GAK - Elmer's Glue Borax Recipe
Elmer's Glue and Borax combine to make GAK or is it Flubber?
Is it a solid? Is it a liquid? Just what is this slimy, stringy, rubbery stuff? This variation on slime will probably remind you of a similar substance found in many toy stores. This is the most popular version of "slime" among teachers because it's so easy to make and serves as a great visual tool for introducing students to the properties of polymers.
Find out how to make Halloween Slime!
Materials
- Elmer’s Glue® (8 oz bottle of Elmer’s Glue-All)
- Borax (a powdered soap found in the grocery store)
- Large mixing bowl
- Plastic cup (8 oz size works well)
- Spoon
- Measuring cup
- Food coloring (the spice of life)
- Water
- Paper towel (hey, you’ve got to clean up!)
- Zipper-lock bag (don’t you want to keep it when you’re done?)
- Water
Here’s the easiest way to make a big batch Elmer’s Slime. The measurements do not have to be exact but it’s a good idea to start with the proportions below for the first batch. Just vary the quantities of each ingredient to get a new and interesting batch of goo.
- This recipe is based on using a brand new 8 ounce bottle of Elmer’s Glue. Empty the entire bottle of glue into a mixing bowl. Fill the empty bottle with warm water and shake (okay, put the lid on first and then shake). Pour the glue-water mixture into the mixing bowl and use the spoon to mix well.
- Go ahead… add a drop or two of food coloring.
- Measure 1/2 cup of warm water into the plastic cup and add a teaspoon of Borax powder to the water. Stir the solution – don’t worry if all of the powder dissolves. This Borax solution is the secret linking agent that causes the Elmer’s Glue molecules to turn into slime.
- While stirring the glue in the mixing bowl, slowly add a little of the Borax solution. Immediately you’ll feel the long strands of molecules starting to connect. It’s time to abandon the spoon and use your hands to do the serious mixing. Keep adding the Borax solution to the glue mixture (don’t stop mixing) until you get a perfect batch of Elmer’s slime. You might like your slime more stringy while others like firm slime. Hey, you’re the head slime mixologist – do it your way!
- When you’re finished playing with your Elmer’s slime, seal it up in a zipper-lock bag for safe keeping.
How does it work?
The mixture of Elmer’s Glue with Borax and water produces a putty-like material called a polymer. In simplest terms, a polymer is a long chain of molecules. You can use the example of cooking spaghetti to better understand why this polymer behaves in the way it does. When a pile of freshly cooked spaghetti comes out of the hot water and into the bowl, the strands flow like a liquid from the pan to the bowl. This is because the spaghetti strands are slippery and slide over one another. After awhile, the water drains off of the pasta and the strands start to stick together. The spaghetti takes on a rubbery texture. Wait a little while longer for all of the water to evaporate and the pile of spaghetti turns into a solid mass -- drop it on the floor and watch it bounce.
Many natural and synthetic polymers behave in a similar manner. Polymers are made out of long strands of molecules like spaghetti. If the long molecules slide past each other easily, then the substance acts like a liquid because the molecules flow. If the molecules stick together at a few places along the strand, then the substance behaves like a rubbery solid called an elastomer. Borax is the compound that is responsible for hooking the glue’s molecules together to form the putty-like material. There are several different methods for making this putty-like material. Some recipes call for liquid starch instead of Borax soap. Either way, when you make this homemade Silly Putty you are learning about some of the properties of polymers.
Elmer's Slime is very easy to make, but it's not exactly what you'll find at the toy store. So, what's the "real" slime secret? It's an ingredient called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The cross-linking agent is still Borax, but the resulting slime is longer lasting, more transparent... it's the real deal.
Additional Info
Jeff Harken contributed this "history" of Silly Putty.
The history of Silly Putty is quite amusing. In 1943 James Wright, an engineer, was attempting to create a synthetic rubber. He was unable to achieve the properties he was looking for and put his creation (later to be called Silly Putty) on the shelf as a failure. A few years later, a salesman for the Dow Corning Corporation was using the putty to entertain some customers. One of his customers became intrigued with the putty and saw that it had potential as a new toy. In 1957, after being endorsed on the "Howdy Doody Show", Silly Putty became a toy fad. Recently new uses such as a grip strengthener and as an art medium have been developed. Silly Putty even went into space on the Apollo 8 mission. The polymers in Silly Putty have covalent bonds within the molecules, but hydrogen bonds between the molecules. The hydrogen bonds are easily broken. When small amounts of stress are slowly applied to the putty, only a few bonds are broken and the putty "flows." When larger amounts of stress are applied quickly, there are many hydrogen bonds that break, causing the putty to break or tear.
-
Ultimate Gooey Slime
September 7th, 2010
Click the thumbnail below to see the video.
|
Question...
Essa - November 22, 2012
What if my Goo/Slime is very sticky? What can I do to not make it so "sticky"??
Essa - |
 |
|
Help! Something's wrong!
Kris - October 8, 2012
Tonight we made 3 batches of gak, one for each of my daughters & one for me! ;)
Kris - |
|
|
|
Gloop
Anonymous S.W. - October 4, 2012
The glop is so cool! I really liked the texture of it! |
|
|
|
Do not use Washable Glue!
