How to Get Slime Out of Hair, Clothes, and Carpet

We have the answers you seek.

By Melissa Heckscher September 20, 2023

kids making slime makes you wonder how to get slime out of hair, how to get slime out of clothes and how to get slime out of fabric

Wondering how to get slime out of hair, clothes, couch, and the walls and clean everything up? We have answers

Slime. It’s that ooey-gooey stuff we parents love to hate (or hate to love). But don’t fear the goo! Whether your kid has slime packed onto her pigtails or there’s a glob of the gunk stuck to your living room couch—there’s a fix! We’ve tried and tested the best remedies for getting slime out of hair, clothes, the couch, and off the walls, so relax, and let your kids keep on getting slimy. Once you’ve got what you need, feel free to check out our favorite slime videos to find your favorite mixture!

Here's what you'll need to get slime out of clothes, hair, the couch, and the walls.

Next time you go out and buy slime-making materials for your little sensory-seekers, be sure to also get the tools to remove it from any place it should end up (including erasing the telltale stains on your kiddo's hands).

White vinegar
Baking soda
Hair conditioner
Paper Towels
Water (tap is fine)
Sponge or cleaning brush
An upholstery cleaner or liquid laundry detergent

How to Get Slime Out of Hair

how-to-get-slime-out-of-clothes-hair-couch-walls — Melissa Heckscher

All you know is this: You turned away for a second and the next thing you know, your child’s hair looks like she blew her nose onto her bangs. Before you whip out the scissors and pray her hair grows back before school pictures, try this technique for getting slime out of hair:

What you'll need:

Hair conditioner and warm water.

What to do:

1. Remove any gobs of goo that you can easily pick out with your fingers.

2. Massage conditioner over a slimed section of hair.

3. Run warm water through the hair and massage the hair to watch the slime dissolve!

4. Keep repeating these steps, using a comb or brush if needed, to remove any leftover slime.

5. Your child is slime-free!

You can also use white vinegar for this (but conditioner smells way better and works just as well). Watch this video on TikTok to see this method in action.

How to Clean Slime off Walls

Fingerprints...footprints...those little slappy hands that always come in party bags—your walls have seen it all, so what’s a little slime? Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news? The slime usually peels right off most walls. The bad news? It's the stain left behind that can be tricky to erase. Here's how to get slime off your walls.

What you'll need:

Baking soda and water

What to do:

1. Peel off the slime from the wall. If the slime is dry, you may need a blunt butter knife to do this and get off any stubborn pieces.

2. Make a paste of baking soda and water (The paste should have the consistency of toothpaste.).

3. Rub the paste all over the stain, then gently rub it with a sponge or rag to remove the slime.

4. If the stain is still there, put another layer of baking soda paste and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before removing.

How to Get Slime Off the Couch

As many times as you tell your kids to keep the slime in the kitchen, if they're like every kid everywhere, the slime will find its way to the rest of your house. So what do you do if some slime ends up on your living room couch? Try this method for getting the goop out.*

*This method worked like a charm on a dark brown couch, while it took a little longer to get the stain out on a light gray one. We can't verify whether it works on white couches!

What you'll need:
White vinegar, water, upholstery cleaner (or liquid laundry detergent)

What to do:
1. Remove as much slime as you can with your fingers.

2. If the stain is on a part of the couch that has removable fabric (for instance, a couch cushion cover), take off the stained fabric so that you minimize the chances of vinegar seeping into the foam cushion itself).

3. Soak a paper towel with vinegar, and press it down on top of the stain. You can also pour the vinegar directly onto the stain (recommended, especially if you've got a removable couch cover or cushion cover and don't have to worry about the vinegar seeping below the fabric). Let the solution sit for 15 minutes.

4. Using the same paper towel, wipe the area clean with the paper towel. Then, use dry paper towels (you'll likely need a lot!), to blot the stain.

5. Cover the area with upholstery cleaner. If you don't have that, use a mixture of liquid laundry detergent and water and scrub the stain using the rough side of a sponge or cleaning brush. This will be easier to do on stain-resistant or dark fabrics, but it should work fairly well on lighter fabrics as well.

Note: For stains that have been sitting a long time or are on very light fabrics, there may be residual color left behind.

6 . Pat down with paper towels and let dry.

Watch this method in action in this TikTok video.

How to Get Slime Out of Clothes

Your child may be the master of "I can do it myself!" but even with the most careful of kids, you can bet that—at some point or another—slime will end up in the middle of a favorite shirt. Here’s how to get slime out of clothes.

What you'll need:

White vinegar and water

What to do:

1. Remove any excess slime with your fingers.

2. Pour vinegar directly onto the stain and allow it to soak for about five minutes.

3. Using a sponge, rub away the slime. Be sure to clean the sponge when it starts to collect the slime so that you're not re-staining the fabric.

4. Rinse with warm water.

5. Wash and dry the garment as normal.

How to Get Slime Color Off Skin

Even if you've been lucky enough to have your furniture, hair, or walls spared from slime's stickiness, you're probably still left with hands the color of whatever hue you chose for your goo. These stains will likely dissipate in a day or two (as long as you're a regular hand washer), but if you want to get rid of the stains a little faster, try this:

What you'll need:
Baking soda and water.

What to do:
1. Pour the baking soda directly onto your hands and scrub with a little bit of warm water.

2. Rinse and repeat if necessary.

Final Tips for How to Get Slime Out of Clothes, Hair, the Couch, and the Walls

Let's face it: With more than 29 billion TikiTok views under the hashtag "slime" and 25 billion on YouTube (according to this Huffpost article), your kids are going to want to play with slime. And with the right tools and preparations, that's totally OK! Just follow these tips:

Keep long hair tied up - Slime loves to stick, meaning any time your kid wants to stretch it way high above their head, there's a good chance a little bit will stick to their strands on the way down. To minimize the chance of a whole-head slime-tastrophe, keep all hair tied into a bun or ponytail (wearing a bandana in the hair helps even more)

Wear an apron and ditch the long sleeves - To keep clothes clean, put an apron on your little artist while they play with slime. And, now's the time for short-sleeves or hand-me-down clothes.

Don't let little kids be in charge of food coloring - We've learned this the hard way (at least a few times). Telling kids "just one drop" of that glorious, vibrant color is like telling them to take "just one bite" of a chocolate chip cookie. It is better to let grown-ups dish out the food coloring.

Put mats or newspaper on the slime-making surface - The slime itself may slide off your table, but the food coloring used to make it may not (especially if you've got a wooden table). So cover the table sufficiently before letting your kids start their slime-making.

Have fun! Slime is not the enemy! With the right tools and preparation, you can keep the mess to a minimum (and the cleanup a breeze).