Slime has made a major comeback for kids of all ages. This fun “goop” is great for stress relief, fidgeting, or just playing around! But behind every kid with slime is a parent praying they won’t drop it. Slime cleanup is a nightmare.

If you’ve found yourself in a slime situation—or you predict it in the near future—it’s time to prep yourself with the cleaning essentials. Luckily, slime cleanup doesn’t have to be hard—and you already have the necessary products lying around the house!

What Is Slime?

To know how to clean, you have to first understand what’s in slime. Most slimes—especially homemade slimes—are made with glue, Borax (sodium tetraborate), baking soda, and food coloring. The glue means it loves to stick and stain; the Borax and baking soda mean slime doesn’t respond to a lot of traditional cleaners, and the food coloring means you could end up with a hot pink or neon green stain in the middle of your white carpet.

n addition, most slimes have a high oil content. This means they’re not usually water-soluble, so the typical water-and-soap-scrubbing won’t do the trick.

So what will?

How Do You Clean Slime?

The short solution: white vinegar. Vinegar is the cleaning Pac Man that eats away at stain particles. (Learn more about the uses of white vinegar in The 5 Top Natural Cleaning Solutions.)

Clothing

Your child fell asleep playing with slime, and it’s all over their favorite pair of PJs.

1. Remove the excess slime from the clothing. If wet, use a paper towel or pick it up with your hands. If dried, gently scrape off using a spoon or butter knife. It should come off easily; don’t pull or force it off as this could damage the fabric.
2. Soak the area in white vinegar.
3. Let it soak for 5 minutes. Don’t let the vinegar dry or evaporate.
4. Run warm water over the area. This will help rinse off any slime particles that the vinegar dislodged.
5. Wash the garment as normal. Be sure to choose the appropriate washing method for the clothing’s fabric (Check out: How To Care For Every Fabric In Your Closet.)

Carpet

From the other room, you hear your child go silent. You rush in to see their innocently-guilty face staring up at you, as they stand over a pile of wet, goopy slime on the carpet

1. Remove the excess slime. If wet, use a paper towel or pick it up with your hands. If dried, gently scrape off using a spoon or butter knife. It should come off easily; don’t pull or force it off as this could damage the carpeting.
2. Soak the area in white vinegar.
3. Let it soak for 5 minutes. Don’t let the vinegar dry or evaporate.
4. Run warm water over the area.
5. Pat and blot dry with a paper towel. Do not rub.
6. Vacuum to remove any leftover particles.

Pro-Tip: If you don’t have any white vinegar on hand, try club soda. Club soda is a stain removing master, and it doesn’t need to be rinsed off. Slowly drizzle a small amount of club soda on the spill and let it dry. This works on carpets or clothing.

Wall 

Your troublemaker threw the slime against the wall, and now you’re left with a huge blue stain that even a Magic Eraser can’t touch.

1. Remove the excess slime. If wet, use a paper towel or pick it up with your hands. If dried, gently scrape off using a spoon or butter knife. It should come off easily; don’t pull or force it off as this could rip paint or wallpaper.
2. Mix a paste of baking soda and water. Add a small amount of vinegar for extra cleaning power. (Vinegar will drip down the wall on its own, so you need an exfoliating, sturdy paste to help fight gravity while you fight stains.)
3. Stir slowly until the paste is thick. If still not thick enough, add more baking soda.
4. Place a towel or protective covering on the floor beneath the stain. The paste (and stain) could drip down and damage the floors underneath if not properly protected.
5. Wearing rubber gloves, apply the paste directly on the stain. Allow the paste to sit on top of the stain.
6. Let the paste dry. Usually, this will take 1-2 hours.
7. Brush the dry paste off with a paper towel.

… and say goodbye to slime stain!

Want to know how to eradicate stains from red wine, lipstick, gum, coffee, tea, crayons, and more? Check out: How To Remove Common Stains.

Have you had a slime encounter? Tell us about it in the comments below to join the stainless slime society!