Slime hobby gets popular with Mumbaikars in the pandemic

The pandemic may have been about WFH (work from home), but there’s no way it was about being BFH (bored from home). Folks took up a number of creative pursuits – from craft to cooking – and one of these hobbies that got a fillip over the last few months, was slime-making. The process is fun, de-stressing and doesn’t cost much.
Frappuccino to clouds, it’s as creative as it gets

Slime involves poking and stretching and it’s visually pleasing to play around with colours and additions to the slime.Falguni Dedhia, who has been having these workshops at home, shares more on the trend. She says, “In the past few months, we have conducted a lot of workshops on slime making. Kids love learning about it as there is no right way to do anything here. You just create something and that is the best part of it. We mention to the kids what is needed and either send it to them or they buy it.” How long does a session take? “Not more than two hours. After an introduction on what is it, the proportions used, the diff kids, etc they star making it. Adults have been just as keen to learn too. Many of them say it’s fun and makes for a nice way to pass the time.”
Food is also making for some inspiration here. Jiya Dalal, 11-year-old student of PG Garodia school, creates food-based slime that looks as pretty as it gets. Her choco-frappuccino, fruit swirls, cotton candy and strawberry punch slimes may have you almost wanting to bite into them. When she’s not studying this is what she enjoys doing and has even got into entrepreneur mode with it. Says Jiya, “Slime is my obsession and I learnt how to make it online. I was really bored during the lockdown and came across this topic. I saw more and more videos on slime making and kept trying to better myself. The slimes smell lovely with the essential oils that I add and even look quite realistic. Sometimes people wonder if it’s edible, but of course, they are strictly not to be eaten,” she adds.

Urvi Parekh, Khar-based slime expert, shares the basics about it. She says, “Slime making is about all being creative, it’s more of an art form. The ingredients for it are readymade and safe. We use the actual chemical that goes into making glue, and I would advise anyone to buy only certified products.” She adds, “You use a combination of glue and borax and play around with glitter, glow powder, colour and foam balls. Since slime is so versatile, you can play around with shaving foam to get fluffy slime and add confetti and beads to it, too. People also make bubbles out of slime.”
The blob is an Instagram fave

Slime is as colourful as it gets and it’s hugely popular on Instagram. The hashtag #slime has 15,586,853 posts and counting! You’ll find so many feeds on it – from tutorial videos to folks folding glitter and beads into it and squishing gooey product out of their hands, which is therapeutic to watch.