#slime time live

[peteneems]

[liminally-spaced]

[90s-2000s-barbie]

April 25, 2005

[dailynicknews]

Slime Time Live Show Segments (January 15th, 2001)

[ourjacketsworkjustlikeparachutes]

id like to be more gentle but it gets lonely

so i touch

i scream

i roll in the grass

and yell at my team on the court when they dont pass

[pandoraxaviondahmer]

Slime Geyser at Nickelodeon Studios Florida

December 17, 1998

[nickelodeonhistory]

[dapper-pants]

so you wanna make some nickelodeon slime, do ya? well you’re in luck. i have done an absolutely ridiculous amount of research on slime over the past year or two, i’m practically a certified slime-ologist at this point. now let me be clear: this is not the typical borax-and-glue stuff you see on youtube. this ain’t that non-newtonian “oobleck” stuff you made in third grade science class. this is the Real Nickelodeon Shit. so put on those plastic safari hats, because the secret slime action is “reading this post” and i’m about to dump a bucket of knowledge all over you.

everyone always asks what nickelodeon slime is made of, but there’s one important thing to keep in mind: not all slime is the same. when the Canadian kids’ show “You Can’t Do That On Television” filmed its pilot episode in 1979, the producers decided they wanted to dump some “gross sloppy stuff” on one of their actors. someone filled a bucket with cafeteria leftovers mashed up in water, but production was suddenly postponed. and nobody threw the stuff away. so when it came time to actually shoot the scene a week later, that shit was moldy as fuck. but they didn’t have time to make a new batch, so they decided to just dump it on the actor anyway. and audiences LOVED it. by the time nickelodeon picked up the show in 1981, the crew had already developed a new slime recipe made entirely from edible, non-toxic, kid-safe ingredients. and with that, the evolution of nickelodeon slime had begun.

basically what i’m saying is, there is no one definitive recipe for nickelodeon slime. nickelodeon has used so many different recipes over the years - i’ve seen them use stuff like cake batter, vanilla pudding, oatmeal, applesauce, food thickeners, even just green water in some cases. each type has its own distinct visual qualities, but the recipe i’m featuring here is a bit closer to the stuff they’ve used more recently.

so without further ado, i’m gonna get to the damn point and show you what i use to make slime!

the main ingredient here is methylcellulose, aka Methocel. it’s a food-grade thickening agent often found in shampoo, liquid soap, KY Jelly (yes, really!), basically anything edible/non-toxic that needs a thick consistency. it’s also widely used in special effects to make, well, slime - the pink slime in Ghostbusters 2 is a notable example, but it’s also used to simulate lava, molten metal, etc. (i have been able to confirm that nickelodeon DID use this stuff at one point, though i have no idea if their recipe has changed since then.) i got this bag on ebay at least a year ago - i don’t remember how much is in the bag, but a little bit goes a hell of a long way.

(side note: i have heard of people making slime with other food thickeners such as xanthan gum or natrosol, but methocel is the only one i’ve actually tested)

for the color, i use fluorescent green tempera paint - “wait hold on, paint? are you sure that’s safe?” yeah man, it’s the same stuff kindergarten kids fingerpaint with. usually i’ll add a little bit of yellow too, just to knock out the blue and make the color pop out a lot more.

and the last ingredient is plain ol’ water. now i don’t really have an exact ratio so i tend to eyeball it, but here’s how you put it all together: grab whichever bucket/container/etc you’re using and fill it up 1/3 of the way with hot water. add some methocel powder (the batch pictured below used 2 tbsp of powder and made 32 oz of slightly runny slime), then start filling the container the rest of the way with cold water and gently stir it with a paint stick (i tried using an electric hand mixer once, but that just whipped air bubbles into it and made it way too frothy). then add some paint - again, i really tend to eyeball this, so just keep adding and stirring until you get the color you want. mostly green with a little bit of yellow should result in a good eye-popping slime green color.

and what does this stuff look like when it’s done?

now THAT is some damn good looking slime, if i do say so myself. this particular batch was made slightly thin so the splash would look better at a smaller scale, but your mileage may vary.

IMPORTANT: whatever you end up doing with this stuff, DO IT OUTSIDE. this is NOT the kind of slime you play with indoors, this is the kind of slime that makes a HUGE MESS. put a tarp on the ground, keep a garden hose nearby, do whatever you have to do to make cleanup as quick and painless as possible. this stuff is water-based and entirely washable, but it gets EVERYWHERE. like, Literally Everywhere. how did that green spot get on the roof of someone’s car two blocks away? This Stuff Just Does That