Our favorite slime recipe is made with contact lens solution. It’s the easiest we’ve tried and without borax. So you won’t have to worry about slime fails with this one! Be sure to read the full post and tips below on how to make slime with contact solution!
RELATED: Fluffy Slime Recipe
Contact Solution Slime
There are a number of different slime activators you can use to “transform” your glue mixture into slime. Contact lens solution is our favorite activator. You can also replace this for saline solution, but just make sure that that they contain boric acid and sodium borate.
Why is boric acid important for slime?
Boric acid is made from borax and similarly liquid starch contains sodium tetraborate which is also made from borax. Typically all activators have some derivative of borax. However, we prefer using the contact lens solution as it’s easier to use and more widely available (liquid starch is not available in Canada and Borax is not available in the UK).
This Renu Fresh Contact Lens Solution is one of the recommended brands we suggest since it contains both boric acid and sodium borate.
Supplies Needed
This easy 3 ingredient recipe is such a popular one!
Only 3 ingredients are needed:
- 1 Bottle of Elmer’s Glue (6 oz) – we like to buy the gallon size and then measure out for savings – you can use 3/4 cup of glue if you have a larger bottle. If you want to get a similar effect to the photos in this post, you’ll need to buy Elmer’s glitter glue and review our Unicorn slime recipe.
We recommend Elmers as it has been tested and is quality glue. Substituting with other ingredients may result in the slime not working.
- Baking Soda – 1/2 teaspoon
- 1½ TBSP of Contact Lens Solution – Renu Fresh contains Boric Acid and Sodium Borate. Do not substitute for other brands. Check the label before buying to make sure it has the right ingredients.
- 1/4 cup of water (optional)- While water is not needed it really helps the slime become more stretchy, so we do recommend adding up to 1/4 cup of water to the slime.
- Extra glitter (optional)
Watch the Video Tutorial
Steps for How to Make Slime With Contact Solution
1. Get a bowl to mix your slime ingredients in.
2. Pour your entire 6 oz Elmer’s Glitter glue into the bowl (or 3/4 cup of glue from a larger bottle).
3. Add your 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and mix in thoroughly.
Also add up to 1/4 cup of water if you want a more stretchy slime.
5. Slowly add in your contact lens solution
Reminder: your contact lens solution should contain boric acid or your slime will not form.
Add it in slowly and mix if possible so that you can adjust and ensure you do not add too much.
We like to add in 1 tablespoon to start and then mix. Then slowly add in the rest.
Knead and mix thoroughly before adding more as you do not want to add too much or your slime will get too hard.
You may not need the full amount so take this step slowly.
6. Now mix until your slime forms and begins to harden.
Take it out and knead, knead, knead. You may be surprised how much you need to knead to really make the slime form. It will be very sticky at this point. Especially if you added water. Keep kneading and stretching the slime and it will become less sticky.
If it’s not the desirable consistency keep kneading. Only add a little more contact solution a teaspoon at a time to prevent the slime from becoming too hard.
If you still find it to still be too sticky, add a little bit of lotion or baby oil to your hands.
You can print the full recipe off here:
How to Make Slime With Contact Solution
Ingredients
- 1 Bottle of Elmer's Glue (6 oz or 3/4 cup of glue)
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1½ TBSP of Contact Lens Solution
- 1 TBSP Optional – Add 1/4 cup of water if you'd like a more stretchy slime. We do recommend doing this step.
- Optional – Add in extra glitter if desired
Instructions
- Get a bowl to mix your slime ingredients in.
- Pour your entire 6 oz Elmer’s Glitter glue into the bowl.
- Add your baking soda and mix in thoroughly. Also add up to 1/4 cup of water here if you want a more stretchy slime.
- Slowly add in your contact lens solution (reminder: your contact lens solution should contain boric acid or your slime will not form). Add it in slowly and mix if possible so that you can adjust and ensure you do not add too much. You may not need the full amount so take this step slowly.
- Now mix until your slime forms and begins to harden. Take it out and knead, knead, knead. You may be surprised how much you need to knead to really make the slime form. If it’s not the desirable consistency keep kneading. If you find it to still be too sticky, add a little bit of lotion or baby oil to your hands.
