How to Make Putty Without Starch or Borax

Flour and salt can combine to make putty.

Several putty recipes can be made without the ingredients of starch or borax. These putty mixtures can be used for windowpane putty, wall caulk or modeling dough for children's craft projects. The various putty mixtures are soft and pliable when first mixed and will air dry, allowing them to be sanded and painted. All of the ingredients for each of the individual putty mixtures can be found around the house or at the hardware store.

Things You'll Need

• 4 cups clean sifted sawdust
• 1 cup wallpaper paste
• Bowls
• Wooden spoons
• Plastic gloves
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 cup flour
• 3 slices white bread
• 1/4 cup white glue
• Lemon juice
• Water (amount varies depending on which type of putty)

Instructions

Make Sawdust Flour Putty

1. Measure 4 cups of clean sifted sawdust into a bowl. Add 1 cup of wallpaper paste.

2. Add 2 cups of water and mix with the wooden spoon.

3. Put on the plastic gloves and mix the ingredients thoroughly with your hands until the putty is the consistency of modeling clay.

Make Salt Flour Putty

1. Measure 1/2 cup salt into a bowl. Add 1 cup flour.

2. Add 1/3 cup water, mixing with the wooden spoon.

3. Put on the plastic gloves and mix thoroughly with your hands until the putty is the consistency of modeling clay.

Make Bread Putty

1. Remove the crusts from three slices of white bread. Rip the bread into small pieces with your hands and place it in a bowl.

2. Put on the rubber gloves. Add 1/4 cup white glue a tablespoon at a time and mix it with the bread with your hands.

3. Add three drops of lemon juice and continue mixing until the putty is the consistency of modeling clay.

References

• "Cub Scout Leader How-to Book"; Boy Scouts of America; 1985
• "The Colossal Book of Crafts for Kids & Their Families"; Phyllis Fiarotta and Noel Fiarotta; 1975