpacked. The lid on the container must be tightly closed. It is best to keep the slime in the refrigerator to prevent spoilage. So it will not lose its elasticity longer.
3. You should not store slimes in the freezer - no matter what recipe they were prepared according to. If you take them out of there, they very quickly lose their shape and turn into jelly.
4. You shouldn't buy a slime without planning to use it on an ongoing basis. If you leave such a toy unattended for a long time, it can dry out and change color.
5. From time to time, add a little warm water or antibacterial gel to a jar or bowl of slime. This will maintain the elasticity of the toy and make it safer to play.
6. Do not use starch or flour to increase the volume of the slime. This will cause the toy to harden faster.

To make the anti-stress toy more attractive, slimers go to different tricks.

In some cases, after a long game, the slime becomes small and loses its shape. As a rule, this indicates that he lacks moisture. In order for the slime to become large and elastic again, you need to add a little salt water to the jar. The liquid must be warmed up to room temperature.

You need to add a little salt to the container. Next, the slime should be immersed in a container with saline solution and covered with a lid. In this form, it must be left for 2-3 hours. After that, you need to get it out, dry it and knead it well.

Another great way to make your slime big and airy is to add foam or snow spray to it. The product must be mixed well until smooth. You will get an original and pleasantly crispy toy.

Kinetic sand can also be used to enlarge the slime. You can buy it at a children's store or office supply. Outwardly, this material looks like ordinary sand. But, as a rule, it is painted in a bright color. In addition, it does not crumble when used. Kinetic sand can only be added to the slime to increase the volume if this agent is originally included in the toy. You can find out about this by examining the composition of the purchased slime.

To increase the volume, one tablespoon of sand is added to a jar of slime. After that, the toy must be gently kneaded and the procedure repeated. As a result, the slimer will have a voluminous and elastic lump that stretches well and does not lose its shape for a long time.

In some cases, after a certain time after purchase, not only the appearance of the slime changes, but also its smell. There are two main reasons that can lead to this.

First, the smell changes if the slime has expired. It usually lasts from one to three months. Homemade slimes are stored for only a few weeks. If the expiration date of the toy has expired, it will no longer be possible to eliminate the unpleasant odor emanating from it. Therefore, it will have to be thrown out.

Secondly, the slime changes its smell if played with dirty hands. To get rid of the unpleasant odor, the slime simply needs to be rinsed under running water until it becomes fairly clean. After this treatment, the slime must be placed in a container with water and soda for an hour. This will also help freshen up the color of the toy.

There are other ways to change the appearance of the slime. For this, you can use various dyes, flavors and decorative details.

1. Dyes. You can change the color of the slime using gouache or watercolor. But the safest are food colors. They are natural, which means they can be safely used to color the slimes that children play with.
2. Fluorescent paints. To make the toy glow in the dark, you can use high-quality fluorescent paint to decorate it. In this case, it is worth remembering that it does not give color.
3. Styrofoam. Small balls of different colors will make the toy crisp and thicker. For the same purpose, many slimers use beads.
4. Glitter. Very often, the appearance of slimes is changed by adding small glitters made from pieces of foil to it. They are usually round in shape. But sometimes there are also sparkles in the form of stars. This type of glitter is perfect for creating bright "space" slimes. They are usually made from a transparent or light blue base.
5. Small toys. You can also add small toys to the transparent slime. Most often, special polymer clay charms are used for this purpose. You can even make them yourself. In some cases, they are also replaced with cheap figurines that are used for manicure.
6. Foam cubes. Such decorative details are often used to create fluffy air slimes. Slimes with a similar additive turn out to be more voluminous and crunch interestingly when squeezed. To decorate slimes, cubes of different colors are usually used.
7. Aroma oils. This product will not only change the smell of the slime, but also make the old toy softer. Use only a few drops of oil to work with slime. It is worth choosing a product with a light and pleasant aroma that is liked by all family members.

If the toy has lost its attractiveness and cannot be restored, you should not rush to throw it away. Even if the slime has become completely dry and tears when stretched, it can still be used in everyday life.

• The easiest way is to use an old toy to create a new one. To do this, you just need to crumble the dried slime into small pieces and add it as a light filler to a new toy. It will turn out beautiful and rather unusual.
• Colored Slime Pieces can also be used to create beautiful decor items. The brightly colored toy can be sliced ​​neatly and placed in a glass bottle or small jar. It will look great on the shelf. You can make such a decoration more unusual by mixing several slimes of different colors or adding sequins, rhinestones or charms to them.
• If the slime no longer stretches and the situation can no longer be corrected, it can be turned into a small bouncing ball. To get a larger product, you just need to mix several toys of different colors. It is advisable to choose slimes without fillers. In this case, they will only interfere.

For information on how to soften slime, see the next video.