A 9-year-old boy was hospitalized with severe facial burns after a gel-filled NeeDoh toy exploded when he microwaved it on Jan. 20 at his Plainfield home, hospital officials said. The child’s mother said he learned about heating the toy from a friend who had seen the practice online.
The case has prompted warnings from Loyola University Medical Center’s burn team and renewed scrutiny of a social media trend that suggests microwaving the squeezable toys to make them more pliable. Loyola staff said the boy is the fourth patient this year treated for similar injuries tied to NeeDoh products. The toy’s Massachusetts-based maker, Schylling, displays a safety notice on product pages that reads: do not heat, freeze or microwave, and says it is working with platforms to remove videos showing misuse. A TikTok spokesperson said the company forbids content that promotes dangerous activities and removes violative posts.
According to the family, the incident happened the morning of Jan. 20 as the boy’s mother, Whitney Grubb, was getting her children ready for school. She heard the microwave turn on, then a scream. When the microwave door opened, the cube burst, sending hot gel onto the boy’s face and hands. “He was crying and just yelling, ‘It burns,’” Grubb said. He was first taken to a local emergency department and then transferred to Loyola’s burn center in Maywood. Doctors said the burns were close to his eye but his vision is expected to recover. The boy, identified by family as fourth-grader Caleb Grubb, remained at home this week continuing treatment and follow-up care, relatives said.
Loyola clinicians said the injury pattern is consistent with other cases they have seen when the gel-filled toy is heated in a microwave and ruptures as it is handled. Staff members said four patients tied to NeeDoh microwave incidents have been treated since early January. Hospital leaders said they began public outreach this week to coincide with National Burn Awareness Week. In interviews, burn center advanced practice nurse Paula Petersen said Caleb was “very lucky” not to have lost vision and warned that the gel can adhere to skin like glue when heated. The family said the toy burst in seconds and that attempts to rinse it off in the shower were too painful, prompting the hospital trip.
Schylling says NeeDoh products meet safety standards when used as intended and warns against heating, freezing or microwaving. The company’s website includes the line “Do NOT heat, freeze, or microwave, may cause personal injury” on multiple NeeDoh pages. A company statement shared by local outlets said Schylling has partnered with social media firms, including TikTok, to take down videos showing misuse. TikTok said its guidelines prohibit posts that depict or promote dangerous activities and that it removes such content quickly, citing internal enforcement statistics. It was not immediately clear whether federal regulators have opened a formal case review for this specific incident; the Consumer Product Safety Commission did not have a public notice tied to the Plainfield case as of Wednesday.
Reports of similar injuries have surfaced elsewhere over the past year, including a widely covered case in Missouri in which a young girl suffered severe burns after attempting to freeze and then microwave a squishy toy. Child-safety advocates and some physicians have urged clearer labeling on gel-filled fidget toys and faster takedowns of videos showing hazardous stunts. Consumer advocates also note that microwaves can heat items unevenly and superheat gels, increasing the chance of sudden rupture when a user touches or squeezes the item. The Plainfield case drew attention because doctors said the gel clung to the child’s skin, complicating removal and increasing burn severity, a pattern clinicians say they have seen in other cases.
Loyola officials said the hospital’s response now includes outreach to suburban school districts and pediatricians to describe the injury pattern and discourage heating gel-filled toys. Investigators and clinicians are reviewing whether additional local cases are linked to the same online instructions. Schylling representatives said they have worked to improve on-site safety messages and flagged misuse videos to platforms. TikTok representatives reiterated that the platform’s rules bar dangerous challenges and that it removes content that violates those rules. As of midweek, no lawsuit had been filed in connection with the Plainfield incident, and there were no public records of product recalls tied to NeeDoh products this month.
Neighbors in the Plainfield subdivision said emergency vehicles arrived quickly the morning of the incident. In the days after Caleb returned home, relatives said he was resting and planning to make up school assignments. Grubb said her son wanted others to “think before they act” and talk to adults about risky ideas they see online. Hospital staff said staff members planned to use Caleb’s case, with the family’s permission, in educational materials about burn hazards from heated gels and plastics. Pediatric burn clinicians said they expect full recovery for many superficial facial burns but warned that healing timelines can vary when adhesive gels are involved.
As of Thursday, Caleb was recovering at home and receiving outpatient care. Loyola Medicine said it will continue public updates during Burn Awareness Week and track any additional cases reported in the Chicago area. Schylling and TikTok said they expect to share further information about safety messaging in the coming days.
Author note: Last updated February 5, 2026.