Homebrewed Snot

The kids of today are in a sorry state; have you seen the limp products that pass as chemistry sets these days. Finding one with a little meths burner, a cute liebig condenser or anything even slightly toxic is nigh on impossible (and to my dismay I can’t even find the ‘junior mad scientist’ one I had as a kid to bequeath to my boys). It falls upon me to introduce them to proper science through makeshift concoctions of any household stuff I can get my mits on.

You will need
Household Borax powder (I got enough for a couple of gallons of snot for £3.50 from the Green Shop)
PVA glue (I like the vats of the Eco Friendly version)
water
green food colouring
a jam jar and lid per child

First of all stir up a Borax solution. Take a cup, add some warm water and a tablespoon of Borax. Let it sit whilst you measure out the rest of the stuff so that any excess settles to the bottom. Do be careful, Borax whilst in powder form is a little toxic; so don’t stick it up any noses. Once it’s in water though, it’s about as toxic as salt… which is more toxic than you might think, if you just ask a passing slug.

You will need 3 parts water to 2 parts PVA glue, measure them into your jam-jar and add a couple of drops of dye. Now screw that lid down and give it a good shake until the water and PVA become one sloppy, runny and slightly foamy green mess.

Now for the cool bit. Add 1 part Borax solution. A little less for a gloopy goo (for fake boogers); or a little more for more rubbery snot (this can be used as a farty-putty, scoop it out of the jar and press it back in to make really rude flatulent reverberations). Then get them to shake and shake and shake. Over the next minute or two a lump of snot will form and start bouncing around the jar. I found that a bigger jar helped this happen smoother and faster; though it worked quite well on a small scale too.

Scoop and smear.

ps. do make sure you know your chemicals, and if you do try syribia’s recipe for different types of snot and slime at Instructables

Enjoy

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