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How the slime DIY craze became Google's top trend of 2017

Mark Molloy 13 DECEMBER 2017 • 3:04PM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/12/13/slime-gooey-diy-craze-became-googles-top-trend-2017/

The year 2017 - 'Year of the Slime'. 'How to make slime?' was the most popular ‘How To’ query Googled in the UK in 2017, while worldwide search interest increased by an enormous 450pc over the past 12 months.

The DIY trend snowballed into a global craze popular among children, in a similar vein to fidget spinners and loom bands, after Instagram accounts in the Far East dedicated to the colourful slime began popping up last year.

Since then, interest in slime in the UK and US has exploded, with Instagram and YouTube accounts on how to make the gooey creations attracting millions of followers and spawning popular hashtags like #slimetutorial.

Searching for ‘how to make slime’ on Google yields more than 11 million results, with parents and children combing the web for tips and inspiration for concocting their own gloopy works of art.

Controversy
The slime is created by mixing together the cleaning chemical borax, white glue and shaving cream, while different food colourings can also be added.

Some parents are choosing to use alternatives to borax, like cornstarch or certain brands of laundry detergent, over health risk concerns and warnings by the European Chemical Agency it “may damage fertility”.

Borax is classified as a mild skin irritant and a family from Massachusetts claimed the substance left an 11-year-old girl with third-degree burns after she used it every day across several months to make slime.

Others say watching the slime videos prompts an autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), which has been likened to a “brain orgasm”.

Videos focusing solely on slime ASMR have also garnered millions of hits, prompting comments like: “This is heaven to my ears” and “the slime is very relaxing, I love it!?”

A slimy business

Karina Garcia, a 23-year-old from California, has almost seven million followers on YouTube and can make up to $200,000 a month from sponsorship deals.

Her most popular videos, racking up over 15 million hits, include how to create DIY liquid Oreo slime and tutorials on how to make a giant mesh slime stress ball.

“There are times when it is $200,000 in a really good month,” she told the New York Times. “I’ve retired my parents. It’s definitely really crazy. I can’t believe it.”

New Jersey-based Newell Brands, parent company of Elmer’s Glue, added there has been huge demand for its product as a result of the slime trend.

“The Elmer’s team has increased production forecasts to stay on top of the extreme consumer demand from the slime trend,” a spokesperson said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/12/13/slime-gooey-diy-craze-became-googles-top-trend-2017/