Wacky World of Rubber: The kitchen table science of slime
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Kitchen table chemistry is taking social media by storm.
Across Instagram, thousands of videos are posted in dedication to the science of combining the right amounts of glue, detergent, glitter and food coloring. But few have mastered the art of slime-making quite like Alyssa Jagan, a 16-year-old Toronto resident who is building a faithful following for her posts that feature a simple slime recipe.
comment the lyrics of a song & guess the song other people are commenting :)
A post shared by alyssa (@craftyslimecreator) on Jan 10, 2018 at 2:20pm PST
In an interview with the BBC, Jagan explains that she never expected her childhood passion for slime-making to become such a beloved part of the social media landscape. She just enjoyed experimenting with different textures, colors and add-ins, When she decided to share her concoctions on Instagram, she did so because she thought maybe someone else would appreciate the convergence of art and science as much as she did.
Someone did, all right. Nearly 900,000 someones, all of whom follow her.
"I think people find it intriguing and really satisfying," Jagan told the BBC. "Satisfying is probably one of the biggest things that people say about slime."
Since joining Instagram, Jagan has posted more than 1,400 videos, many drawing hundreds of thousands of viewers, some even inching close to 1 million.
Jagan experiments with textures, adding shaving cream to give the slime a fluffy consistency, or contact solution to add elasticity. She's also found that small foam beads give the slime a satisfying crunch.
"The big thing with my page is that I like to have a lot of variety," Jagan said. "I don't like to just stick to clear slime or white glue."
With each of her Instagram videos racking up views, Jagan turned to attention to a new medium: print. She is the author of "Ultimate Slime," a book featuring do-it-yourself tutorials and recipes for slime-making.
It's been translated in 10 different languages.
Despite her passion for slime and the science behind it, Jagan said in a video posted to her Instagram page that hopes to attend college and study business. Because while slime is her hobby, her education comes first.
"I actually try to stick to my slime making only on the weekends," Jagan said in the BBC video, "because during the week, I am really busy at school."
Erin Pustay Beaven is the online content editor for Rubber & Plastics News. She is an appreciator of life's littlest treasures, a reader of great books and supporter of the Green Bay Packers and Cleveland Indians. Erin is an advocate for libraries, arts education and PBS. Follow her on Twitter at @EBeavenCrain.
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