Easy DIY: How to Make Magnetic Slime

Many fun ways to play with slime. When a friend holds a magnet to move slime forward, have you ever wondered how it works? Can we possible make our own magnetic slime?

Before we make magnetic slime, we need to understand it first. What ingredients make it different from regular slime?

Reveal the Truth: How does Magnetic Slime Work

When you hold a magnet close to a slime, nothing happens. However, if it’s a magnetic slime, you’ll see something magical happen: it moves! It stands up! It’s chasing the magnet!

What ingredients give magnetic slime its unique “magnetism”?

What is Magnetic Slime Made Of

The answer is obvious. On Earth, there is an abundant substance that naturally attracts magnets. You must have guessed it. Yes, it is the IRON.

People mix a large amount of iron filings into slime, which makes it “magnetic” and can attract magnets.

From this, we know that magnetic slime is actually made from ordinary slime and iron filings. The main ingredients for making slime are PVA glue and borax. We can easily obtain these ingredients in our daily lives.

Easy Try: Homemade Magnetic Slime Recipe

Now that we know what magnetic slime is made of, we can try making our own.

Material Preparation

A bottle of school glue (white or clear)
1 teaspoon borax
A small bag of iron filings
Water
Some magnets
A mixing bowl
A cup
Stirring stick or spoon

Instructions To Make Magnetic Slime

Step 1: Pour the entire bottle of school glue into a mixing bowl. Then fill the bottle with water and pour that into the bowl as well. Stir the glue with a stirring stick or spoon.

Step 2: Fill half a cup of water, pour in a teaspoon of borax, and stir evenly.

Step 3: While stirring the glue, pour the borax solution.

Step 4: When the glue becomes sticky, stir it with your hands until it no longer sticks to the bowl.

Step 5: At this point, you have got a slime. Spread it out on the table, sprinkle it with iron filings, and knead it. You can add them multiple times to make the slime contain more iron filings.

Step 6: Take out the magnet and try the magnetic slime effect.

Notes

The finished homemade magnetic slime is best stored in a sealed bag or box. Since it contains iron and water, it becomes bad when exposed to air.
Borax solution can adjust the viscosity of slime. When it is insufficient, the cross-linking reaction in the bowl is insufficient and the slime will be sticky. On the contrary, too much borax will make slime hard and lack elasticity. So, when making, we will not pour all the borax solution into the glue at once, but add it according to the situation.
The above recipe uses more iron filings, and the final slime is darker in color. Ordinary food coloring will do little to cover the color of the iron filings. So, we generally do not use pigments when making magnetic slime.
The above order is not the only one. You can add the iron filings while mixing the glue in step 1. It can also eventually turn into a magnetic slime.
Add enough iron filings as much as possible to ensure that the magnet can drive the slime to move when attracting them.
Prepare disposable gloves if you don’t want glue to stick to your hands.

Learn the Science Behind Magnetic Slime

We know that Magnetic Slime’s “magnetism” comes from iron filings, but actually, slime itself is also interesting. Because it is difficult for you to classify it, it does not belong to our common solids, liquids or gases.

What is Magnetic Slime, Liquid or Solid

Magnetic Slime is neither a liquid nor a solid, although it has properties of both states. We call this flowing solid a non-Newtonian fluid. Similarly, toothpaste, mayonnaise, cream, glue, etc. are all non-Newtonian fluids, which are both solid-like and fluid.

Newtonian vs Non-Newtonian Fluids

We use a formula to tell the difference between Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids: Viscosity = Shear Force/Shear Rate. When it results in a constant value, we consider it a Newtonian fluid. That is, the viscosity of a Newtonian fluid is constant; it does not change with shear forces. Just like water and alcohol, its viscosity does not change no matter how much force you apply to it.

This is not the case with non-Newtonian fluids, which are always changing. When you play with slime, you will find that it is sometimes soft and sometimes hard. You squeeze it hard and it gets hard. And when you pull it gently, it becomes sticky and elastic.

