This Week's Experiments and Some Crocheted Rigs
A few years back I bought two ounces of D&C yellow #8 dye- it was one of those things where buying a little was cheap, but buying a lot was still cheap, so I bought what seems to be a lifetime supply of it. It's the concetrated form of the dye they use in yellow highlighters. It's blacklight reactive and a lot of fun to play with. I've used it to make the bath tub glow (super fun- 1/8 tsp does the trick), I've used it in play dough and I thought I'd give it a try in bubbles.
It worked/didn't work. D&C yellow 8 is a soap dye- it works well in bubbles without killing them, but even with juice that looked atomic the bubble walls were too thin to get much of an effect. Edward helped me with a thicker walled formula, but it didn't make any…
Denatured Alcohol and Methylated Spirit are not interchangeable
Methylated Spirit ('Meths') and Denatured Alcohol are generally considered to be alternative names used in different countries for the same thing ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol ). However there may be differences that affect their use for our purposes. In the USA I use Denatured Alcohol exclusively for slurrying Guar and PEO. When visiting England I tried using Meths, which worked just fine for Guar but not for PEO. When I tried to slurry PEO (WSR 301) with Meths I got a thick goo so I think it's partly soluble.
Fast, Cheap, and Easy Beginner Wands for Kids
Bubbles are a great way to keep a crowd of kids entertained in the summer. Bubble juice is easy, and budget friendly to make, but supplying enough wands can be challenging, and expensive. With just a few basic craft supplies kids can make their own wands, and play all day!
Materials:
- Pipe cleaners- available from just about any craft or dollar store.
- Yarn- Red Heart Super Saver available in pretty much any Walmart, or the recesses of most craft closets, or "I Love This Cotton" from Hobby Lobby work well. Lion Brand Homespun makes a serviceable tri-string. Dish cloth yarn like Peaches & Cream, or Sugar & Cream isn't recommended- it doesn't wick well. Chenielle/blanket yarn wasn't great either. I'm currently testing other yarns. If you hav…
Change of pH with time for Dawn Pro Mixes
When using the same bubble mix over a number of days I have often noticed a change in the pH from one day to the next, and I've seen similar comments elsewhere on the wiki, so I thought it would be worth studying in more detail. I made fresh mixes of 4 different types of mix and then recorded the pH over 10 days. pH v. time is shown on the graphs.
2 100ml samples of each mix were prepared in 5.5 oz plastic portion pots and pH was recorded while stirring as the mix was prepared, after 12 hours, and then daily up to 10 days. The graphs show the pH for each of the 2 samples of each mix.
I looked at 4 different types of mix:
1) No pH adjustment.
I thought that pH changes were probably due to carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolving in the mix, so one pair…
Colour change with bubble size: 6 videos of Dawn Pro at different strengths
Improved version per Edward’s suggestions Here are 6 videos of Dawn Pro bubbles changing colour as they are inflated. For each video all 7 bubbles are the same mix. The purpose is to identify the bubble size which is most representative of in vivo bubbles made with a tri-string loop. The position indicator on the right gives a measure of the bubble volumes (12 cm on the scale is equivalent to 1 litre of volume). I'm no expert on colours so I'm looking for advice.
The 6 mixes are all Dawn Pro/distilled water. pH was adjusted with HCl.
1) 40:1, pH not adjusted
2) 40:1, pH 7.6
3) 20:1, pH not adjusted
5) 20:1, pH 7.6
6) 12:1, pH not adjusted
7) 12:1, pH 7.6
I’ve let each video run until the last bubble burst, to give an idea of reproducibility. If yo…
Colour change with bubble inflation for Dawn Pro mixes
As suggested by Edward, here is a video of Dawn Pro bubbles changing colour as they are inflated. I've made some improvements to the lighting so I hope it's satisfactory. The purpose is to identify the bubble size which is most representative of in vivo bubbles made with a tri-string loop. The position indicator on the right gives a measure of the bubble volumes. I'm no expert on colours so I'm looking for advice.
