We love splat toys. Take something shaped like a frog, an egg, or a duck and throw it hard against a surface and *splat* its spread all over the place! But then it slowly starts to reform itself back into its original shape!
Before and After
Thing is, Splat balls aren’t perfect. They don’t work on all surfaces. In fact we had to put up a sign asking customers to not take them out of the packaging and try them out on the store floor. Why? Well, our store floor is far from perfect. It is a not-as-well-sanded-as-could-have-been hardwood floor that has a lot of dirt on it. We clean, sure. But every day lots of customers are coming in from outside and it just doesn’t hold up in the super-clean department.
Why is this a problem? Well, in order to get the full ‘splat’ effect the surface of the pig/duck/egg must be able to stick to the surface it is striking. Otherwise it snaps back to its original shape too fast to be impressive. If the surface it strikes is dusty or too rough (properties shared by our store’s floor) it will not stick.
Worse, the tacky nature of the splat balls (and I am referring to their surface texture, not their taste as a toy) means they will pick up dust like a magnet picks up nails. Many of these splat balls get ruined from being used on poor surfaces.
But not to worry! Many ‘broken’ splat balls can be fixed. All you need to do is give them a little handwashing. Be sure to use soap (hand soap seems to work best), and give the splat toy a good cleaning. Once the splat ball is dry the surface should fell nice and tacky – very tacky, actually. If it does not, try cleaning it some more.
Just to show you how well the cleaning works, here is a splat duck that had been covered with dirt & grime and would not stick to anything. After a good washing it is back in business. Just watch:
Spectrum Scientifics' Store Blog 
Comments on: "The Care and Feeding of Splat Toys!" (10)
If it has a small cut in it, can I fix it? How so?
I don’t think there is a fix if a splat ball gets torn. Its pretty hard to tear them as I understand. Once they get some kind of rip anything that would repair the rip (glue, heat treatment, etc) would ruin the material of the splat ball.
U can’t I bought two and one broke
Thank you very much for sharing this nice post.
I got a splat ball today and by the end of the day, it seems way less ‘inflated’ then before.I have been washing it but that is definitely not the case.
When we bought ours they said if hand soap and water don’t help, try using the sticky side of duct tape all over it. Ours didn’t seem to work well at first, as it turned out we don’t have many surfaces smooth enough. Then it hit me – our granite and quartz counter tops. Works great!
It exploded in my face just right now
For heaven’s sake will someone please post a video of how to fill this thing with water? I put water in the little bottle that came with it, then I insert the needle in the top of the pig’s head, squeeze the bottle, and absolutely nothing happens. And of course it doesn’t come with a single instruction 😦
I bought 2 pigs; came deflated or broken, wth? They came with a small empty bottle with a tiny hose; does anyone know what this is for, came from china with NO instructions, Grrrrr
Same question I asked. I know you’re supposed to put water in the bottle with the needle, and use it to fill the pig with water. I know you should insert the needle in the top of the pig’s head. However, NO water will come out at all no matter how hard you squeeze the bottle. Yet when I take the needle out of the pig’s head the water comes out fine. Glad I only wasted $8 on this piece of junk – will definitely warn others about it on social media.