If you have a child that wants to make slime or already loves to make slime then you might be wondering, “Is slime safe?” or, “Is homemade slime toxic or dangerous?”
I am going to share my honest thoughts about slime here with you based on my own personal experience.
I think it’s important to know that slime making is in fact a SCIENCE EXPERIMENT and should be treated like the chemistry experiment that it is.
Is Slime Safe?
The best way for a parent to judge how safe something is, is to actually try it themselves.
Not sure what the potential dangers are? Then check this out.
Before allowing my children to make slime for the first time, I attempted to learn how make slime myself. This recipe used Borax in the recipe and what I found, for me, was that my hands tingled a bit after making the slime. I felt a little uncomfortable but couldn’t determine whether it was all in my head because of the news article I had seen about a little girl who burned her hands by making slime too many times or whether it really did hurt my hands.
Then I attempted to learn how to make slime without borax and for me, those recipe’s did not give my hands any type of burning sensation.
The alternatives included contact lens saline solution and Staflo… which I later found still contain boric acid.
Contact lens saline solution contains boric acid and sodium borate.
What I found, again for me, was that when I touched the Staflo and contact lens solution without gloves, my hands did not tingle, burn or anything.
However, when my husband later touched the finished slime made with Staflo, he complained of what felt like a small burn on his hand. He was not aware of the news articles about slime burning a child’s hand so I feel like his point of view was not influenced by hearing about the news story.
So why is it that Staflo slime hurt his hands but didn’t bother my hands?
I don’t know… maybe we are all different and what affects one person may not affect another. Maybe it’s because I immediately wash my hands after touching slime and he didn’t.
What I DO know is that I am not 100% comfortable with my children making slime without my supervision.
Why slime needs to be made under parent supervision:
- It is important to see how much of each ingredient your child is putting in.
- So that you can make sure your child does not touch the mixture with their bare hands
- So you can remind them to wash their hands after they play with slime
- Ensure that they do not touch their mouth or eyes.
I almost ALWAYS do the kneading/binding part of the slime making process for my kids. After I have kneaded it a bit, I give them a go…
Tell your kids about the side effects of slime
I think it’s important to talk to your kids about the potential side effects of slime. If your child is aware that slime CAN burn their hands, they will be more responsible with how they play with it.
Some slime side effects to watch out for:
- tingling and/or burning hands
- headaches
- sore throat
- diarrhea
Ways to keep slime safer
- Do not make slime everyday or make multiple slimes daily
- Wash your hands with soap and water after using slime
- Use gloves when making slime
- Never touch the boric acid part of slime before it is completely mixed in.
- Never put your hands in your mouth after making slime.
Slime made without boric acid
- How to make slime without glue uses shampoo.
Are store bought slimes safer?
No. Many of the slimes you see sold in stores also contain boric acid according to this article.
Final thoughts
I believe that our skin “breathes” in whatever it touches so it’s better to be weary about the ingredients used.
I know that many slime makers are fine and don’t get the burning sensation. We are all different so all I can suggest is to watch your own child for their own safety.
Does this mean we will stop making slime? No.. It just means we will practice the safety tips I recommended above and be careful and observant. We will do the activities knowing the potential side effects and take our precautions to minimize those potential side effects.
My kids have personally never complained about their hands feeling like they are burning using any of the slime recipe’s found on my site but they also do not play with slime every single day.
We probably make a new slime once a month. They use it for one afternoon and then they are done with it.
What are your thoughts? Do your hands burn or tingle after making slime?
