wunderFix my slime
Find the symptom.
Do the fix.
Glue slime (borax or contact solution)
Too sticky, will not come off your hands
Likely cause: under-kneaded, or not enough activator.
Fix: knead for a full minute first. Most sticky slime only needs more kneading. Still sticky? Add half a teaspoon of activator and knead again. Add it a little at a time. You cannot take activator back out.
Borate bridges form as you knead. Too many is one-way.
Sticky and stringy after the sealed rest (clear slime)
Likely cause: activated lightly on purpose before the rest, and a week sealed in a warm jar loosened it more.
Fix: not ruined. Add half a teaspoon of activator, knead until it lifts off the tray and your hands come away clean, then stop. Repeat once if it still strings. One extra teaspoon turns it rubbery; if that happens, knead in a dab of lotion. Dye on your hands means too much coloring; next batch use less and stir it into the glue first. Store it sealed somewhere cool, and re-knead with a little activator if it slackens again.
Borate links are reversible. Warmth and time shift them back toward loose.
Stiff, rubbery, tears when pulled
Likely cause: too much activator.
Fix: knead in warm water or a squirt of lotion. It only partly comes back. Next batch, cut the activator by a quarter.
Melted to a puddle overnight
Likely cause: the links relaxed and the pH drifted.
Fix: re-knead with one drop of activator and a pinch of baking soda. Store it airtight.
Borate links need a pH around 8 to 9. Acid and air soften them.
Will not thicken no matter how much activator
Likely cause: the wrong activator.
Fix: with bottled slime activator, check that you added enough (a teaspoon at a time) and that the baking soda went in first. With contact solution, the bottle must list boric acid or sodium borate. Plain or sensitive saline has neither. Either way, half a tablespoon of baking soda per 5 oz of glue. It is the buffer that lets borate work.
Fluffy slime deflated by morning
Likely cause: the foam bubbles collapsed.
Fix: none needed. Fluff is a first-day texture. Store it as regular slime.
Color streaky, or it stains your hands
Likely cause: too much dye, added too late.
Fix: less dye, stirred into the glue before the activator. Streaks knead out. Stains fade with soap.
Smells sour after a few days
Likely cause: microbes in the water and gums.
Fix: throw it out. Next time use clean tools. A tiny pinch of salt slows it in gum slimes.
Shop slime lasts longer because it has preservatives.
Other goo
Gum slime is lumpy or grainy
Likely cause: the powder has not taken up the water yet.
Fix: blend or whisk harder, then rest 10 to 20 minutes. Lumps are dry powder, not a failed recipe.
Alginate orbs will not form a skin
Likely cause: a weak calcium bath, or an acidic mix.
Fix: strengthen the bath to about 1 percent calcium, give it 1 to 3 minutes, and do not color with acidic juice.
Oobleck too runny or too crumbly
Likely cause: the water to starch ratio.
Fix: runny, add cornstarch a spoon at a time. Crumbly, a splash of water. It works at about 55 percent starch by weight.
Gelatin squishy is too hard or snaps
Likely cause: too much gelatin, no softener.
Fix: remelt in 10-second bursts, stir in a tablespoon of glycerol, and recast. Glycerol is the softness knob.
Bouncy goo still runny after heating
Likely cause: too few heat cycles.
Fix: more cycles, not more powder. Microwave in short bursts until it foams, cool one minute, repeat. Still soft after four or five? Let it go fully cold, then judge. Next batch, add a quarter teaspoon of husk.
Bouncy goo gone tough, like an eraser
Likely cause: too many heat cycles.
Fix: knead in a spoonful of warm water and let it rest. It loosens a little but does not fully come back. Next batch, one or two fewer cycles, and write the count down.
Where these come from
WunderGoo is a slime recipe app for families. Tap what is in your kitchen, see what you can make, follow the steps with the grown-up parts marked. The fixes above sit inside every recipe under "Something's wrong?". Classic slime is free, no account.