Katie Zerbst was doing laundry on a Sunday morning in June when she heard a “guttural” moan. “It was the sound that makes you just drop everything and run,” the 45-year-old mother told Business Insider.
Rushing into the kitchen, Zerbst found her 10-year-old daughter, Violet, covered in steaming hot, sparkly goo. Burns seared across her face, and skin from her top lip was flapping down into her mouth. Moments earlier, Violet had popped a squishy toy into the microwave for 30 seconds. She wanted to make the glittery cube more malleable so she could squish it more easily. When she pulled it out, it erupted like a volcano.
Violet ended up in the emergency room, and she isn’t the only child to visit the hospital after playing with a squishy.
Business Insider reviewed dozens of incident reports, spoke to parents, and consulted doctors and regulators about the risks behind this year’s biggest toy craze. Despite a spike in reports of burns and concerns about toxic exposure, oversight of squishies — slime-filled toys shaped like dumplings, fruit, ice cubes, and other cute characters — falls into a regulatory gray area, and the market is teeming with counterfeits and knockoffs.
What’s in a squishy?
Squishies, with their gooey, foamy, or gel-like textures, fall into the category of “sensory toys,” like fidget spinners, kinetic sand, and magnetic balls.
In recent years, the toys have gone “from zero to hero,” Five Below CEO Winnie Park told investors in June. They’re helping the retailer to become “America’s greatest little toy store” by driving brick-and-mortar traffic, Park said on September’s earnings call. Kohl’s also credited the toy with a sales bump, and workers from several retailers have taken to social media with tales of over-eager customers demanding their favorite squishies. Instagram and TikTok are full of satisfying videos of hands squishing toys shaped like a strawberry or a tube of toothpaste.
However, reports from homes and hospitals across the country describe exploding and leaking toys, along with chemical smells. America’s Poison Centers told Business Insider that more than half of the 11,500 reports about squishies received by its member organizations since 2024 happened in the first six months of 2026, though only a small portion of the ruptures caused severe injury.
Schylling, which manufactures the most popular squishy brand, NeeDoh, was hit with two lawsuits in July over squishy explosions that plaintiffs say resulted in severe burns. One complaint said that a NeeDoh Nice Cube, left lying on a TV stand near a window, remained cool to the touch but, when squeezed, erupted with a scalding gel that left blisters on the person’s leg. Lawyers for the company declined to comment on the allegations.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has also seen a spike in squishy-related incident reports from shoppers and hospitals this year. A Business Insider review found about two dozen consumers describing how ruptures — due to microwaves, hot cars, and squeezing — have burned kids this year. Roughly 20 more reported strong smells emanating from the squishy toys. Hospital reports collected by CPSC showed about a dozen explosion cases in 2025, the latest year available.
One parent told the CPSC the toy didn’t “just pop”; it “exploded” in February 2024 after their daughter squeezed it on her 10th birthday. This August, another reported that their 8-year-old son was squeezing his squishy normally when it ruptured. “The outer layer of the toy failed without warning, spraying the internal filling directly across my son’s face and into his eyes,” causing immediate “burning and distress,” the report said. A February report to CPSC echoed a common complaint about a squishy that “emitted an extremely powerful and persistent chemical odor, resembling acetone or nail polish remover,” which gave its owner a headache.
In response to growing public concern, the CPSC issued guidance in August, warning shoppers of serious burn hazards from intentionally or unintentionally exposing toys to heat. A spokesperson told Business Insider that these toys hit on several longstanding concerns for the agency, including the dangers of water beads and potential exposure to unsafe chemicals. As for the dangers of microwaving them? That’s considered improper use, and the agency doesn’t typically punish companies when consumers don’t follow safety warnings, the spokesperson said.
Underlying these reports is the common frustration that squishy ingredients vary widely and often aren’t listed on the packaging. NeeDoh discloses that its products, including the Nice Cube, Dream Drop, and Groovy Glob, use fairly common ingredients such as maltose sugar, cornstarch, and polyvinyl alcohol, the latter of which the brand says is non-toxic and also found in white glue.
While these ingredients are considered chemically safe, the lawsuit in California cites academic research to argue that some of these substances have thermal properties that, along with a soft polymer casing, can make scalding hot gel feel deceptively cool to the touch — until the toy pops.
The market is also rife with knock-offs, and federal safety rules are patchy. US regulations don’t require independent testing and certification of toys, unless they’re marketed to children under 13.
Manufacturers initially decide how to market and age-grade their products, subject to CPSC oversight. While products clearly intended for young children, such as baby pacifiers or toddler teethers, must meet stricter testing requirements, squishies can plausibly be sold as children’s toys, adult stress balls, desk accessories, or collectibles. Many are marketed as products for all ages, and verifying a toy’s age classification can involve a lengthy review.
That ambiguity raises a broader question: When an all-ages product becomes wildly popular with children, should it be treated as a children’s toy? The CPSC says it considers not just a product’s label, but also how it’s designed, marketed, and reasonably understood and used by consumers when determining whether it’s a children’s product. That last part can change over time, and sometimes it shifts faster than regulators can keep up with.
The agency said that reputable brands typically go beyond legal requirements by seeking voluntary safety certification from independent organizations, such as ASTM International or United Laboratories, and include their logos on their packaging. An ASTM spokesperson told Business Insider the organization’s standards are periodically reviewed and revised in consultation with a committee of more than 1,000 members to address new products and hazards.