Slime Safety & Precautions
Note: Making slime is a science experiment and safety precautions should still be made when creating slime. By making this slime, you agree to our site terms which you can read here.
- Adults should handle any chemicals and products
- Adults should make the slime
- Always read and follow the labels of products used. If contact lens solution is accidentally ingested, seek medical attention immediately.
- This project is not suitable for children under 4.
- Slime should not be placed in the mouth. Always wash hands before and after playing with the slime.
- If you notice any skin irritation, discontinue use immediately. If you have sensitive skin, wear gloves while making and playing with the slime.
- Slime is a science experiment and should be made and played with in moderation. Do not allow children to make their own slime and do not play with slime for an extended period of time.
We hope this easy to follow recipe on how to make slime with contact solution has been helpful!
See more of our favorite slime recipes:
More Slime Recipes
Head over to our Unicorn Slime page to see how you can turn this into Unicorn Slime!
Make Fluffy Slime which has a different texture and is fun to play with! See our Fluffy Slime Recipe.
See how we turned these 4 slimes into Galaxy Slime! This one is really fun to mix!
First time slime maker here! This recipe is great! we’ll be using it again 🙂 we did add a tiny bit of food colouring and it still turned out great. Hope it stores okay so we can play with it again!
Hi, does it matter which kind of Elmer’s glue? White/clear/glitter? I have glitter and all kinds of stuff for the kiddos to add in so I don’t need the glitter glue really, so didn’t know if the standard white glue or the clear works better, thanks!
Any kind of Elmer’s glue works fine.
We love how stretchy it is but how do you store it?
We found that keeping it in a plastic bag causes the stretchiness to dissipate so we were going to try not refrigerate it this time.
Also, do you happen to know shelf life?
The best way to store is in an air tight container. The less air exposed the better. If you can push out the air before you add to a bag, or a jar that it fits perfectly in without any air.
slime is reallly sticky and we can’t work out how to make it better
If it’s too sticky, add a tiny bit more contact solution. Or you can add some baby oil to your hands and when playing with it, it becomes less sticky. If you add too much contact solution then it becomes hard so I like to add just a little bit at a time.
Hello! We haven’t made the recipe yet, and I have a beginner’s question: what do you use to mix the ingredients initially (before the kneading process)? Wooden spoon? Silicone spatula? Hands? Normal metal spoon? Thanks in advance 🙂
I usually use a plastic spoon but any kind of spoon works fine.
Worked great! First time making slime and it seems like the perfect consistency. I used the glue I had on hand – Be You is the company and still worked great. I wonder how long it lasts in a plastic container though. I need it for an event and would love to make ahead of time but not sure how early I could go.
we made per instructions…came out watery…can we do anything to make it bind into slime?
If it’s not turning into slime, check your contact solution and make sure it has boric acid in it. If it does it may just need a little more.
This is a great recipe, and I’ve tried a bunch! I like your suggestion to start with a lesser amount of some ingredients and then add more if needed. Less was better for me.
She loved it!
This is the best slime we’ve ever made!
Turned out perfect! Used almost a quarter cup water and only 1 tablespoon contact solution…will keep this recipe tucked away for the future!!
We followed your recipe and even used less contact lens solution the second time (only 2 teaspoons) but after an hour in an airtight container we played with it and it just breaks apart. Any advice?
Are you using Elmer’s glue? If not it could be the temperature. If it’s too cold it might make the slime more stiff and prone to breaking. Also make sure you add in the 1/4 cup of water as that makes the slime more stretchy too.
Yes, using elmer’s clear glue, baking soda, water, and contact solution according to recipe. We made it again, using 1.5 tsp contact sol’n and initially it was wonderful and stretchy, my daughter commented it was the nicest ever. However after leaving it for a few hours and overnight, it breaks apart when stretched. We don’t live in a cold area, so I don’t think temperature is an issue. Thanks for any suggestions!
Try with regular white glue next time and it should keep longer. I find the clear glue is not as good as the regular white glue (make sure it’s not the Glue All as that does not work well either). Store in a bag and press out all of the air. The more it gets exposed to air the faster it hardens and dries up. Hope that helps!
We used Amazon basics school glue and top choice (store brand) contact solution with boric acid, and added temepra paints for color. Worked great!