Quicksand Fans

I've just had the most awful experience with my play goo... as people who follow me will know, I've managed to fill two containers larger than shoeboxes with it, so I can step in it and imagine what geting (at least) my feet stuck in a quicksand or bog would feel like. And pretty awesome it feels.

Until now.

For various reasons, being away and nursing a hurt foot after a long walk while on holiday, I'd not played with them for a good few weeks but got them out this morning. One was fine and still a thick goo with rolls off the skin pleasantly... but the other (the older of the batches, I think) has deteriorated into a slimy gooey mess more akin to slime. It's viscous, like a huge vat of brown snot-cum-glue, and it gets everywhere, is a real pain to clean up (it leaked over one side as i was getting out of the drawer it's hidden in) and has taken me most of my time before work just clearing up the drips, dribbles and vulgar colour splats through the kitchen after I discovered what had happened...

I assumed that the goo was probably starch-based or some similar gel agent, and I suppose stuff like this has a limited life, although I had built up this first batch over a period of months with no visible deterioration. But is this usual? And what kind of life can I expect the other to have (although admittedly, that's all fairly recent, and will hopefully not deteriorate for weeks or months yet!).

Which also leads me to ask, does the MPV Bleck 'deteriorate, and how the f**k do you get rid of it!? I now have a tub of slimy goo that won't even wash off easily so I'm loathed to put my foot in it, now matter how wonder that might feel squishing between my toes, but once you've filmed your scenes in Bleck.. what then!? You've got more than a bathful! Does yours keep?

tanya_wam wrote:....does the MPV Bleck 'deteriorate, and how the f**k do you get rid of it!? I now have a tub of slimy goo that won't even wash off easily so I'm loathed to put my foot in it, now matter how wonder that might feel squishing between my toes, but once you've filmed your scenes in Bleck.. what then!? You've got more than a bathful! Does yours keep?

Hmmmm. Without knowing the composition of the goo you are playing with, it's hard to know if our experiences with MPVBleck have any correlation.

In any case, I do commend you for 'doing what you can' to experience certain sensations. I'm sure that a lot of folks here can relate to experimenting at home with various substances and containers (and amounts).

Send me a PM if you wish to compare formulas.

I wish I could share a formula! It's a play item I buy from pound shops called 'Whoopie Goo' (or 'fart putty', as the receipt calls it)

This video shows it at the start, for about the first five minutes so you get an idea of how solid it usually is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKyeD44WzE8 (and it doesn't feature kids)

Well okay, let's simplify the question... once mixed with water or other, does starch/cornstrach/cornflour or any other gelling agent deterioate to a thick sticky gooey mess (not that Bleck isn't sticky or gooey in the first place! ) but more so? The play goo I have will usually roll off skin or other smooth surfaces without staining or leaving residue - see the video link above. But this stuff has now become the slime from hell! Sticks to anything and everything! Just washing my hands of it was a nightmare!

tanya_wam wrote:Well okay, let's simplify the question... once mixed with water or other, does starch/cornstrach/cornflour or any other gelling agent deterioate to a thick sticky gooey mess (not that Bleck isn't sticky or gooey in the first place! ) but more so? ...

If exposed to outside elements (yeasts, bacteria, fungus) and not preserved in any fashion, the starches will likely break down and start fermenting. Not only will you have a gooey-er mess but a smellier one, and a potential for a very unsanitary mix, too.

Thanks for the comments. I had no idea it might 'ferment', as I have no idea of the ingredients used to make it nd thought it would last. If anything, the goo has a slightly disinfectenty smell, which made me think something had been added to prevent it from rotting or passing on germs or whatever but I guess several months usage or more was something even the makers thought unusual?

tanya_wam wrote:Thanks for the comments. I had no idea it might 'ferment', as I have no idea of the ingredients used to make it nd thought it would last. If anything, the goo has a slightly disinfectenty smell, which made me think something had been added to prevent it from rotting or passing on germs or whatever but I guess several months usage or more was something even the makers thought unusual?

The disinfectant-ly smell is likely alcohol. And no, I wouldn't eat it!

Jumpoff_Joe wrote:

tanya_wam wrote:Thanks for the comments. I had no idea it might 'ferment', as I have no idea of the ingredients used to make it nd thought it would last. If anything, the goo has a slightly disinfectenty smell, which made me think something had been added to prevent it from rotting or passing on germs or whatever but I guess several months usage or more was something even the makers thought unusual?

The disinfectant-ly smell is likely alcohol. And no, I wouldn't eat it!

Hey I'm not that desperate LOL!

If your "goo" is the kind made using PVA glue and boxax, the "PVA" is an abbreviation for Polyvinyl alcohol. The odor might be related to that. This is just a guess but if the mix of glue and borax contained an excess of glue perhaps its odor was initially masked by being trapped in the mix and is now coming out as the mixture breaks down and separates. I took a LOT of chemistry but didn't learn much.

tanya_wam wrote:Thanks for the comments. I had no idea it might 'ferment', as I have no idea of the ingredients used to make it nd thought it would last. If anything, the goo has a slightly disinfectenty smell, which made me think something had been added to prevent it from rotting or passing on germs or whatever but I guess several months usage or more was something even the makers thought unusual?

Fred588 wrote:If your "goo" is the kind made using PVA glue and boxax, the "PVA" is an abbreviation for Polyvinyl alcohol. The odor might be related to that. This is just a guess but if the mix of glue and borax contained an excess of glue perhaps its odor was initially masked by being trapped in the mix and is now coming out as the mixture breaks down and separates. I took a LOT of chemistry but didn't learn much.

tanya_wam wrote:Thanks for the comments. I had no idea it might 'ferment', as I have no idea of the ingredients used to make it nd thought it would last. If anything, the goo has a slightly disinfectenty smell, which made me think something had been added to prevent it from rotting or passing on germs or whatever but I guess several months usage or more was something even the makers thought unusual?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. The goo before it broke down had the slight disinfectanty smell, which is why I mentioned it might be sterilised in some way. I haven't noticed anything different or offensive smelling about the container of broken down goo slime, and it's in drawers right next to my desk as I type!