The mixes are all Dawn Pro/distilled water. pH was adjusted with HCl.
Strength/pH for each bubble:
1) 40:1, pH not adjusted
2) 40:1, pH 7.6
3) 20:1, pH not adjusted
4) not used
5) 20:1, pH 7.6
6) 12:1, pH not adjusted
7) 12:1, pH 7.6
(ps: the bubbles start inflating when the position indicator is at 3cm. 12cm of displacement is equivalent…
Best pH and Concentration for Joy Pro - analysis of a wide range of conditions
I analysed Joy Pro for bubble longevity over a wide range of concentrations (from 3% to 12% by volume) and pH values (from about 6.4 to 9.0) with Guar at 2 g/L using the test rig I've described previously. pH was adjusted using 0.5 molar HCl in steps of approximately 0.4. The graph on the right shows the results, with the length of the bars indicating the longevities. Each test was repeated 7 times and the error bars show the standard error of the mean for each.
Air temperature and relative humidity ranged between 21C and 24C (71F and 76F) and 43% to 49%. At each pH I tested 6 mixes plus a control (12% Joy with no pH adjustment). In case the data were skewed by the variations in temperature and humidity I also calculated the relative long…
Methods of mixing Guar compared
Guar mixing methods which may be just fine for everyday bubble blowing may not be uniform and may give quite a variation from one bubble to the next.
I tested six different methods of mixing guar for longevity, for maximum bubble size, and for 'success rate'. Success rate is the % of trials that actually produce a successful bubble.
I tested three types of mixer for dispersing the slurry of 2g guar/10ml denatured alcohol (aka methylated spirits), in 500ml water: an immersion blender, a milk frother, and a 2 beater kitchen mixer. For the immersion blender I tried short (few seconds) and long (30 seconds) mixing times. For the frother I tried cold and hot water.
I also tested a vortex mix in which the dry guar was sprinked directly into a vorte…
First Person Bubble Video Rig
This is the continuation from my previous post where I mentioned wrapping my little tripod around my neck to shoot videos from my perspective. So, here are some pictures of the "rig" that I used and how I made it, as well as some footage of some great bubbles from my second session using this setup. Woohoo!
- 1 Setting Up The Camera Rig
- 2 Video Using The Camera Rig
- 3 Bubble Juice
- 4 Bubble Wick
I'll let the pictures tell the story of setting up the first-person bubble cam. If the story still isn't clear, please comment and ask questions so I can clarify and add more detail.
I used the rig with my old device (HTC One M7) and my current device (Moto X Play), and found that I like the video from my current device better. Although, either device fit just f…
Great Bubble Session In The Fog
We had some amazingly thick fog a couple weeks ago. So, I obviously had to go bubbling in the fog. More than usual, in my opinion, these bubbles look like they're moving in slow motion. A couple times, I had to look at myself in the footage (moving at normal speed) to make sure I hadn't accidentally slowed everything down. Haha!
I'm using two different wicks for these bubbles. When I'm holding the longer poles (if you can tell), I'm using a 60" top string made from a full-ply strand of Libman Jumbo Cotton Wet Mop yarn with a 120" bottom string made from a single strand of BB&B cooking twine. With the shorter poles, I attached a 48" top string of full ply Libman mop yarn, and a 96" bottom string made from two strands of the Libman mop yarn.
…
Bubbles From My Point Of View
My first few attempts at recording my bubble sessions were definitely not failures, but I didn't really get the good footage that I was hoping for. The two main reasons were 1) my tripod was one of those short ones with bendy legs, and 2) the camera I was using was kind of old (circa 2009).
However, when I went out again to try and capture some awesome colour profiles, I came across a fun way to film my bubbles. I figured out, purely by happenstance, that the tripod legs can wrap around my neck. So, I was "wearing" the tripod. Then, I mounted the camera to the tripod and I was able to capture a bubbling session from my point of view.
