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Slime Not Working? How to Fix Slime the Easy Way

Slime may be a hobby for others, but for our family, it’s a passion. We’ve tried over 100 slime recipes, and we’ve tried just about every variation there is, from classic borax slime to baking soda slime. Along the way, we’ve found the tricks and tips that  will work to make sure your slime comes out right every time you make it. Learn how to fix slime right here and get a complete slime troubleshooting guide!

How to fix slime! Slime not working? This slime troubleshooting guide answers slime fail questions like why is my slime not activating?

Follow along with these tips and tricks to keep your slime from becoming a mess and learn how to fix slime the right way so you don’t have to throw out your slime before you’ve even played with it once.

How to Fix Slime: Slime Troubleshooting Guide

So, you want to make slime. So you get some glue, and you get some borax or laundry starch, you mix it up, and bam!

A gloppy mess. What’s a person to do? Follow along with this guide on how to fix slime and you’ll never have a slime fail again, and learn how to make slime the right way!

Why is My Slime Not Activating?

Slime doesn’t always work, no matter what recipe you are making! Slime is made through a chemical reaction.

Sometimes the chemical reaction doesn’t work right- usually because someone hasn’t including the right ratio of ingredients.

Each slime recipe has a different solution, but typically, you’ll either have slime that is too thick, too sticky, or too runny.

Slime can be a tricky beast before you get the hang of it. But slime usually fails for one of three reasons:

  1. You used the wrong ingredients. We have the best luck with Elmer’s glue and Sta-flo laundry starch.
  2. You didn’t follow the recipe. Ratios are incredibly important for slime. We usually use a 1-1-1 ratio with water, starch, and glue.
  3. Your ingredients failed. Sometimes, a batch of glue or starch won’t be mixed right, and that can cause slime to fail.
slime stem activity

Why is My Slime Watery?

Watery slime usually means you messed up the ratio, but it’s usually completely fixable. If your slime is too watery, try this:

  1. Add more activator. It could be you just didn’t add enough activator!
  2. Pour off excess liquid. It could be that you added too much water or activator and need to pour off some access.

If that doesn’t work, try adding a bit more glue.

Why is My Slime Sticky?

Sticky slime usually means you don’t have enough activator. Try adding a bit more.

If that doens’t work, you may need to add something dry, like cornstarch, to help reduce how sticky your slime is. I like to add either cornstarch or shaving cream to eliminate stickiness.

how to fix slime

How to Fix Slime

Here’s what to do if your slime recipes don’t seem to be working!

You can’t fix slime without the right ingredients. Find what you need to fix slime here:

And if you can’t get your slime to work with the above ingredients, this slime fixing spray is like magic! It makes sticky slime just like new again.

How to Fix Watery Slime

You probably used the wrong kind of glue or didn’t put in enough starch or borax. Add more and keep mixing.

How to Fix Fluffy Slime

You may have put in too much starch or borax. You might be able to fix this by adding more glue or water, but this is the hardest problem to fix, and you might have to throw the slime out.

Does your slime always flop? Use this slime troubleshooting guide to help you make the perfect slime recipe every time and become a slime expert!

How to Fix Stringy Slime

You may not have kneaded the slime enough. I’ve found that letting it rest for about 2 minutes then kneading again helps fix any stringy problems.

How to Fix Slime with too Much Borax

If your slime has too much borax, it will be brittle. The best thing to do is to add a bit more water and glue. Add just a bit at a time and let it sit with the borax slime for a few minutes.

Then, knead the slime to mix it carefully.

You can also add lotion to slime to make it less crumbly.

slime stem activity

How to Fix Slime with too Much Shaving Cream

If you’ve put in too much shaving cream, that’s easy to fix! Simply run the slime under cold water for a few seconds to get rid of the extra shaving cream.

Then let the slime rest for 5 minutes and it should be ready to go.

How to Fix Runny Slime

Runny slime happens often when you don’t have enough glue, or you might be making an alternative slime recipe, which just tend to be runnier than slime activated with borax.

Try adding more glue or more activator to your slime and see if that fixes the problem.

Slime Recipes for Begenniers

We’ve made slime so many times, we’re slime experts, but you can be as well when you follow along with our handy guides. You’ll find tons of slime recipes and guides to follow to supply you with enough slime projects to last through this year and as long as you want!

Make sure to follow the tips and tricks in this guide to ensure your slime comes out right. You don’t want to waste ingredients!

Nothing is worse than realizing you mixed a recipe wrong or forgot an important ingredient. Always read your list and check it twice just like Santa would.

Click on the links above to get a recipe for each slime listed. Making slime is easy and fun once you’ve learned how to fix slime fails!

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