Easy 3-Ingredient Fluffy Slime (with VIDEO)
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Ever since we first published our fluffy, squishy (secret ingredient) slime recipe almost 3 years ago, I’ve been getting requests to make a fluffy slime without the use of liquid starch or diaper crystals… so it’s about time that I developed this easy 3-ingredient Fluffy Slime recipe!
My hesitation for the past three years has really been that we enjoy our original fluffy slime and most of the requests have not been made in the nicest way. I’ve received some scathing comments over the years about letting my daughter (and her friends) play with diaper crystals on that warm summer day so for the most part, I ignored the nasty comments and continued making slimes at my daughter’s request – from our rainbow slime to this frozen snow slime.
However, I definitely see the need to use something other than diaper crystals – I mean, who wants to go out and buy diapers just to make fluffy slime?!
So, with the intention to make a fluffy slime with common household ingredients in mind – we started experimenting!
Since we made our first fluffy slime 3 years ago, a few new recipes have come out – but none of them were really hitting the spot for us. For me, making slime should be quick and easy because the mess management and clean-up can sometimes be time-consuming. (Not because slime has to be messy… but because my daughter is a mess monster.)
The most popular recipe I was finding online used foam soap, hand lotion, contact solution, shaving cream, corn starch, water, and borax – waaay too many ingredients for me.
I loved the idea to use shaving cream to make a recipe fluffy – in fact, that’s what I use to make our fluffy puff paint – but when I first tried it with liquid starch a couple years ago, it did not compare to our original fluffy slime.
And I hate using borax in slime. Hate it. I’m not anti-borax, but it’s sooo tricky to get right. After one too many ruined slimes I only use borax now in my homemade laundry detergent.
However, during our searches we found this new genius solution of using contact solution (one that contains boric acid as an active ingredient) to make bubble slime and I wondered if it would work to make fluffy slime… and by jove, it worked!
It’s a little “stickier” than our other slime recipes – but you can easily wipe the slime off your hands by sliding or rolling your hands together. It will stick to fabric, but comes off easily with some vinegar or a good soak in water – just be sure to wear an old t-shirt and if your house is fully carpeted, lay down a towel or cheap tablecloth.
Slime can require a bit of experimentation and patience, especially if you’re still new to it. If you run into any slime fails, check out this troubleshooting post to help fix your slime.
Before we get to the recipe, I had to tell you that it’s finally here! I wrote The (Ultimate) Slime Book oozing with over 50 pages of stretchable, squishy sensory fun – including a year of seasonal slimes, edible slimes and unique ways to play with slime.
You can also purchase The Slime Book on Amazon.
OK, without any further ramblings on my part, I present to you an Easy 3-Ingredient Fluffy Slime recipe that doesn’t use liquid starch or diaper crystals! This slime is stretchy, fluffy, clean to clean up and a complete sensory delight.
Be sure to check out our newest slime recipes – STRETCHY BUBBLE SLIME or EDIBLE CANDY SLIME!
And if you love our fun play ideas, you can subscribe to our weekly newsletter (over there in the sidebar) or follow us on Instagram for more fun ideas!
Check out our video for how to make this easy 3-ingredient fluffy slime and then scroll down to get your free printable recipe:
Ingredients to Make Fluffy Slime
- White School Glue
- Shaving cream(less than a full canister)
- Contact lens (saline) solution – this is the brand I used
- Food dye, optional
SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE POST FOR A FREE PRINTABLE AND EXACT MEASUREMENTS – you need to ensure you are making it properly (read the directions) because just combining all of the ingredients without reading the directions won’t work 🙂
Tip: the contact solution must contain boric acid as an active ingredient. I linked the brand I used above. Contact solution is a diuretic so please don’t let young kids handle it and ensure your child washes their hands after playing with the slime as a precaution.
Second tip: slime is not something you can reliably measure. It’s by look and feel, so go slow and adjust as necessary. And knead, knead, knead.
Third tip: I highly advice ordering your glue online because stores are currently experiencing a shortage – my store only had 3 tiny bottles when I was there yesterday. If you’re in a pinch, hardware stores sell it in bulk!
Tools You May Find Helpful
- Large bowl
- Spatula <– I like these spatulas because they are one solid piece and don’t have removable heads for bacteria to get trapped underneath. Plus they are heat-resistant and have a lifetime warranty.
