Mother Warns that Popular Ingredient in Homemade Slime Causes Third Degree Burns
(Screenshot / FOX 4 Now)
If you’re a crafty mom, or if your kid just spends too much time on the internet, you are probably well aware of homemade “slime.” You know, that gooey, mushy stuff that oozes through your kids’ hands and makes a total mess on your floors. If you go on Pinterest, there are dozens of recipes for the stuff, and many parents (even the not so crafty ones) have found it much easier to make it at home. But one Massachusetts based mother is warning all parents to be careful when making the concoction.
Siobhan Quinn’s 11 year old daughter Kathleen was having a sleepover where they made some slime as a fun DIY project. Kathleen had made the slime plenty of times before with her mother so she had no particular reason to worry about making it this time around. Except this time something went wrong.
According to Siobhan Quinn, her daughter woke up in the middle of the night complaining about pain in her hands. Kathleen told reporters that her hands felt “hot and tingly” and she couldn’t sleep due to the extreme pain. Quinn says that when her daughter came to her, “She was like crying in pain, ‘My hands hurt, my hands hurt.'” per another interview. Quinn and her husband rushed their daughter to the hospital, her hands red and blistering. When the doctors examined her, they discovered that her hands were covered in second and third degree burns. The cause for the burns? Over exposure to Borax.
Though the Quinns have made slime many times, something was off with this time. “I’ve had other mothers say, ‘Oh, we’ve made it a million times. It’s fine. Nothing happened to my child.’ We made it a million times, too,” Siobhan Quinn explained.
Homemade slime is made of three ingredients; white Elmer’s glue, water and Borax you can add things like food coloring or sparkles as well. Borax is a salt of boric acid (not pure boric acid) that comes in colorless crystals that dissolves easily in water. Borax has a variety of uses and is generally safe. It is very important to note that when making homemade slime, you have to dissolve the Borax in the water before you begin to add the rest of the ingredients. Until the Borax is properly dissolved it is probably best to use a spoon or something similar to stir the mixture. If you’re concerned about having any sort of reaction during any part of the mixing process, you can always wear rubber gloves.
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We’re glad that Kathleen Quinn is okay, and hopefully this will lead parent to be careful when making slime.