AZ Mom - April 19, 2012
My 4-year-old son loves this project. We have made Gak several times. We usually dye it green so it looks like the Ooblek in Dr. Seuss' story. |
|
|
|
Great Experiment
kristin - October 20, 2011
I am part of a College Science Club and this year we participated in a Halloween activity for the children around the community and our club set up a station for conducting an experiment to make slime. THEY LOVED IT! |
|
|
|
Awesome!
sarah marzolo - September 21, 2011
My 2 year old daughter played with this stuff for hours. I even found myself poking at it every time I walked by the bowl I had it in. So cool, but I did have the dilemma of getting it on her clothing, luckily it was play cloths, so I don't care all that much. Thanks for the great idea! |
|
|
|
Slime Bubbles
Kelley - June 21, 2011
If you cover the tip of a bendy straw with the slime, you can blow bubbles. |
|
|
|
Clothing and hair nightmare
Carolyn - April 3, 2011
This may be a fantastic experiment. In fact, my 7-year-old, who is very into science, would probably love it.
Carolyn- |
|
|
|
HS Sunday School Lesson
S Dooley - February 26, 2011
To teach High Schoolers on Sunday morning you need to first get their attention. They love playing with Gak and it makes a great object lesson. |
|
|
|
excellant when he was 5....
Katherine - February 17, 2011
and are still making at now that he is 8. Literally, we made some tonight. My son loves to make and play with this stuff and since we always have the ingredients on hand, it is an easy project for him to do. |
|
|
|
GAK
Julie Mace - October 23, 2010
This is great! My kids played with this all saturday afternoon! Each of my four children had their own color and container and were doing "infomercials" for GAK! I love it! |
|
|
|
Excellent Recipe!
Erin Maday - October 13, 2010
This is great fun! I love the fact that you can easily get the ingredients locally, and the whole process is about 10 min. It's sooo easy. My 2 boys were crazy about this project! They LOVED the fact that it all starts out as a liquid and ends up as slime! My 7 yr old was in awe how quickly it changed from liquid to not quite a solid but not quite a liquid. highly recommended! Love this website, too, Steve! YOU ROCK!!! |
|
|
|
Color it
Cynthia Baumann - September 8, 2010
Just add food coloring to the glue mixture first and then you get a prettier slime when it's all mixed together. |
|
|
|
Carissa Walters Scouter
Carissa Walters - September 8, 2010
I've been using the gel Elmer's glue for a clearer slime. Using Steve's Atomic Glow makes it even more fun for Halloween. |
|
|
|
Wonderful slime!
Rosanne Hewitt - September 8, 2010
We recently had a science birthday party for my 7 year-old son and we performed a few experiments. This was one of the best for the kids. They loved mixing everything themselves and then adding food coloring to get some very unique shades. They had dirty hands, but everyone went home talking about it. And they got to take their experiments (and directions) with them for a later time. Great, easy and fun project for the kids! |
|
|
|
glue and starch
Mary - February 23, 2010
It really is simple. I do it as a teacher, at home with the kids, and my neice is using it as a science exp. at school.. |
|
|
|
Keyboard Cleaner
Jeff Portland - December 29, 2009
When I was young my friend's mother would make this for us to play with. A few weeks ago I bought some blank CDs at a office supply store and I was given a free pack of something called Cyber Clean. The idea is to mash it into your keyboard and it collects the dust between the keys. As soon as I pulled it out of the pack I recognized the smell of elmers + borax. It works really well for cleaning dust off of keyboards and monitors. Thanks for the recipe. |
|
|
|
Make it Glow!
Mary Ferris Gainesville, FL - October 28, 2009
If you add a glowing paint called 'Glow Away' (you can find it at Michael's craft store) to the glue before you add the Borax solution, the GAK will glow in the dark! When you have finished making the GAK, simply hold it to the light for a minute and then turn off the lights. My students LOVED it! |
|
|
|
Unexpected benefits
Kim South Carolina - September 26, 2009
My kids and I were testing this recipe for my daughter's birthday party next week. It worked great. And then, to the kids' extremely pleasurable surprise, we discovered that when you press it into the shaker cup for storage, it makes...um..."colorful" sounds. They giggled and giggled. Furthermore, while loading and reloading the cup to make said noises, they discovered that if the GAK is spread across the cup and allowed to drop in under its own weight, it will push the air out of the cup and create a GAK bubble. And so naturally, they pierced the bubble with a pipette and blew. The GAK bubble got HUGE before it was so thin it popped. HOURS of fun and the party isn't even until next week. |
|
|
|
A word of caution
David Hibberd Spokane Valley, WA - August 3, 2009
White glue slime is fun for everyone. Be aware that kids will try all things with it and that slime on hair is not a good combination. If that should happen, a product like Goo Gone helps seperate the slime from the kid. |
|
|
Best Sellers
-
UV Color Changing Beads $8.99
-
Larry's Lab - Polymer Science ... $44.99
-
Water Gel - Magic Slush Powder $6.99
-
Bacteria Growing Kit $14.99
-
Color Fizzers - True Color ... $4.99
-
Neodymium Magnet $15.99
-
Mentos Geyser Tube $4.99
-
Jelly Marbles - Clear Spheres $9.99
