How to Rehydrate Play Doh
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It’s crazy easy and only takes about 1-2 minutes to rehydrate Play Doh! If you have kids, this is a life hack you need to know!
As a kindergarten teacher and now toddler-mom, Play Doh has been a big part of my life for a long time. And usually, I’m pretty particular about getting all those little dough-bits back into the jar asap!
However, others in my life are not so picky… they like to play with the Play Doh, then run off and do something else without putting the first thing away. Ahem, adults and kids alike are the culprits!
Dry Play Doh means that it can’t be crafted, rolled, molded, and just generally enjoyed the way “fresh” Play Doh can be!
So, after the 10th time that I walked in to find Play Doh left out on the table (and consequently being super dried out), I decided I better do some experimenting to see exactly how to rehydrate Play Doh!
P.S. Yes I did change the color of the Play-Doh in the photo with photoshop, because it was brown and frankly looked too much like you-know-what for my liking! You’re welcome, lol!
How to Rehydrate Play Doh in Less Than 2 Minutes
Now, you may be thinking, “why not just buy new Play Doh?”.
That’s a valid question.
But for me, taking the 2 minutes (or less) to rehydrate old Play Doh is totally worth not having to drive to the store and spend more money!
So, how do you make dry Play Doh soft again? Easy!
Step One
Grab some dry Play Doh. It can be completely cracked and dry, or just a little on the “tough-to-work-with” side.
Step Two
Run dry Play Doh under the water, or dip it in a bowl of water. Either way is fine, just make sure that the entire outside of the Play Doh has been coated in water.
Step Three
Knead water into Play Doh until water is completely incorporated and your hands are no longer wet when handling the dough. This is a bit messy, so you might do it over the counter or the sink, just to be safe!
Step Four
Assess whether the Play Doh is still too dry; if so, repeat steps 1-3 until it’s the right consistency again!
How To Fix Dry Playdough Video
That’s it! Now you know how to easily rehydrate old Play Doh so you don’t always have to be buying new!
Or, if you like to make your own homemade playdough, this method works for homemade playdough too!
PIN THIS FOR LATER
Thank you for sharing!! My grandson has been going through a lot of play-doh lately doing exactly what you described…playing with it for a bit then running off to do something else. Now I’ll be able to salvage the play-doh without having to buy more every other week!! Thank you!
Yay! I’m so glad to hear this! I knew I wasn’t alone <3
Thank you! I’ve been meaning to go through my kids Play-Doh supply and throw out the dried out ones. Now I know I don’t have to!
Yay for saving money, am I right?! I’m so happy you found this before throwing all that Play Doh away! <3
Oh wow! I never knew this, I always thought once it dried out it was done for. Thanks for the help!
Exactly how I feel! Except I just add a bit of water once its all put back into the container(Just a bit! It can be too much pretty easily). And then by next time they ask for it, it’s ready to be played with again.
Thank you for this easy fix. Play doh is great for physical therapy for the hands and fingers. I bought several small containers and all have gone dry. Was about to order more when I thought to google it.
I’m so glad to hear that! Enjoy and Happy New Year!
Thanks for this tip. My son’s favorite play doh was left out overnight and this solved the problem.
Fabulous! You are so welcome Kelly! Enjoy!
Be careful and be sure to remove jewelry first! The colour got on my hands when I was first integrating the water. But it’s easy to wash off. and the Play-Doh feels a lot better afterwards!
Great tip, Tamrya! I haven’t had that problem, but I can totally see it being an issue! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the post! For people that DO prefer to just run out and buy a new one, I hope you will try to fix your existing play doh (and other “broken” possessions). We too often have a convenience/disposable mentality and it’s quickly costing our offspring and descendants the future of the planet. So very little of plastic is successfully recycled. Reduce, reuse, and then attempt to recycle if all else fails!
Thank you! I was starting to make too many trips to buy new Play Doh.. 🙂 This is the solution I needed.
Thank you so much!! My 280 month old grand baby has has a serious problem with their dryed out playdoh! Now i can finally fix it instead of buying more!
You are so welcome!! Have fun with your grand baby!
Hi!
I am a 73 year old woman, and I just bought Playdough again. Aside from being great for molding & sculpting, it is excellent therapy for arthritic hands & fingers. You will find that many grandchildren never knew about it.
Simply, it is fun to squeeze & model. I also should mention that I love the smell too.
Thanks ~
Azure Montaig 🎶
I love that perspective! You’re never too old to have fun with Playdoh! (And I like the smell too!)
Thanks so much for sharing this. Is there a substitute for cream of tartar please.
You don’t need cream of tartar to rehydrate PlayDoh! but if you are talking about making homemade play dough, the cream of tartar makes amazing homemade play dough. I’ll work on developing a play dough recipe without it just for fun though!
Well, thank you for that! Adding a bit of water then folding the crumbling playdough in half and then in half and then in half and adding water every so often really softened up some playdough I thought wouldn’t soften up! My bride and daughter are delighted, me too!!! Thank GOD for this!
It’s the little things in life! Glad it worked for you!