How To Make Crystal Clear Glass Slime – 2 Methods with Saline

“Mom, we need to make clear slime, like glass, then it can be like the gelatinous cube in D&D!” Having no idea what I was getting myself into, I nodded. Unknowingly, I had just committed myself to almost a month of slime failures and struggles. Clear glass slime is not easy to make. But like any good scientists, once we took on the challenge, we had to see it until the end. Which, thankfully, meant success!

Learn how we made Crystal Clear Glass Slime

How to make crystal clear glass slime using a saline slime base recipe.

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The result of our experiments was a beautiful, crystal clear glass slime, but it is a slime, so it will not hold a cube shape like our D&D inspiration. In fact, I thought it reminded me more of Kragel from the Lego Movie.

When we set out on our journey to create clear slime we did a lot of research. We had tried to make slime in the past with clear glue, but it always became cloudy once the polymers started forming. From some research, we learned that the cloudiness was actually air bubbles.

But getting those air bubbles out of the slime is not easy. Our saline slime loves to form bubbles. In fact, it is very satisfying to play with, because of all those little bubbles. Popping them is very much like playing with bubble wrap. In the end we discovered a few different methods that had varying degrees of success. I will share them all, so you can become your own scientists to see what works for you.

Note, we are using our standard saline slime recipe, if you are not familiar with that recipe, or the ingredients, you can get all the details here:

Finally! A way to make slime that really works! No liquid starch, no borax, no detergent. Super simple, and super stretchy! Ours stretched over 40 feet!

Or check out our slime making video!

Always use appropriate cautions and safety when making slime. Want more information? Check out this article.

Slime safety and tips. Everything from understanding ingredients (and how they vary) to tips about soap residue. What you need to know about slime.

Supplies to Make Clear Glass Slime

Clear Elmer’s School Glue
Buffered Saline Solution
Baking Soda
Water
Bowls
Spoons

    

Directions for Making Clear Glass Slime

Method #1

This method is fairly simple but time consuming. Essentially you are making our saline slime recipe but with clear glue.

Add 100 mL of glue to a bowl, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and mix well. Carefully add a few drops of buffered saline and mix well. Add a few more drops and mix well. You should notice it start to pull together immediately.

The mixing is critical. If you are not mixing really well, you will end up adding too much saline and end up with a slime that breaks rather than stretching.

Once it starts to pull together and get stringy, add some saline to your hands and lift it out. Start working it with your hands. It will start out really sticky, but after a few minutes of kneading the stickiness will go away. If after 5 minutes it is still very sticky, add a couple of drops of saline and work it in. You do want it to be slightly sticky still at the end.

Place in an airtight container and let it sit for 3 to 7 days. After the rest period the bubbles will have risen to the top. Pull off the bubble layer leaving only the clear slime. Do not mix the bubble layer back in as it will cause your slime to get cloudy again. Instead give it to your kids to pop like bubble wrap!

How to make crystal clear glass slime using a saline slime base recipe.

The bottom layer is your crystal clear glass slime, ready for playing. It may be a bit sticky after the rest period but should lose the stickiness after a bit of playing.

Method #2

This method is a bit more complicated but if done correctly works more quickly and gives beautiful results. However, we did find it was more prone to failure and mistakes.

Add 100 mL of clear glue to a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of water, add 3 teaspoons of saline solution. Mix well.

In a different bowl add 2 teaspoons of baking soda, add approximately 1 cup of hot water (tap hot, not boiling), and mix until completely dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.

Carefully pour your glue mix into the baking soda water. Let sit for one minute, then start carefully and slowly encouraging it to pull together by moving it together to form a lump. You can do this with a spoon or your fingers. I found it easiest to start with a spoon. Once it starts to ball, work it with your hand a bit in the baking soda water. You want to remove air bubbles, but if you do this too vigorously it will start to dissolve and mix into your water solution. Slow and cautious is the name of the game here.

How to make crystal clear glass slime using a saline slime base recipe.

Slowly lift the slime from the water solution. It is going to be very slippery and very slimy and very hard to handle. Kind of like wrangling a fish! Carefully place on a sheet of parchment paper and let dry for 5 to 10 minutes.

If you did everything correctly you will have a beautiful clear slime! If it still has air bubbles and appears a bit cloudy, place it in an airtight container for 1 to 3 days and the bubbles should rise the top like in Method #1, leaving you with a clear bottom layer.

One caution with this method, we found it was very easy to over do the saline and end up with a slime that was very prone to breaking. However, that may not be all bad, the stiffer result makes a nice bouncy ball!

Struggling to make this one work? Try this one from Little Bins For Little Hands for yet another method!

Happy slime creating!

How to make crystal clear glass slime using a saline slime base recipe.

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