Are you looking for an easy fluffy slime recipe without Borax? A few weeks ago we made a gorgeous batch of 3-ingredient glitter slime, and today we’re sharing how to make fluffy slime.
My kids are crazy for slime, and they’re clearly not alone! After making countless batches of slime, I wanted to figure out how to make this fluffy slime with saline solution so that my kids could take full control over the recipe on their own.
This is the perfect fluffy slime, and the recipe does not disappoint. Of course you could buy slime, but isn’t the DIY route much more fun?
The difference between slime and fluffy slime is the texture. Fluffy slime actually has the consistency of marshmallows.
It’s bouncy, puffy, and, well, fluffy!
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Why is slime so exciting to kids?
We’ve been making slime for years (take a look in the book, TinkerLab: A Hands-on Guide for Little Inventors or click here our original recipe!), and even at ages 7 and 9 my littles still go bananas over this stretchy magical material.
What is it about slime?
It’s a sensory material with a texture that’s playful and stretchy, and encourages children to invent, build, sculpt, play, and even relax.
My kids played with this slime for an hour the other day and they didn’t want to stop.
How to make Fluffy Slime without Borax
There are four key ingredients in Borax-free fluffy slime: white glue or PVA glue, shaving cream, baking soda, and contact lens solution.
For the shaving cream, Barbasol is the best one we’ve tried.
For the PVA glue, Elmer’s School Glue is my hands-down favorite. It’s a classic and we buy it by the gallon.
Slime comes together with an activator, and this is usually Borax.
Why Borax?
Borax contains sodium borate, a combination of boric acid and salt. When boric acid combines with water and pva glue, a chemical reaction occurs that binds the glue molecules, pulling them into what we recognize as slime. It’s all pretty magical.
Is Borax problematic?
Some folks are concerned that boric acid could be dangerous to kids. I’ve read the reviews and I’m not concerned, but I have found that it’s a whole lot easier to give kids a bottle of contact solution than it is a box of 40 Mule Borax.
What’s a good Borax alternative?
Some (not all) contact solutions contain boric acid, further proof in my mind that boric acid is nothing to worry about as it goes in my eyes each morning. For this Borax alternative, Renu saline solution by Bausch & Lomb works great!
Fluffy Slime Ingredients
White shaving Cream – 3 cups (750 ml) (Barbasol brand works!)
Elmer’s School Glue – 1/2 cup (120 ml) or a 4 ounce bottle. We love this glue. If your kids love making slime, splurge for the gallon!
Baking Soda – 1 teaspoon (5 ml)
Contact Solution with boric acid as an ingredient – 1 tablespoon (15 ml) (Renu brand works!)
Food Coloring: optional
Instructions for the Best Fluffy Slime Recipe
Step 1: Add three cups of white shaving cream (not clear shaving cream) to a large mixing bowl. Don’t worry about exact amounts. This recipe is forgiving and a little more or less will be fine.
Step 2: Add 1/2 cup Elmer’s School Glue to the mixing bowl
Step 3: Add a teaspoon of baking soda to the mixing bowl.
Step 4: Stir everything together with a spatula or large spoon.
Step 5: Add a tablespoon of contact solution (15 ml) to the bowl. Stir it all together!
Fluffy Slime
Regular slime with the addition of shaving cream to make it extra fluffy.
Add three cups of white shaving cream (not clear shaving cream) to a large mixing bowl. Don’t worry about exact amounts. This recipe is forgiving and a little more or less will be fine.
Add 1/2 cup Elmer’s School Glue to the mixing bowl.
Add a teaspoon of baking soda to the mixing bowl.
Stir everything together with a spatula or large spoon.
Add a tablespoon of contact solution (15 ml) to the bowl. Stir it all together!
Once the slime comes together, remove it from the bowl to knead and stretch it with your hands for a few minutes. It will be sticky at first, but it becomes non-sticky and pliable pretty quickly.
Play with your slime!
This slime can be store for about a day in a tight container. Longer than that and the shaving cream sort of melts away and it loses its fluffy consistency.
Tips for Fluffy Slime
Make sure your contact solution has boric acid as an ingredient. Renu is a great choice.
Don’t stress about the measurements. This recipe is forgiving.
Store in an air tight container for up to one day.
For more sensory activities, see our list of 30+ sensory activities here.
30+ Sensory Activities for Kids
If you enjoy activities like playing with slime, you’ll want to check out 30+ Sensory Activities for kids
Join TinkerLab’s Kids Art Studio!
If you’d like to join a community of families and educators who want to raise creative kids, you’ll love the TinkerLab Kids Art Studio. Inside our program, you’ll find hundreds of art and STEAM activities that boost imagination and creative thinking skills.
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I just made four batches of the fluffy slime using what you posted and I must say that this is the happiest Ive been with making slime using other people’s recipes. Your fluffy slime recipe made awesome fluffy slime and my kids and I love it!!! I’ll definitely be bookmarking your website. Thanks again
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that this worked so well for you, Heather. xoxo
mine did to
It worked for me! I’ll be making this again.
literly when i felt it i
Not sure what we did wrong, but this did NOT work for us! It never firmed up… was a soupy, sticky mess even after many minutes stirring and attempting to knead 🙁
probably the contact lens solution you used did not have borax in it?
