If you have pre-school or elementary-aged children, you are undoubtedly familiar with slime. It’s gooey, brightly colored and often sparkly. Kids love to stretch, squeeze and roll the goo in their hands, but the slime is useful for more than entertainment.
Dust, hair and dirt are often difficult to fully remove from nooks and crannies in your home. However, cleaning these areas is a simple process with DIY cleaning slime.
What Is Cleaning Slime Used For?
Cleaning slime slides into the tiniest crevices in your home as well as your car. Some small cleaning tools, such as pipe cleaners and cotton swabs can reach some tight spaces, but you might have to dig a needle out of your sewing kit to reach the smallest areas. Even then, the tasks are often more challenging than they need to be.
Gooey slime fills small gaps and clings to filth, making it far more effective for cleaning everything from electronics and ornate wood furniture to air vents and cupholders in your car.
How to Make DIY Cleaning Slime at Home
DIY cleaning slime has different ingredients than kids’ play slime has. You can skip the food coloring, glitter and borax.
Instead, you’ll need a 6-ounce bottle of school glue, a half teaspoon of baking soda and two teaspoons of contact lens saline solution. Simply mix the ingredients together until a blob forms. You’ll likely need to knead the goo with your hands for several minutes until the blob is more manageable.
How to Store and Reuse Cleaning Slime
A little cleaning slime goes a long way, and it lasts longer than you might assume. You can divide your batch of DIY cleaning slime into three or four parts. Place each manageable blob in a small, plastic container with an airtight lid.
These blobs won’t last forever, but you can expect them to last longer when they are kept away from heat and sunlight. Store your sealed plastic container in the fridge for the best results. If the slime is less slimy when you pull it out, add a small amount of baking soda and contact lens solution to reactivate it.
Tips for Safe and Effective Use
Follow these tips to keep your family, pets and belongings safe when using DIY slime:
- Don’t leave slime sitting on surfaces, especially if it is exposed to heat or sunlight.
- Don’t use the DIY slime recipe that calls for borax as an ingredient.
- Store cleaning slime out of reach of kids and pets.
- Avoid using slime to clean upholstered and carpeted surfaces.
- Replace slime after it becomes saturated with debris and is no longer effective at cleaning.
- Don’t add food coloring to your cleaning slime.
FAQs
Is cleaning slime safe to use on all surfaces?
Cleaning slime is not safe to use on carpet and upholstery as it can stick to the fibers. In addition, don’t use slime to clean or remove lint from your clothes.
You might think slime can be used on plastic, but this isn’t the case. Some types of plastic will degrade over time because of the ingredients in slime.
Does cleaning slime leave residue?
On some surfaces, cleaning slime may leave a residue. If this happens, simply use a cloth lightly dampened with rubbing alcohol or distilled white vinegar to remove the residue.
For surfaces that cannot be cleaned with these ingredients, use a baking soda and water paste as a residue remover.
How do I dispose of old cleaning slime?
Your blob of cleaning slime will eventually accumulate so much dirt and debris that it no longer serves its purpose. When this happens, it needs to be tossed out. Never put your slime in your drain or toilet. This often clogs pipes and leads to the need for professional repairs.
Instead, add vinegar to the slime in a bowl. The vinegar will break down the slime. You can then put the liquid in a sealed plastic bag and toss it in the trash.
If you aren’t cleaning large surface areas as well as small nooks and crannies in your home on a regular basis, your home isn’t as clean as it needs to be. DIY cleaning slime is a great tool, but it isn’t a catch-all for all of your tough, time-consuming tasks. At Tidyhere, we provide our customers with thorough, efficient cleaning services that can be customized to meet specific needs. Schedule Tidyhere service for your home today.
