Snow Cone Shaved Ice Machine - Retro Table-Top Slushie Machine - Includes 1 Reusable Plastic Cup - Aqua

I recently used this cotton candy machine, and it was a blast! It was easy to set up and didn’t take long to start spinning. The machine warmed up quickly and started making fluffy cotton candy in just a few minutes. It was fun to watch the sugar turn into big, soft clouds of cotton candy. The texture was light and airy, just like at fairs — not too sticky and easy to enjoy. Cleanup was pretty simple too, since most parts came off easily for washing. Overall, this cotton candy machine is fun, easy to use, and makes great-tasting cotton candy. It’s perfect for parties, sleepovers, or just a sweet treat at home! 🍬😊

Was nervous about the many poor reviews, particularly recent ones, so put it together carefully, read the instructions, and watched some YouTube videos about cotton candy machines. After making our first set of batches, my overall take is it's a great little unit. I had no trouble getting it going, waited the full 10 minutes for it to heat up before using it, and used candy floss sugar bought separately (unit doesn't come with any). Spun up into floss in about a minute, and was relatively easy to spin out onto cones (came with the flossing sugar), or a straw / chopstick we had around. We made about 6 'batches' consisting of about a tablespoon of sugar (the max for the unit), and they got eaten very very quickly (faster than I could make them). I set it up outside because of the reviews saying the sugar got sprayed 4 ft in every direction. I did not notice any sugar spraying out of it at all for me; my next batch I will try inside. I did however, find some perhaps 25%-50% of the sugar in the batch fails to make it into the floss, and is flung as small particles onto the walls of the bowl in a ring (where the spinning disk is). I collected it afterward (the pieces snapped off easily) and tried putting a couple big pieces in to re-melt and have less waste. That turned out not to be such a good idea, as the weighting wasn't distributed evenly for the spinning disk. The solution is to crush the hard candy into little pieces first, so that it can spin out more evenly, which I'll try next time. I stopped the machine due to the odd rotation that was occurring, and let it cool. The sugar in the head all hardened inside and looked like a fairly nasty mess to clean up. Good news is it's sugar, so it dissolves in water. After cooling for 20 mins I popped the head off and ran it under hot water and dissolved out all the sugar that had hardened inside. Took a good 10-15 mins to get it all out, so I won't be in any hurry to re-create that situation. But all in all it's straightforward to clean and looks like new again. In sum, does what it's supposed to do (makes delicious cotton candy), is easy to set up, easy to use, and easy to clean. 5 stars. Just know it's small batches, you may want to make some ahead of time if you have a bunch of kids / people that want to eat it.

Works great

This works. Not as well as some, but it functions. It's nice to be able to just throw some ice cubes in the top, put the lid on and press the power switch. It grinds up the ice, somewhere between crushed and flaked. It does not have a simple way to clean it out as far as I can tell, I just leave a mug under it and let the leftover ice melt. Then I can wipe it out with a little detergent and a wet rag. I thought about getting one of the hand crank models, really this was just because I came across some shaved ice syrup I wanted to try out. My son now wants a few different flavors, he is really enjoying the simplicity of using this little machine. We do not use the supplied plastic cone, which does have a stand that also folds away so you can put other mugs/cups under it. I think you could easily fit a twelve ounce cup/mug but not a full size glass (sixteenish ounces). So shorter cups or large mugs fit. Obviously if there is no easy way to clean the ice out it will drip until the ice has melted. You could probably tip the ice out the top and then just run a little hot water through it to clean out the rest on the blade and in the chute. However, if you just leave it a couple hours with a mug underneath and the top open the ice melts and drips into the mug and the inside dries fairly easily. This isn't likely to be an appliance that lasts through several generations. It likely won't last more than a couple years. However, it was inexpensive and does the job it says it will with the least amount of effort. You don't have to make a giant ice cube that is perfectly shaped for the machine, you just pull ice out of the freezer, whatever shape your ice is, and put it in the machine, it has a funnel type shape with a blade that rotates around crushing/shaving the ice. The machine and most of the parts are plastic. There are no other functions other than just on and off. It is a little loud (think blender or food processor). It does tend to shift around if you don't have it on a sturdy surface or if you put too much ice in it to start. I used a combination of crushed and solid ice cubes because that is what my ice dispenser decided to give me even though I selected solid cubes. I don't think it really matters size or shape as long as it fits in the funnel. If you are only mildly interested in making a icees/snow cones every once in a while like I was it will get that job done. If you are looking for something that is going to be used every day for months or years invest in a sturdier machine. I personally didn't even know if we were going to like the syrup, but now I am looking forward to making Hawaiian ice with my nephews next week.

I've had this cotton candy machine for years!!!! I love the rustic and nostalgic look it has to it. It is super easy and fun to use especially for birthday parties and kid get togethers. It doesn't take up to much space. And is so easy.

We had gotten a defective unit. The center motor did not spin upon turning on like it’s supposed to. I figured maybe something banged upside the box and made it a couple of mm off so I hit the side of the cotton candy machine and it magically started spinning. Nothing looked damaged or off so I figured it was just off by a little bit during shipping. We followed the instructions exactly as it states. We let it heat up for a good 15 minutes. We put some candy floss in (we had to buy separately this unit does NOT come with any candy or floss to use) and it kind of made some cotton candy. I used to have a similar machine years ago so I know how to operate one, something was just off. We barely were able to get any cotton candy made when I noticed there was a lot of smoke coming from the inside where the motor was. I looked down into the crevasse and saw embers! Then I saw flames! Unit caught on fire before our eyes. Immediately turned unit off, and blew out the flame. I let it cool, cleaned everything to the best of my ability and back to Amazon it went. Bummer because it was a gift my son really wanted for Christmas. We will stick with buying already made cotton candy, this ruined me ever buying another machine again.

This item is so cute, and worked really well the first time. However, I found the height to be awkward, for someone who has tall counters and is around the short side. And the plastic lid isn’t wide enough it seems. I also found that it was extreeemely hard to clean. Because the sugar floss will melt and harden on the burner sometimes and the burner is bolted on. After more research I discovered that the this machine doesn’t make the best use out of the sugar scoops. Takes too much sugar and too much time to make ONE decently sized puff. Unless you’re looking for looks get this, but if you want results I’d get “The Candery Cotton Candy Machine.” It’s a little pricier, but fast, easy to clean because everything detaches and the cotton candy gets huge and just on one scoop! You’ll know you found the right one when one of the reviews has a pic of a little girl with a huge cone of cotton candy lol. Also recommend Gold Medal sugar floss!

Amazing gift for my grandchildren! You'll be surprised by how much cotton candy 1 tablespoon of sugar makes! Great quality and looks vintage!