So, while I wasn't able to capture the footage I initially set out to capture, I was able to replicate a bubb…
Cool Looking Street Light Bubbles
My wonderful wife was more than willing to film some evening bubbles on the street for me. Unfortunately, I forgot to adjust the white balance on the camera so the footage is all really orange. While editing, I applied some filters using Kdenlive to fix the "hyper orange" look, and it sort of worked. On the plus side, the lights reflecting off the bubbles in the evening still look cool and alien-esque. This wasn't a test or experiment of any sort, but just a good ol' time bubbling in the night. Ta-da!
September 14, 2017 - Guar Gum Bubble Session
On the morning of the 14th, I headed over to the school that my children attend (after school started) to make some bubbles in the wonderfully humid air (RH 92-100%). I tried to get some good colour profile shots using the side of the school...and I kind of succeeded. After using the darkness of the building as a backdrop to view the colours, I tried a whole bunch of other angles to see what I could see on video. And, while some of the bubbles looked pretty cool, they looked much more awesome in person. Looks like I need a better camera, haha!
Wonderful Giant Bubble Videos
When looking online for bubble videos, there are lots of videos that sport titles containing "...Biggest Bubbles Ever..." or "...How To Make Giant Bubbles..."
Well, this small collection of videos truly does display some of the biggest bubbles ever created. If you find a video that shows bubbles that are even larger than these ones, please let me know and I'll add them. Shazam!
Tips for Bubbling
Of all the amazing things I've learned from the Soap Bubble Wiki, a few of these things are not necessary at all to make giant bubbles. However, these things make the bubbling experience exponentially more consistent and/or awesome.
Here's my non-exhaustive, unordered list of simple things that have improved my bubbling experience:
- Make your bubble juice in jugs or bottles, or mix it in a bucket and pour it into a jug/bottle. I used to mix my juice in my dipping buckets (with lids). It didn't take long for the juice to get full of crud. Also, I would feel obligated to use up the entire bucket in a session...even if the conditions for making bubbles weren't that great. So now, my juice stays clean until I want to use it, and it lasts longer b…
Lighting Setup Sept 2017
Just a quick note documenting the simple inexpensive lighting setup that I have cobbled together for reliably capturing bubble colors for doing indoor color profile studies.
The results are excellent in terms of capturing the colors. However, I am finding that the methods that I've tried for making bubbles that I can photograph with the setup are less sensitive to differences in solutions than my standard outdoor tri-string setups. It turns out that the tri-strings I use (and maybe reasonably sized tri-strings in general) are quite sensitive to differences in 'surfactancy' or dilution than the longevity test setup or blowing bubbles and holding them on a plastic wand.
So, my search continues for finding an indoor method of making bubbles/fil…
2017 09 08 Dawn Platinum 4x and Dawn Pro Session
The conditions were much better today than yesterday for comparing the detergents. Temperature was 61F and humidity 90%. Wind was slow (1-2 mph) and steady. The sky completely overcast.
The films looked similar, but the Platinum 4x films were ever so slightly thinner -- especially at the max 'stretch'. There was something unusual, however. The longest platinum tubes were not as long as the maximum Dawn Pro tubes.
Juice details. Both juices pH-adjusted to 7.6 with 5% citric acid solution. For platinum: 9 grams. For DP: 8 grams 1000 grams water 50 grams detergent 6 grams BLM
Loops: 32" top-string loops from SecureLine 3/16" cotton cord.
The platinum juice required more citric acid than the DP solution.
All in all both juices worked well. I'd give…
4X Platinum Bubble Session In The Fall
My info and pictures aren't nearly as awesome and detailed as Edward's, but I figured I'd start posting anyway.