- Lots of wet rags
- Vinegar, for clean-up(yes, vinegar will effectively take slime out of hair, carpet, clothes… guess how I know?)
How to Make Fluffy Slime
Empty your glue into a large bowl.
Add glitter or food dye as desired and stir it in.
Start adding in the shaving cream. We emptied most of our 283g shaving cream canister into the slime mixture – but just keep adding until you don’t feel like there is any “just glue” left. It will continue to get thick and puffy.
The below picture is for reference – still too much glue/too liquidy.
Next, add in the contact solution. *Note: I did this step. Contact solution and eye drops can cause diarrhea if consumed, so please keep it out of reach of young kids. It’s not a risk on their hands as long as they wash their hands after playing with the slime (before eating).*
I added it in slowly, but we ended up using an entire bottle so you can definitely add 1/2 cup of solution at a time, and then start adding smaller amounts towards the end.
The contact solution serves as your “slime activator.”
Keep stirring everything with your spatula and adjust as needed.
The slime will start to form a large mass – this is what you want
Once the slime is cohesive, no longer sticky or appearing to have any liquid in the mixture, start kneading the slime – this is going to help it be less sticky (just like making homemade play dough).
Knead the slime for at least 2-3 minutes before adding any more ingredients to adjust (you will likely need to add just contact solution).
When the slime has been thoroughly kneaded and adjusted, give it to the kids in a clean, wide-open area that you don’t mind getting a little messy.
…And stand back.
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Easy 3-Ingredient Fluffy Slime (with VIDEO)
A fun and easy tutorial for how to make fluffy slime. This 3-ingredient Fluffy Slime is viral for a reason!
Materials
- 1 litre OR Quarter Gallon White School Glue
- 8-10 cups shaving cream (less than a full canister)
- 1-12oz bottle contact lens (saline) solution - this is the brand I used
- Food dye, optional
OR for a smaller portion:
- 1 cup glue
- 3 cups shaving cream
- 5+ Tablespoons contact lens solution (this will need to be adjusted based on your slime - things like humidity and type of shaving cream will mean you need more or less)
Tools
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
Instructions
- Empty your glue into a large bowl. Add glitter or food dye as desired and stir it in.
- Start adding in the shaving cream. We emptied most of our 283g shaving cream canister into the slime mixture - but just keep adding until you don't feel like there is any "just glue" left. It will continue to get thick and puffy.
- Next, add in the contact solution. We added it in slowly, but we ended up using an entire bottle so you can definitely add 1/2 cup of solution at a time, and then start adding smaller amounts towards the end. The contact solution serves as your "slime activator."
- Keep stirring everything with your spatula and adjust as needed.
- Once the slime is cohesive, no longer sticky or appearing to have any liquid in the mixture, start kneading the slime - this is going to help it be less sticky (just like making homemade play dough).
- Knead the slime for at least 3 minutes before adding any more ingredients to adjust.
- When the slime has been thoroughly kneaded and adjusted, give it to the kids in a clean, wide-open area that you don't mind getting a little messy.
- ...And stand back.
Notes
Tip: the contact solution must contain boric acid as an active ingredient. I linked the brand I used above. Contact solution is a diuretic so please don't let young kids handle it and ensure your child washes their hands after playing with the slime as a precaution.
Second tip: slime is not something you can reliably measure. It's by look and feel, so go slow and adjust as necessary.
Third tip: I highly advice ordering your glue online because stores are currently experiencing a shortage - my store only had 3 tiny bottles when I was there yesterday. If you're in a pinch, hardware stores sell it in bulk!
Recommended Products
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I hope your kids (and you) love this easy 3-ingredient fluffy slime recipe – and if it gets on clothes or hair, it will come off really quickly with just a little bit of vinegar, just like all of our other slime recipes.
A couple of blogging friends have also tried contact solution and eye drops in their posts. Shelley made a stretchy slime with saline solution and Sarah made a stretchy slime with borax.
For more fun sensory play ideas, be sure to check out our full collection of Slime Recipes:
It looks very sticky. Is it?
It will get stickier the more you play with it – just add more contact solution as needed.
Epic.
Mine is way to liquid it hasn’t worked 🙁
Did you try the large batch or the small batch? Happy to trouble shoot with you!
Saline solution contains Boric Acid—which is the same ingredient as Borax.
If you truly want Borax free—look for food grade slime.
The boric acid in contact solution is a completely different compound than borax.