The features of non-Newtonian fluids allow slime to have a variety of textures, including magnetic slime.

You can’t make anything magnetic out of water or alcohol. Because when you add iron filings to it, they will eventually sink to the bottom. Slime can evenly suspend iron filings in it, and they are still free and can move with the attraction of magnets.

Magnetism and Magnets

Why do magnets attract iron? What does magnetism mean? When you ask these questions, you have taken another step closer to physical science.

Electromagnetic Force

There are 4 basic forces in our nature: gravitational force, electromagnetic force, strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force. Magnetism is the result of electromagnetic forces. A moving electric field creates a magnetic field, and a magnetic field creates magnetism.

It can be seen that magnetism is a basic physical property, just like temperature and hardness. In fact, all substances have some degree of magnetism.

Ferromagnets

We think aluminum and copper are non-magnetic, but the reason is that the attraction or repulsion of magnets to them is too weak. We can’t see their effect at all, but they are indeed magnetic.

Ferromagnets are special materials in which a magnetic field can magnetize them permanently. And they can even generate their own magnetic fields. Iron, nickel, cobalt and their alloys are examples of this material. Actually, the magnet itself is an iron oxide, and its main ingredient is ferric oxide.

As A Popular Toy: Is Magnetic Slime Safe

In the toy industry, slime have always been popular. It comes in many different types, including butter slime, fluffy slime, therapy putty and more. Magnetic slime is also one of the most popular texture types among children in recent years. Many parents are worried, is this popular toy safe?

Safe and Non-toxic for Kids

People use borax to make slime, an ingredient considered harmful. So, ASTM and EN71 require the boron content in toys to be less than 1200 PPM. Today, we use alternatives like liquid starch to make borax-free slime.

Sincerely, magnetic slime that meets safety standards is safe and non-toxic for kids. These standards prevent low-quality toys from entering the market. When purchasing slime, you can ask to see the EN71 laboratory test report or certification. This ensures that the toy products you receive do not contain ingredients that are harmful to children.

Edibility Analysis: Can You Eat Magnetic Slime

Of course not! Magnetic slime contains a lot of iron filings or metal oxides and you absolutely cannot eat it! You should not allow children to put it in their mouths either!

Besides, people’s digestive systems can’t handle slime either. It can give you stomach ache and poisoning because it contains metallic substances. Especially if you swallow a chunk of slime, you may choke and suffocate. If you do carelessly swallow slime, please go to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible.

Pet Safety: How to Keep Dogs and Cats from Eating Slime

Pets are important members of many families and may appear anywhere in the home. However, slime is not safe enough for pets, especially if they want to eat it.

Normally, dogs and cats will not eat magnetic slime as it gives off a metallic taste. Pets may not like that smell. However, just in case, keep cats and dogs away from slime toys.

Store airtight: When you or the kids are not playing with slime, place it in an airtight bag or container. This prevents pets from coming into direct contact with it.
Place it high: Placing the slime high will ensure that it is out of reach of pets unless they are good crawlers or jumpers.
Lock it up: Have a locked space (room, cabinet, or box) for the toys, trust me, most pets can’t pick locks.
Education: Teach children not to feed slime to pets. Of course, if you are a skilled pet lover, you can teach your pet not to eat randomly.

Science Project: How to Make Magnetic Slime Without Borax

Maybe you think borax is not safe enough. Can we make borax-free magnetic slime at home? Let’s do a science project.

Magnetic Slime Ingredients Needed

School glue (clear or white)
Iron filings
Liquid starch (you can make it with cornflour + water)
Magnets
A mixing bowl

In this homemade recipe, we’ll be substituting liquid starch for the borax. Other ingredients are the same as before.

Instructions

We pour 1/4 cup of glue, 1/4 cup of liquid starch and 2 tablespoons of iron filings into a mixing bowl. Stir until all the ingredients in the bowl turn into a black or gray mass of slime.

