Craft Recipes
Article #R077 Page 1 of 7
Subject: Craft Recipes
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Do-It-Yourself SLIME by Steven Spangler
2 ts Guar Gum
1 tb Borax
Water
Mixing bowl
Food colouring
Zipper lock bag
2 Empty plastic soda bottles to store the liquids
Making The Borax Water: Borax is a type of powder
soap that is available in most grocery stores. Add 1
tablespoon Borax powder to 1 cup of water. Stir
until most of the powder dissolves. Store the Borax
Water in a jar or bottle, and label the container
BORAX & WATER MIXTURE. Remember that one
cup of Borax Water
will make many batches of SLIME.
Preparing The Guar Gum (available at health food
stores): Measure 4 cups (approximately 1 litre) of
warm water into a large mixing bowl. Add 10 drops
of food colouring - possibly green! SLOWLY (very
slowly) stir in 2 teaspoons of guar gum. This fine
powder has a tendency to clump up if it is not stirred
into the water slowly. After thoroughly mixing, pour
the guar gum mixture into a soda bottle and label it
appropriately.
Making Slime: Pour 1/2 cup of the guar gum mixture
into a clean zipper-lock bag. Add 1 teaspoon of the
Borax Water mixture that you made previously. Seal
the bag and shake. Within seconds you'll have
prepared your very own batch of SLIME! This gooey
mixture will retain its slimy properties for 1-2 days
before finally turning into a watery mess. When the
SLIME is no longer good, seal it in the zipper-lock
bag and throw it away. Do not pour it down the drain.
How Does It Work: It's gooey, slippery, sticky, really
slimy and kids love it! Make up a batch of SLIME
and you'll be the hit of any party.
The mixture of guar gum with Borax and water
produces a slime- like material called a polymer. In
simplest terms, a polymer is a long chain of
molecules. As a model for these chains of molecules,
picture in your mind strands of cooked spaghetti. If
the polymer chains slide past each other easily, then
the substance acts like a liquid because the molecules
flow. If the molecules hook together at a few place