We also have several edible (boric acid-free, borax-free, liquid starch-free) slimes on the site, but that wasn’t the purpose of this recipe – it was to provide a fluffy slime without the use of diaper crystals
As I am an adult with no children I will be making this for myself. Also I used to work in a diaper lab and the crystals (SAP or super absorbent polymer) is kind of totally harmless. You could eat it and you would be fine. It probably wouldn’t taste especially good but I think I’ve heard that it’s used in some diet pills as an appetite depressant (it swells and fills your stomach)
Awesome, you’re going to love it!
We loved our diaper slime – the link is at the top of the post – and I personally had no issues with it but we’ve had requests for years now to develop a fluffy slime that doesn’t use it so I figured it was time.
(And that’s really cool to know!)
Hi Jen: I do not see your recipe for measurements and would like to try in class. Do you have this recipe? I would love to make it. Thank you.
Hi Susan,
The measurements are on the printable recipe – just under the picture of my daughter plunging both hands in where it says: “Grab your free printable for our easy fluffy slime recipe:”
I made the slime and it really worked thanks for the makers of the post
YAY! I’m glad you liked it.
i always do that with my child !
This is my first time visit at here and i am really pleassant to read
everthing at single place.
I love watching slime compilations, you should make one!
This looks fun so I tried to buy the slime book. My paypal went through but the link wouldn’t download because it was on my phone. Could the link be emailed so I can download to my laptop and enjoy all the recipes?
I finally got the email to come through. Thank you for putting the book together.
Oh I’m so glad you got it to work! 🙂
Do you find the food colouring stains the clothes ?
I’ve never had that issue but the glue needs to be soaked in a water-vinegar mixture to loosen. (Or you could just do water overnight.)
Hi I purchased the slime book and it will not load so I can download it.
Thank you
Sorry typo I CANNOT download it.
HELP!
What do you do if it’s too runny? Add more shaving cream? Or glue? I may have added too much contact lens solution….
Knead it and then add more contact solution as needed
Did so — used a bottle and a half of contact solution, and kneaded a few times.
Ah well. 🙂 I don’t have the touch for this slime. Not this time, anyway.
Aha!! This is what I didn’t know about the contact solution. I found this on another recipe:
**Important: your brand of contact lens solution must have boric acid and sodium borate in the ingredient list. This is what interacts with the glue to form the slime. If slime does not form it is typically due to the contact lens solution not having these ingredients. Check your label and see the recommended brand above in our ingredient list.
I actually say it twice in this post, too :O LOL
“Tip: the contact solution must contain boric acid as an active ingredient. I linked the brand I used above. Contact solution is a diuretic so please don’t let young kids handle it and ensure your child washes their hands after playing with the slime as a precaution.”
Too messy, sticky for our crew…made this with my four grandkids…will try a different recipe another day!
Hi Jacqueline,
Did you try making the “single serve” version first as suggested in the post? The BIG batch is hard to get right if you’re not used to making slime, which is why I suggest starting with the smaller batch to make sure you know to make it before attempting the big one.
If it was messy or sticky, it may have needed more kneading, or more contact solution. I always knead first for a couple of minutes before adding additional contact solution. It’s like play dough in that regard – you have to knead it well.
thats great.!making a fluffy slime at home with kids generate their intrest in DIY.
Does liquid detergent still work? I love to make slime like you and I’m also tried slime with detergent and it really worked for me. Thanks
I personally wouldn’t use liquid detergent – we’ve used liquid starch and that works well.
___123___Easy 3-Ingredient Fluffy Slime ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter___123___
I make fluffy slime with shaving foam and contact solution but i did not get the result can you tell me how can i make slime with contact solution.
I cannot get enough of this squishy, fluffy slime. I think it’s my favorite slime ever!
This turned out to be so much fun!!! I wish I could share pictures. We have the supervised version pictures and the unsupervised version pictures!!! My girls loved it. They wore old clothes thank goodness but I’m still trying to save them in the wash?. Ended up spraying them with the water hose afterwards!!! Definitely was a messy project but could easily be a neater one! However, how often do you plan on making this at home so go all out and let them have a fun mess!!! Anyhow, thanks for the recipe!
thanks for your blog ,please share more of these stuff.
Extremely easy to make and not as messy as I thought it was going to be.
I can’t wait to make this. I just ordered all of the ingredients and they get here in two days!
Love the fluffy slime recipe. My daughter is very excited!