Remove the magnetic slime from the bowl and knead it until it is no longer sticky. Place it on the table or hold it in your hand, take out the magnet and try it out.

Notes

The effect of liquid starch is similar to that of borax, and it will also reduce the viscosity of glue. When the slime is sticky to your hands, you can add more starch. On the contrary, if the slime is too hard, you need to reduce the starch or add more glue.
Neodymium magnets have larger magnetism, so it is easier to see the effect when testing slime with them.

Interesting Games: How to Play With Magnetic Slime

We have many ways to play with magnetic slime. Not only can you use magnets to attract it to move, but you can also simply engage in sensory play.

Magnetism Game: The Magnet that Got Eaten

First, place the slime on the table. Then, take out a button-sized neodymium magnet, place it next to the slime and let go. You will see the magnet pounce on the slime and be “swallowed” in one gulp!

In this case, the slime is much larger than the magnet, so the magnet moves toward the slime, not the other way around.

You can also play like this: place the magnetic slime on the table, then hold a U-shaped magnet and slowly approach it. When the iron filings are affected by magnetism, they will cause the slime to stand up. You can use the magnets to control the slime’s movement and transformation.

This game need you to control the distance between the magnet and the slime. The magnet will attracts iron filings but you should not let them to contact.

Sensory Play: Get Your Fingers Moving

Put down the magnet, the magnetic slime will flow between your fingers like a regular one. You can practice your hand feel by gripping, stretching, and rolling it.

Sensory play is all about the experience, the feeling of having slime on your fingertips. You can feel its cool touch, flowing and changing vision, etc. When your fingers are sensitive enough, you will feel where those iron filings are in the slime. This sensory play can reduce your stress and make you feel relaxed.

The Correct Way to Store Magnetic Slime

Sealing is the only correct storage way for magnetic slime. Because what affects its shelf life and life is air, more precisely oxygen and water.

Benefits of Sealed Storage

You will find that almost all products require sealing storage. For air dry lightweight clay, playdough, and even sand, you should store them out of the air too. The reasons are simple:

First, water and oxygen in the air can cause mold and rust. Exposing slime to air will speed up its deterioration.

Secondly, the flowing air will remove heat and moisture from the surface of the slime, which will make it dry. When the magnetic slime dries, it will be as hard as a lump of iron. And you may no longer play it!

Indeed, the biggest benefit of airtight storage is to maximize the shelf life of your slime:

Prevent mold and rust
Avoid drying out and hardening

On the other hand, sealing storage also keeps your play space tidy and prevents it from getting mixed up with other toys.

How Long does Magnetic Slime Last

Homemade magnetic slime doesn’t last long, even if you keep it airtight. After a week or half a month, it will rust and even smell bad.

However, commercial slime tend to last a long time. When stored correctly, it can last for years without drying out or rusting.

Magnetic slime does not lose its “magnetism” because its ingredients are not magnets. Magnets may lose their magnetism when heated (above the Curie temperature) or beaten, but iron does not. Change to a powerful magnet and your slime will be “resurrected” again.

Why is my Magnet Slime Turning Yellow

If your magnetic slime turns yellow or brown, it is most likely because of rust. Unfortunately, rust is one of the properties of iron that you can barely avoid. However, we can try to delay it.

First, do not place your slime in a humid place, as water is the main factor that causes iron to rust. Secondly, when playing, try to make sure your hands are dry. Avoiding the iron filings in the slime from coming into contact with water can effectively prevent rust.

Commercial magnetic slime generally do not use iron filings because they rust too easily. You can’t expect it to have a long shelf life.

In toy factories, we often use black iron oxide to make magnetic slime. Compared to iron, its oxides are more stable and almost never rust. So, we can store commercial slime toys for long time.

Will Magnetic Slime Dry Out

Yes, magnetic slime will dry because it is made of glue. While it doesn’t dry out as easily as water, it will eventually harden from exposure to air.