I am a kid and I’m not allowed to make any slime in my house any tips?
Make it outside
Quick and easy method and I found all the ingredients at home , thanks so much for making a boring day so interesting.😘
You’re so welcome, Priya 😉
This is my first attempt at slime and it worked! Talk to me about storing slime. How long does this last? Plastic bag ok? Thanks!
Wonderful news! I’m happy to hear that the recipe worked for you. As you suggest, we recommend storing in a plastic bag for a few days, sometimes longer. 🙂
I have been looking at the comments and this slime sounds awsome I ‘ m trying asap
OMG Maybe I will Make this Stuff! It looks so fun and really nice to play with!!! LOL
Is it stretchy slime
[…] Fluffy Slime on Tinkerlab […]
The list of ingredients has glue first so I did that instead of following instructions. Didn’t turn out properly (however they’re still having fun with it). If you could reorganize your list above the instructions that would be helpful for those who don’t read all the way through. Lol
or you could just read it all the way through…
I’m sorry it didn’t turn out. We reordered the ingredient list and appreciate the tip 🙂
This is the best recipe ever. I tried a ton of fluffy slime recipes and yours is the best. 👌👌 awesomeness
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slime 🙂
Ok so I tried making this as a gift for my son and it sucked I followed the recipe exactly and it didn’t form anywhere near slime. I was extremely upset as I was not able to provide a gift for my son. I think that maybe change the recipe idk. But I do know one thing I will not be using anymore of your recipes.
you should try again mabye you went wrong somehow!!!!
It worked for me! Mabye you went wrong somewhere…What was wrong with the slime? If it was too sticky/ runny, add more baking soda and contact solution. If it was too hard you added to much baking soda/ contact solution. You could either try making it again, or microwave it for 30 secs or so and then knead it some lotion to soften it up a bit
My 4 year old loved this! Can you add food coloring? We used a metallic colored glue the first time. Definitely making more.
We didn’t try it with this recipe, but you should be able to add food coloring or liquid watercolor 🙂 I bet it was gorgeous with metallic glue.
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I have a question I wanted to do this w/ my lil sis but can u do it with colored Elmers glue???
I’m pretty sure you can use colored glue as long as its Elmer’s
I asked my dad to buy the ingredients we will make it 🙂 and just to ask is it fine if I put a lot of shaving cream? 😅
I made so e of it and it was so fluffy if I had all the glue in the world and everything else I needed I would make so much of that slime!😸😸😸😸
I love hearing this 🙂 Thanks!
[…] Easy 4-ingredient Fluffy Slime […]
How much does it make?
This is the best recipe ever. I tried a ton of fluffy slime recipes and yours is the best. 👌👌 awesomeness
This is great!
is it worth buying the ingredients like does is it turn exactly like the picture or its not worth spending money on something that does not work and just make my mom mad at me does turn like REAL slime ?
As long as you use these ingredients, it will work. 😉 Good luck!
Rachelle is right. I did as her tutorial did and it worked! however I am not sure if “similar” components will be successful. because I’m not a chemist ^ _ ^ Now my kid is sitting at home- making my products. And the purpose of me coming back here is to thank Rachelle.
thank you!
Aww, you’re welcome!!
I was able to get it to be nice and fluffy and smooth. Just when I put it in a plastic container to store it, it was all wet and gross. What do I do?
I did it and it turned out ok….. Dont use 4 cups of shaving cream tho
When do I add a color if I want to make it colorful?
March 29, 2021
Thanks for your steps now I will be able to use your recipe for YES DAY, with my siblings.
Hi just asking can you do it with other PVA glue rather then Elmer’s?
Elmer’s contains PVA, so my best guess is it should work.
We tried making this twice and it was way to sticky, had to throw away
I tried to make it and it worked out great we made it rainbow.
Glad to hear it, and a rainbow sounds awesome.
Hi, I made this slime and put it in a container. It went hard after like 3 days. Hope I can get some more glue to make this again. What did I do wrong: where it’s stored?? Help
The shaving foam can lose its fluffiness after playing with it, so it won’t stay fluffy for more than a day or so, and at that point it turns into regular slime. We generally store ours in a zip-up baggie or plastic container. Maybe there was air in your container?
I think so… I’ll try making some more slime when covid is over and storing it in a baggie with no air. Thank u so much!
Second time making this recipe with my grand daughter (master slime maker), fluffy, stretchy and fun! We add gold glitter for the WOW!
Hey, my slime turned out AMAZING!! This is the best website and I’ll make sure to always use it. Do you have any pro-tips to keep the slime good and how long do you think the slime will last and thats its good from the pro-tips?
Thank you,
Chloe Napoli
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! The shaving foam will eventually “unfluff” so this recipe will last a day or two.
Hello, my name is Gonzalo
Do you know how to make the slime last longer? After 2 weeks my slime went back to being glue. That made me very sad because it was so cute 🙁
Hi Gonzalo, This slime doesn’t last very long in its fluffy state, unfortunately. You could try adding more shaving cream to refresh it.