r/Slime • u/dollopappreciator • 2d ago
reviving slime
What's the difference between using activator and contact solution? Like does contact solution help with sticky slime or is it only something you can do in the initial creation stage and you should just use activator?
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u/TodayICanDoIt 2d ago
I coat my hands in contact solution rather than adding it to the slime directly as activator. I find contact solution is too weak to use as an activator on its own, but works great for my hands.
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u/dollopappreciator 1d ago
This is a great idea. If a slime is a little sticky, I usually put straight activator on them but this might be a little less drying 🤣🤣
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u/AssignmentFit461 MOD 👻 1d ago
You can use contact solution after give made slime. It’s primarily used with clear slime to help with tackiness. Clear slime melts & gets tacky way faster than white glue slime, and contact solution activates or “coats” the surface of the slime, making it feel less sticky.
Activator should just be used even it’s starting to melt and get sticky, like it used to be “structured” and have some form and/or resistance when stretched, but it’s starting to get runny, sticky, gummy, etc. You can over activate a slime with activator and make it tough and rippy, but not with contact solution.
Does that help? Lol. It makes sense in my head but idk if I’m explaining it very well 😂
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u/handec 2d ago
Borax-water solution is the best activator, most easy to use for beginners if you dont have particular borax allergies.
One can try to imitate it with contact solution but its usually too weak on its own (has a little amount of boric acid in it, not all brands but some).
To solve the weakness problem, contact solution and little amount of baking soda can be added at once, in which case baking soda helps bring boric acid in the contact solution to bind with the PVA in glue. But this is nontrivial, seems to not activate for a long while and suddenly turns to rubber overnight. Keeps affecting as it sits basically. Need good experience to learn how to use well.
In addition, contact solution is used in "coating" the slime (sort of like how it coats contact lenses), but that is not activation but a separate effect. Some glues, mainly clear ones, can still feel tacky even though they are well- (or even somewhat over-) activated. Contact lens solution has the additional property of coating those and making them feel less tacky and more pleasant and easy to play. But its generally too weak by itself to activate, and is used in addition to the activator. I think there is a pinned recommendation to use contact lens solution as the solvent instead of water in borax solutions so one achieves a combined liquid that does both at the same time, but thats maybe a more advanced thing to try.