Having mostly used thick Natrosol in the past due to convenience, I've always been underwhelmed by it because it always felt more like a gel than a slime, and it would drip off too quickly. That said, I decided to give MS Gunge (messysupplies.com) a try as it's cheaper. Never before have I ever felt so... slimed. I have to say that this product makes an amazing slime! MS Gunge is stickier, more stretchy, and coats better than Natrosol. If you like the ease of Natrosol, but wish you had something a little more sticky and stretchy, then I highly recommend Thick and "Xtra" Thick MS Gunge.
LOL, Microsoft gunge, now in "blue screen of death" color! If Microsoft made gunge, it would crash. I'm not sure how that's possible, but they'd find a way.
The gunge looks great. Cake batter never did anything for me. I've been thinking of getting some natrosol or HEC off brand so my research led me here. I think I'll give it a go. Am worried about customs sending me a bill but shouldn't be the case. Been trying to figure out how to make it and save. From my understanding cosmetic grade HEC dissolves better, and a factor is having the water just slightly alkaline. for sure i'll try messy supplies, choice of colours.
Its not really down to being cosmetic grade, each manufacturer has a vast range of grades of Hydroxy Ethyl Cellulose and each of the other cellulose such as Methyl and Carboxy Methyl. There is the granular fine ness so to speak, some of it is really fine that can cause dust problems. Then there is the thickness that it will create with a given quantity of water. Along with that there is the time it takes to thicken. The Natrosol most people go for is the 250 HR, there are numerous other grades and we have had much better results with a different grade of Natrosol. The 250 is the viscosity or thickness, the R is a delayed reaction with water which prevents clumping. We're currently using a European Hydroxy Ethyl Cellulose that gives a higher viscosity and what we think is the perfect reaction time of around 4 minutes. If you want to try different brands in the US to save postage I'd recommend getting a few different samples of different grades from the same manufacturer to see what works for you.
Thank you, that helps me understand. Researching can take you down the rabbit hole on the internet and the time to dig through to find valid information. I have read the ingredients on my favorite lotion and have had an idea of incorporating a few items to effect viscosity and stickiness ect. in the future. A good messy is an investment. Any thoughts on additional admixtures or unnecessary. Also thought about adding kaolin clay powder for opacity and a dry pigment powder. For HEC how much liquid would be produced from 250 grams ?
SilverBlue said: Thank you, that helps me understand. Researching can take you down the rabbit hole on the internet and the time to dig through to find valid information. I have read the ingredients on my favorite lotion and have had an idea of incorporating a few items to effect viscosity and stickiness ect. in the future. A good messy is an investment. Any thoughts on additional admixtures or unnecessary. Also thought about adding kaolin clay powder for opacity and a dry pigment powder. For HEC how much liquid would be produced from 250 grams ?
You shouldn't need to use any additives, we do in our Deluxe Gunge but thats to create a different effect. The Hydroxy we use already provides an opaque gunge so you already get solid colours without any further admixtures. Again, its trial and error with samples to get something that works for you. We've been using different gunges for the past 8 or 9 years and have probably trialled well over 30 different grades of gunge material. They all behave differently have have different results. The Carboxy and MethylCelluloses create a different feelling opaque gunge but are not so easy to mix. The HEC Gunges produces an easy to mix gunge but some are clear, like Natrosol.
For colouring we use plain and simple kids poster paint in a powdered form. It does what it says on the tin and is safe. Pigment powders would probably give the same result but be more expensive and the colouring may not wash out so easy.