Making Mucus

Today I am making Mucus for a Medical Simulation that involves a manikin that requires suctioning.

Step 1: Your Ingredients

While you could wait for your next cold, this could take a while - not to mention not be a hygienic option.

There are lots of ways you can make mucus, and I am going to run through a few easy ones today.

Start by ransacking your local area to pull together your ingredients.

Ingredients

Waterbased Lube - (alternative= ultrasound gel). Use something waterbased so it can be easily diluted and oils won't degrade or damage your manikin.

Green and Yellow food colouring - (alternative= waterbased or acrylic paint / bruise gels / face paints)

Water based or acrylic white paint- (alternative= talc)

You will also need a pot to mix your mucus in, something to store it in and something to mix it with. (You can use your finger, but I wouldn't recommend it)

Step 2: Lube

Big advantage of using waterbased lube is that it is clear. This means that you have more control over the end colour.

Step 3: Add Your Colourants

Add in a small amount of your green and yellow food colouring, and a little white paint.

Start small, you can always add more colouring, but its much harder to remove some!

Step 4: Mix Well

Mix it up and keep adding little bits of colour to get the end result you are hoping for.

Your mucus is ready for your simulation! Store it safely and wash up.

Step 5: Using Alternatives:

You can also use ultrasound gel, which is blue. To get our green colour, we only need to add yellow food colouring, but it can come out quite an intense green.

Step 6: More Alternatives

Adding talc or white paint helps to calm any intense colours, as well as improving the thickness and adding 'foam'.