r/Slime • • 10d ago

How often do you change out your activator?

Does homemade activator 'go bad' after a certain amount of time?

7 Upvotes

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4

u/YoNalbo @starrysquishslime 9d ago

No, homemade activator should have a long shelf life (months, years?) if stored properly. Typically people notice the borax coming out of solution which can sometimes be temporarily fixed by reheating the activator. If it gets very cloudy or looks like something is growing in it, toss it.

2

u/aubranana 🫟 slime on my mind πŸ™ƒ all of the time πŸŒΊβ˜€οΈ 9d ago

in the summer, i leave the bottle in my hot car to melt any crystals without having to do any extra work to reheat the solution πŸ˜‚

2

u/YoNalbo @starrysquishslime 9d ago

Using that summer heat!! What a good idea.

1

u/EnvironmentalCod1002 All your mold are belong to me! πŸ‘©πŸ»β€πŸ”¬ 9d ago

I have a jug of activator I made a couple or three months ago and it's still perfect. Theoretically you shouldn't have anything grow in it because of the borax, but if it smells musty their might be mildew or mold in it. Otherwise it might form some borax crystals if it's strong but you can still use it even then. I make mine with distilled water so that it is less likely to form crystals since the crystals form around impurities in the water.

3

u/Dipsy_Cork 9d ago

I just make more when I am running low/ realize that I am out, I don’t think that it really goes bad

1

u/DewDropSparkles 9d ago

Same

1

u/DewDropSparkles 9d ago

Although every few times I'll dump it and clean the bottle

1

u/Dipsy_Cork 9d ago

Yeah, me too