So when you’re not playing with slime, remember to put it back in the box or bag and seal it. Reducing the contact of slime with air is the most important way to extend its life.

Cleaning Worries: How to Get Magnetic Slime Out of Carpet

Magnetic slime is terrible when it gets on your carpet. Carpet fibers and slime will stick together and become inseparable. We offer a simple cleaning method to get it out of your carpet.

Step 1: Reduce Slime on Carpet

You should find ways to minimize magnetic slime on your carpet. For example, use a scraper to get it off the carpet. Of course, don’t forget to use magnets (a powerful neodymium magnet is a good idea). Place the magnet on stained carpet and the slime will stick to the magnet.

Allowing the slime on your carpet to dry will also make it easier for you to remove it. You can wait while the slime dries and hardens after a while. Of course, you can also get some ice cubes to speed up the process. However, you’d better not heat it as it may melt and make cleaning difficult.

Step 2: Professional Washing Solution

When you’ve removed most of the slime, pour a little professional carpet cleaner over the stained area. Wipe gently with warm water and a towel several times until it’s clean.

Professional cleaning solutions can remove most stubborn dirt without damaging your carpet.

Step 3: High Temperature Disinfection

Once you have your carpet clean, you can disinfect it with UV light or high-temperature steam. If the rug is small, you can hang it out in the yard and let the sun kill the germs for you.

Conclusion

In short, iron filings are an important ingredient in making magnetic slime. When we make it at home, we must prepare a small bag of iron filings. But iron filings can also cause slime to rust. Commercially, we use iron oxide or alloys instead of pure ones, which will extend the shelf life and longevity of the slime.

Otherwise, a bottle of school glue helps us make slime. Another common ingredient, borax, can adjust the stickiness of glue. But borax is not safe enough and we can use liquid starch or baking soda instead.

All in all, making magnetic slime is easier than you think and we can do it at home or at school with the kids. Of course, commercial slime toys can last longer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some frequently asked questions of magnetic slime, keep on reading if you are interested.

what do you need to make magnetic slime

PVA glue (or school glue), iron filings, borax (or baking soda, contact lens solution, liquid starch, etc.). Once these ingredients are mixed and stirred well, you’ll have a magnetic slime. Then, find a magnet that you can enjoy playing with!

what makes magnetic slime magnetic

The substance that makes Magnetic Slime “magnetic” is iron filings. When you hold a magnet close to a magnetic slime, the iron filings will be affected by the magnetic field. They help slime move towards the magnet.

As a non-Newtonian fluid, the special viscosity will encapsulate iron filings in slime. As the iron filings moved, the slime moved with them too.

where to buy magnetic slime

You can buy magnetic slime in the toy stores online or offline. In some stationery stores, you may buy slime too.

Besides, some toy factories will put their slime products on their websites, and you can browse the websites to buy them. Usually, the cost of buying slime directly from the toy manufacturer will be much lower. But they will usually require an MOQ. Working with a toy factory only makes sense if you need to buy a lot of slime.

is slime magnetic

Normal slime is not magnetic and its main ingredients are glue and borax or other substitutes. It is only magnetic if one adds iron filings or others to it to turn it into a magnetic slime.

what does magnetic slime do

As a toy, the main function of magnetic slime is to make everyone have fun. Whether you move it with a magnet or pull it into any shape, it provides us with a relaxing and happy time.

In the classroom, teachers may use magnetic slime to tell students how magnets work. This is a good teaching case to help kids understand magnetism.

how long does it take magnetic slime to rust

Magnetic slime made using iron filings will generally rust within a week or half a month. Because iron is reactive in nature, it is easily oxidized. When it comes into contact with air, water and oxygen react chemically with it to form rust.

Commercially, people often use an alloy or oxide of iron to make magnetic slime. This small difference allows slime to last for years without rusting.

References