Summer slime of
The colourful goo is a social media craze, but experts warn not all ingredients are safe
Headquartered inside her bedroom, 15-year-old Alyssa Jagan runs a trendy slime-selling operation.
Her book shelf is filled with stacks of neatly ordered jars and containers stashed with multiple colours of artisan goo.
The young entrepreneur, who lives in Toronto’s east end with her family, delivers three fresh videos a day to her 650,000-plus followers, sells her colourful homemade slimes for $11.50 to $18 a batch on Etsy and recently nabbed a book deal.
Foamy, colourful and textured slimes, like the ones Jagan sells, are a trending social media craze amongst teens and tweens, while simpler versions are making their way into the hands of younger kids at workshops and summer camps in Toronto and the GTA.
Jagan started capturing shots of her creations by attaching a piece of a broken selfie stick to a tripod and shooting with her phone. She has recently acquired a couple of softboxes to make the lighting in her videos look better.
“The videos — they are very satisfying to watch them,” she said, adding it’s not just the way slime feels, but also how it sounds that can be appealing to people.
Jagan enjoys the creativity that comes with slime-making and says she was inspired to make her own after watching tutorials she found on Pinterest and YouTube.
“There’s nothing more satisfying for me than mixing pigment into slime or different colours into plain slime . . . I love seeing that final product and I think other people do as well,” she said.
Teens and tweens are mixing up slimes to stretch, poke and play with, while posting about all kinds of the goo on social media.
The Associated Press reported in June that Elmer’s increased its production after certain types of glue, a popular slime ingredient, started flying off the shelves. Now, slime is an activity at camps and birthday parties.
With slime’s rise in popularity, DIY recipes have popped up on the internet, calling for ingredients ranging from shaving cream to glitter to laundry detergent.
But health experts are cautioning slime makers and users to pay attention to the ingredients included in their recreational goop.
The Canadian government advises against making slime that contains boric acid and suggests people (especially kids and pregnant women) stay away from borax when concocting or buying homemade slime. Health Canada says that too much exposure to boric acid can potentially cause developmental and reproductive heath effects, though the government doesn’t warn against using a specific product.
A few months ago, media reports surfaced about a girl who suffered burns to her hands after making slime.
Slime can be made with or without borax, so Jagan suggests that prospective slime makers research ingredient options. While Jagan uses borax in some of her own slimes, the recipes featured in her book do not include it as it is aimed for younger audiences.
Kesha Mckenzie, who works as an early childhood educator with the YMCA in Etobicoke, spoke to the Star after making slime with a group of kindergarten-aged kids — an activity she does every couple of weeks, as per popular demand.
After the potential health risks were flagged to her by her supervisor, she changed up her slime recipe to a version without borax, opting for a brew of grated bar soap, water and food colouring left overnight to form.
The recipes included in Jagan’s book Ultimate Slime ( Quarry Books), coming out in November, are boraxfree, though Jagan herself does make slime using the ingredient.
Jagan, who wrote the 112-page book in between high school exams, says juggling life as a student, teenager, author and businessperson can get a bit hectic. But, she’s making it work.
Her mom, Ahilya Singh-Jagan, thinks slime has taught her daughter much about running a business and using the internet to manage and promote it.
“A lot of parents think ‘oh my gosh, you’re just on your phone again, you’re just wasting time’ — I think it’s important that our kids learn how to master social media and stuff on the internet because that is their future,” Singh-Jagan said.
Deflatable Fluffy Slime
Star Tested Toronto’s Alyssa Jagan shared one of her slime recipes from her upcoming book Ultimate Slime with the Star. She includes cornstarch, noting it is optional but makes the slime creamier. And she says different types of glue may react differently to the baking soda and contact lens solution, so in some cases you may need to adjust the amount of those ingredients to reach the desired consistency.
1 cup (250 mL) white school glue 1/2 cup (125 mL) foamy hand soap 1 cup (250 mL) shaving cream 4 tbsp (60 mL) lotion (we used St. Ives body lotion) 1 tbsp (15 mL) baking soda 1 tbsp (15 mL) contact lens solution 4 tbsp (60 mL) cornstarch (optional) A couple drops of food colouring (optional)
In a large bowl, add glue, soap, shaving cream and 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of lotion. Mix well.
Add cornstarch and food colouring, if using. Mix well.
Add baking soda and contact lens solution, mix again.
Once mixture looks sticky, knead the slime (put contact lens solution on your hands first to keep it from sticking). Add more lotion until you reach your desired consistency.
Store slime in an airtight container, it should last for 2 to 4 days. Makes about 2 cups (500 mL) slime.