Once you’ve started to make slime recipes, you just can’t stop! We’ve made so many slime variations, but we still love trying more!
This time, we wanted to try and see if we could recreate the effect of tie dye in our slime. With a little experimentation, we created the perfect tie dye slime!
The kids had a blast playing with this bright and happy slime recipe.
They were occupied for an entire hot summer afternoon. This project would be perfect on a rainy day, or any summer day when it’s too hot to go outside, but you don’t want the kids to become overloaded with electronic input.
Slime is the perfect sensory, hands-on and screen-free activity for kids!
You’ll also want to check out the ultimate list of summer STEM activities and the ultimate list of summer science experiments.
The Ultimate Tie Dye Slime Recipe
Read on to see how to make the very best tie dye slime recipe! And don’t forget to try our other fun summer slime recipes: ice cream slime, sand slime, ocean slime, and beach slime!
Check out the full list of summer slime recipes!
Tie Dye Slime Science
Slime is made when boron mixes with the polymer chains in the glue, creating strong, but flexible bonds between the molecules.
There are so many fun tweaks you can make to a basic slime recipe, like my kid’s favorite, fluffy slime! Since this slime does contain borax, if you have a sensitivity to it, you may want to try our baking soda slime instead.
DON’T MISS: THE ULTIMATE LIST OF SLIME RECIPES!
How to Color Slime with Food Coloring
If this is your first time making slime, you should follow along with our post on slime troubleshooting. Luckily,liquid laundry starch slime made with clear glue is the easiest slime recipe.
If you don’t want to waste a lot of ingredients, try mixing up a small batch first to make sure you won’t have to tweak it before you make the larger version.
We always stock up on gallon sizes of glue and the large laundry starch just in case something goes wrong (but it almost always goes smoothly).
When you add color, use gel colors, as they produce the most dramatic and bright colors. Using white glue also helps anchor and brighten deep colors.
Glue and Starch Slime Recipe
Follow these directions and you’ll have the best tie dye slime ever!
How to Make Colorful Tie Dye Slime
You need just a few things to make this colorful tie dye slime!
What you’ll need to make tie dye slime:
Elmer’s Liquid School Glue, Premium Clear, Washable, 1 Gallon, 1 Count – Great For Making SlimeFood Coloring Liqua-Gel – 6 Color Rainbow Kit in .75 fl. oz. (20ml) BottlesPurex Sta-Flo Liquid Starch, 64 OunceOriginal Stationery Arts and Crafts Glitter Shake Jars, Extra Fine, 24 Multi color Set
- Liquid laundry starch
- Elmer’s white glue
- Food coloring (this brand produces bright colors)
- Measuring cup
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:
- Add more activator. It could be you just didn’t add enough activator!
- 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.
Elmer’s Glue Tie Dye Instructions
Follow this recipe for liquid starch slime. We use 1 part glue, 1 part laundry starch, and 1/2 a part glue for our stretchy slime recipes.
You’ll need to make four different batches. Dye one red, one, green, one blue, and one yellow.
This will make the classic tie dye look, but of course, you can experiment with any color combinations you like.
Take four balls of slime (one of each color) and stack them. This will start the tie dye effect.
Gently stretch and twist the slime until the colors start to mix. Don’t over-mix though, or the entire thing will turn an ugly brown color.
Stretch and play with the slime.
Once the slime turns one color, get four more balls of slime and start the process over!
Tie dye slime is fun to watch drip and spread across a surface, like the bottom of a bowl or jar.
Try using differing amounts of different slime colors to make different tie dye patterns.
There is no end to the fun you can have with tie dye slime!
