Re: How do you make slime?

Slime is a colloidal suspension of long strands of molecules, called polymers, floating in a liquid, usually water. Two common colloidal suspensions are milk and gelatin. If you've had either, you know that milk is more like a liquid, and gelatin is more like a solid. The key difference between the two is cross-linking. Cross- linking involves attaching neighboring molecules to each other to limit their movements relative to each other. So, slime is a colloidal suspension in which the polymer strands have been cross-linked.

Now that the chemistry is out of the way, we can get down to making slime. There are two recipes that I found on the web: one for real slime (like the stuff you can buy in a store), which uses Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA); and one for glue slime, which uses common white glue (like Elmer's). In both cases, a suspension of the polymer is made in water, and then Borax is added to around 0.5% to cross-link the polymer strands. After mixing, the end result is slime. Food colors can be added to enhance the experience, and the slime should keep for a long time in an airtight container. Good Sliming!