Inside: How to make slime with liquid starch – only 2 ingredients! Find out why liquid starch slime is the easiest slime recipe to make!
The Easiest Slime Recipe
Two ingredients — it really doesn’t get any easier than that!
Over the past couple years, I’ve been dubbed a “slime blogger,” a nickname I wear proudly!
We’ve tried LOTS of different slime recipes — from fluffy slime, to glow-in-the-dark slime, to edible slime. I have to say that it is hard to pick a favorite because I love them all for different reasons!
However, if you asked me to pick the easiest slime recipe to make, hands-down it is liquid starch slime.
Why We Love Liquid Starch Slime
- You only need two base ingredients
- It is easy to customize by adding food coloring, glitter, etc.
- All you need to do is mix and stir!
- It’s stretchy, squishy, poke-able…perfect slime!
- This slime with glue and liquid starch is the base for fluffy slime, floam, and more!
Keep reading to see exactly how we make liquid starch slime, as well as some of our best tips to make it perfectly every single time.
What is Liquid Starch and Where to Find It
For your convenience in re-creating our slime recipes, I’ve included shop-able ad links to some of the products we used. Our disclosure policy is available here.
Liquid starch is a laundry product used to keep natural fibers stiff — imagine a crisp button-up shirt and you’ll get the idea.
Because it contains a special ingredient (sodium borate or sodium tetraborate), liquid starch also make a perfect slime activator!
How Slime Activators Work
When making glue slime, you need a slime activator that contains an ingredient from the borate family. This could be borax powder, contact lens solution, or liquid starch (like in this recipe).
When you mix PVA glue (like Elmer’s white school glue) with your slime activator, a chemical bond forms. The borate ions in your activator form a link between the polymers in the glue. Instead of flowing freely like a liquid, this new slime solution becomes a stretchy semi-solid substance, also known as a non-Newtonian fluid.
I love how fellow blogger Sarah at Little Bins for Little Hands explains it:
Instead of flowing freely, the molecules become tangled and create the slimy substance. Think wet, freshly cooked spaghetti versus leftover cooked spaghetti!
When used for laundry purposes, concentrated liquid starch is diluted with water and sprayed onto clothes to achieve the desired effect. However, for our slime-making purposes, we’ll use the concentrated liquid starch.
In the United States, you can find liquid starch, like Sta-Flo (which is what we used) in most grocery stores or even craft stores. It is also available online on sites like Amazon.
TIP: If you live outside the United States and have trouble finding liquid starch, try our contact lens solution slime instead.
Slime Safety Tips
Before we get started, I always like to make sure we go over a few important details.
Slime is lots of fun and a wonderful sensory experience for kids! However, it’s important to make sure to follow all slime safety recommendations:
- This slime is not edible. Please do not taste or eat.
- Always supervise children when making and playing with any slime recipe.
- As with many slime recipes, this liquid starch slime involves a chemical reaction. Some ingredients may cause irritation to sensitive skin. Always wash hands thoroughly after play.
- Read this first: click here to read all of our tips to make slime safely.
For glue-free slime alternatives, check out our complete guide: How to Make Slime (without Glue or Borax)
Liquid Starch Slime Ingredients
- 1 cup PVA white school glue, like Elmer’s
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup liquid starch, like Sta-Flo
TIP: We stick with name brands like Elmer’s Glue because generic formulas don’t seem to work as well.
How to Make Slime with Liquid Starch
In this tutorial I’ll show you how to make the basic 2-ingredient slime recipe with starch using white glue. Once you have this recipe, you can use it to make so many different slimes!
After you master the basic liquid starch slime recipe below, try these fun recipes:
Slime Recipe with Liquid Starch
First, watch this quick video to see how we make this slime recipe with liquid starch. Step-by-step photo instructions follow, and there is a free printable copy of this recipe at the bottom of the post, so you can see how to make slime with liquid starch anytime.
Click video to play:
Pour glue into a mixing bowl. You can use either classic white glue, or colored school glue like we did below:
TIP: If you’d like to customize your slime with natural food coloring dye and/or slime-friendly glitter, mix it into the glue before you add your activator. You can also use colored glue to keep this a 2-ingredient slime recipe!
Add 1/4 cup starch and stir with a spoon or wooden craft stick until a cohesive ball of slime starts to form.
Finish kneading slime by hand.
TIP: It could take 2-3 minutes of working the slime to get just the right consistency. You’ve got to make sure that all of the glue and liquid starch mixes together so all of the solution has time for the chemical reaction to occur.
If after a few minutes your slime still sticks to hands, try adding more liquid starch (1 Tablespoon at a time), until slime is no longer excessively sticky.
Slime Troubleshooting: If your slime becomes rubbery or breaks, it’s likely over-activated. Click here for a video tutorial that shows how to fix hard slime.
How to Store Your Slime:
- After you’ve finished playing with your liquid starch slime for the day, keep in a sealed air-tight container. You could use a rubbermaid container or even a ziplock bag.
- To prolong the life of your slime, always wash hands before playing to minimize contamination.
Learn How to Make Slime Like a Pro
Liquid Starch Slime is one of our favorite basic slime recipes that are perfect for beginners! We also love contact lens solution slime and Oobleck because they are simple and provide the base for 100’s of other slime varieties!
Click here to learn how to make slime using our three starter recipes!
Grab a free printable copy of our Liquid Starch Slime Recipe here:
Liquid Starch Slime - the Easiest Slime Recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 cup PVA school glue
- 1/4 cup liquid starch up to 1/2 cup as needed
Instructions
- Add 1/4 cup liquid starch and stir until a cohesive ball of slime forms.
- Once slime pulls away from sides of the bowl, finish kneading by hand for 2-3 minutes.
- If slime still sticks to hands, add more liquid starch a Tablespoon at a time.
Video
Be sure to pin our Easy Slime Recipe with Starch on Pinterest:
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Ashley says
How many ounces does this recipe make?
Stacey aka the Soccer Mom says
Hi Ashley, I haven’t measured out our final slime, but it’s generally enough for 1-2 kids to play with. Hope this helps!
Jfer says
Our slime is super runny and wont thicken. Do you know how to fix this?
Stacey aka the Soccer Mom says
You might need to add more liquid starch until it thickens. Another problem could be the type of glue. Some generic brands aren’t made with the same formula and don’t work for slime like Elmers.
Amber says
I have the same issue as the other commenter, my slime is so stringy, it’s like little clumps of rubber bands and extra stretchy. I’ve added more starch and let it sit but it’s still just as stringy. There’s a pool of liquid as well. I used Elmer’s white glue but it’s the “extra strong formula” could that be the issue?
Stacey aka the Soccer Mom says
It sounds like there is probably TOO much liquid starch, especially if the extra liquid is pooling in the bottom of the bowl. I usually stick to regular Elmer’s school glue so it’s possible that could affect the consistency, but I’m still learning towards over-activated slime. Try this: https://thesoccermomblog.com/slime-fails-overactivated-slime/