How To Fix Watery Slime | The Easiest Way - Survival Freedom (2024)

Fix watery slime by kneading it for longer. Add ½ teaspoon (3 ml) of activator if it is excessively sticky and watery. For thin, slippery slime, add ½ teaspoon (3 ml) of glue until it firms. Let the slime rest before kneading again. If it stays watery, ensure you’re using the right ingredients.

Watery slime isn’t fun at all; it’s sticky, wet, and challenging to manipulate and play with. The good news is that there are many ways to fix it. Read on to find out the steps involved in fixing watery slime and achieving your desired slime consistency.

1. Knead the Slime for at Least 3 Minutes

Once you’ve combined all the ingredients mentioned above, including your activator, spend at least three minutes kneading the slime. As everything blends together, the consistency should become less watery and more like a paste. Eventually, it should form a dough-like texture.

However, if you have a lot of slimes, the kneading process may take longer than five minutes. The more slime you’re making, the longer the kneading time. If you don’t knead the slime long enough, the ingredients won’t come together properly, and you may end up with a wet, sticky mess. You must continue kneading for at least three minutes to know whether or not you need to add additional ingredients.

Some slime recipes instruct you to add food coloring during the kneading process. Liquid food coloring may further thin the slime, so you may need to knead longer or use other steps in this article to firm the slime to your desired consistency. Also, remember that food coloring stains, so wear gloves to avoid coloring the skin.

2. Add More Slime Activator, Glue, or Baking Soda

After kneading, you may notice that the slime still isn’t the consistency you want. In that case, you can add additional ingredients to remove the excess moisture and add more firmness. The ingredients you’ll need to add will depend on the slime’s consistency.

Below, I’ll discuss whether you should use more glue, an activator, or baking soda for your slime. I’ll also explain how to fix runny slime without an activator.

When You Should Add More Slime Activator

Activator is a vital ingredient when making slime. Without an activator, you’re simply creating watery, colored glue. Activators are what bind to the glue molecules to create the “goop” we call slime.

After adding the activator, you knead the slime until it forms the right consistency. Sometimes, however, this isn’t enough to achieve the desired texture.

If, after kneading, the slime remains watery, thin, runny, and sticky, you probably didn’t use enough activator. You can add more activators to firm it up. Activators are borax-based solutions and are usually lens cleaners or contact lens solutions in glue-based slime recipes.

When adding more slime activator, add the ingredients in small quantities (about ½ teaspoon or 3 ml at a time) and knead as you go. This will help you to make the slime thicker and will help remove any extra stickiness. Continue adding tiny amounts until your slime no longer feels sticky and watery.

When You Should Add More PVA Glue

Sometimes, you might accidentally go overboard with the activator. In that case, there won’t be enough glue molecules for the activator solution to bind to. As such, you’ll end up with a slime with a very goopy, watery consistency. It’ll likely slip and slide everywhere, making it difficult to work with or play with.

While kneading, you might notice that the slime slides off your fingers and plops back down to the work surface. It’s likely difficult to hold. This is a sure sign that you’ve used too much activator solution.

Fortunately, this is an easy fix. You can add more PVA glue to fix goopy, watery, slippery slime. Add about ½ teaspoon (3 ml) of PVA glue at a time and combine it well with each addition. As you add the glue, the activator molecules bind to it, increasing the slime’s firmness. Pay close attention as you add the glue because you don’t want to add too much. If you do, you may end up with a slime that’s too firm!

Related The 3 Best Types of Glue for Building a Spaghetti Bridge.

When You Should Add Baking Soda

In slime recipes that use baking soda, you may be able to add a pinch of baking soda at a time to increase the firmness, as long as the slime isn’t excessively sticky. However, you should only add baking soda to your slime if it was part of the initial slime recipe.

This ingredient is excellent for thickening slimes that have thinned after adding liquid food coloring or other liquid additives (i.e., liquid glitter solutions, liquid scents, etc.). It can also reduce moderate stickiness. When adding baking soda, only add a pinch at a time, and knead well with every addition to avoid creating a hard slime.

How Do You Fix Runny Slime Without Activator?

If you need to fix a runny slime but don’t have a lens cleaner or contact lens solution, you’ll have to opt for an alternative activator solution or use more glue (depending on the consistency of your slime).

Fix thin, sticky, and runny slime by mixing one teaspoon of borax powder with one cup of warm water until the borax dissolves. Add ½ teaspoon (3 ml) of the mixture to the slime, and knead until it thickens. For thin and watery slime, add ½ teaspoon (3 ml) of PVA glue each time until it firms up.

If you’re interested in following another kind of slime recipe that doesn’t call for traditional slime-making ingredients, like glue and activator, consider using cornstarch and dish soap slime.

3. Let the Moisture Evaporate

If the slime isn’t incredibly thin but is wet and sticky, it may need a little time to rest to let some moisture escape. This is especially true if you’re working with clear slime. Giving the dough time to rest allows some of the residual water to evaporate, rendering the slime easier to work with.

Let your slime sit in a container exposed to open air for about an hour or two. After that time, knead the dough for three more minutes to see if it makes a difference. In most cases, you’ll find this is enough to remove excess water and stickiness.

4. Ensure You’ve Used the Correct Ingredients

If, after trying all of the aforementioned steps, the consistency of the slime still remains too thin or watery, you should double-check to ensure you’re using the correct ingredients.

The majority of slime recipes include the following ingredients:

• Polyvinyl Acetate (PVA) Glue. PVA glue is just white school glue.
• Baking Soda. This is the same baking soda used to make baked goods.
• Activator. When a recipe calls for the lens cleaner or contact lens solution, it must contain a borax-based ingredient, such as boric acid or sodium borate. Otherwise, the slime will not activate.

Boric acid works with PVA glue because the glue is essentially a liquid plastic. When borax and water combine with the glue, it forms bonds that create a soft, goopy plastic — slime!

Many people enjoy making slime using recipes that don’t call for glue. However, these don’t create the “goopy” slimes we’re used to. Instead, they create fluffy or more dough-like slimes. This is the case with cornstarch-based slime.

Why Is My Slime Watery? (Why Is My Slime Not Activating?)

Your slime may be watery and not activating because it wasn’t kneaded long enough, it needs more activator, glue, or baking soda, it requires a rest period, or you’re not using the correct ingredients. Glue-based slimes need a borax-based activator-like lens cleaner or contact solution.

Conclusion

Making slime is a fun, easy, and educational project requiring only two to five easily accessible and inexpensive ingredients. Sometimes, however, slime doesn’t turn out exactly how we want it the first time. Fortunately, this, too, is a learning experience, and there are several things you can do to improve the consistency of your slime and achieve the desired results.

For more, don’t miss What Is the Best Paper for Paper Airplanes? (That Fly Far).