How To Keep Slime Soft So Your Child's Playtime Isn't Ruined

Slime is the latest and greatest craze sweeping the nation (or rather, anyone who is under the age of 12 and DIY obsessed). But sometimes, a slime recipe can go horribly wrong. Whether you experimented a bit too much or your slime has just outlived its shelf life, slime loses its fun factor when it goest from stretchy to hard as a rock. Learning how to keep slime soft is a skill slime enthusiasts of all ages should employ to keep their creations as squishy, stretchy, and supple as the day they made it.

To start, it's important to properly store your slime once you've made it in order to prevent it from hardening in the first place. Thought Co. noted that keeping your slime in a air tight container like a zip lock bag or a bowl with a tight lid should prolong the life of your slime. Sometimes hard slime is impossible to prevent though and, when worst comes to worst, softening it is your best bet.

Luckily, making your slime soft again isn't a difficult task. It turns out that there are several methods for softening hardened, non-"pokeable," breakable slime. All of the methods are fairly simple, but the easiest method of all uses only warm water soften the goo. In her YouTube video, Big World of DIY explains that warm water can soften slime and transform it from brittle, boring slime to soft and stretchy slime once again.

All you do is put a few tablespoons of warm water into a bowl, and knead your slime into the water. The slime will absorb some of the water, making it instantly softer. Add more water if your slime isn't soft enough, but be sure not to add too much, or it will quite literally fall apart in your hands.

If you're hoping to transform a small batch of slime that has gone hard or thickened, YouTuber Talisa Tossell has a trick to turn your slime into an entirely new batch of slime.

Similar to the first softening method, you begin by adding water to your slime. This time though, submerge your slime in hot water, slowly stirring with a spatula until it mostly dissolves in the water.

From there, you'll add a few pumps of foaming shaving cream to give it a "bubbly texture" at the end. Tossell admitted that she added a bit too much water, so if that is your case, be sure to have extra slime activator on hand to get it back to the thick, gooey texture that you're hoping for. Continue to knead and stir until it all comes together into one beautiful ball of slime-y goodness, and your work here is done.