I had a great session this evening, and here's the technical info that I have:
- Weather
- Temp: 15°C (59°F)
- Humidity: 89%
- Wind: 2 km/h (1.24 mph)
- Bubble Juice
- 1000 grams of water
- 2 grams of guar gum
- 2 grams of baking powder (pH adjuster)
- 50 grams of Dawn Platinum 4X (20:1 dilution)
- Wick Material
- Libman Jumbo Cotton Wet Mop
- top string: 48", full ply
- bottom string: 96", 2 strands twisted together
And here are a few photos. You can't really see the colour profile, because the shots are not taken at an ideal angle and the lighting is too bright. However, it was a lovely evening and my wife and I had plenty of fun bubbling. Ta-da!
Oh, those blurred spot…
2017 08 12 Dawn Pro 20:1 and Ultra 3x at 30:1
On August 12, 2017, I performed a quick session to compare the color profiles of Dawn Pro (2017) at 20:1 and Dawn Ultra 3x at 30:1. From earlier tests, it was clear that Ultra 3x has more surfactancy than Dawn Pro, but it was unclear how much more. In my July 25 comparison, Ultra 3x at 25:1 created a film a bit thinner than Dawn Pro at 20:1. I felt that I needed to do more comparisons to find an Ultra 3x dilution that was a closer match.
Since Ultra 3x claims to be 1.5 times more powerful than Ultra 2x (which is similar to Dawn Pro), I tried 30:1. I was expecting that the film would be somewhat thicker than Dawn Pro at 20:1 -- meaning that Ultra 3x would have slightly less than 1.5 times the surfactancy of Dawn Pro.
Comparing similarly-sized…
2017 09 07 Platinum 4x and Dawn Pro First Comparison
Took a few minutes to try out Dawn Platinum 4x for the first time. I tried it and a Dawn Pro (2017) mix. Both were 20 to 1 solutions pH-adjusted to 7.6 using 6 grams of recently brewed BLM per liter of water.
The wind was swirling and fast moving. In these conditions it was hard to get a convincing read of the solutions. Both worked well. In these conditions, the color profiles were pretty similar. I'll need better conditions to get a more meaningful read.
A note about interpreting the color profiles in this session. The wind speed was constantly changing and was generally quite brisk. A few long Platinum 4X tubes ended up with thinner films than any of the Dawn Pro films. Because of the changing speed and velocity, it was hard to tell if th…
2017 07 25 Dawn Pro and Ultra 3x Explorations
First suitably overcast morning since I made the test juices earlier this month. All juice used 1 liter of water, detergent, 5% citric acid solution for pH adjustment (to adjust to pH 7.6) and 9 grams of BLM per liter of water.
The juices were:
- Dawn Pro (2017) at 20:1. Tap water juice.
- Dawn Pro (2017) at 20:1. Distilled water.
- Dawn Ultra 3x at 20:1. Tap water
- Dawn Ultra 3x at 25:1. Tap water.
Conditions. Temperature 64F and humidity 76%. Time of day 8 am (PDT). Mild breeze.
Each solution had its own loop: 32" top-string of Secureline 3/16" diamond braid cord.
All juices worked equally well. Many tubes in the 30-40 foot range -- though the breeze was slow enough that long tubes split into individual bubbles. Several tubes would have exceeded 40 fee…
Rig for testing bubble longevity and size
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
As the pipes are lowered into a tub of water the water displaces air out through the tubes at the top which inflates the bubbles. The volume of the bubble is easily controlled/measured by how far the tubes are lowered into the water. An indicator (at the top left of the pic) shows the volume in litres, but since I took this picture I've changed the scale to read the height in cm.
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.
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THE 'LOOP'
To get good reproducibility the loops should be as near as possible to identical - not just dimensions but also material and surface roughness which will both affect the amount of juice held by the loop. Also every bubble should be blown from a clean loop. I tried all sorts of tubing, but cutting identical ends proved problematica…
Comparison between 'strengths' of different detergents
When using 'Joy' detergent I found that the best recipes seemed to use more detergent than the recipes I'd seen published for 'Dawn'. I wondered whether this meant Dawn was inherently 'better' or that maybe it was just more concentrated. So I decided to measure the concentrations of a selection of detergents. In the end I sampled 9 from USA and 2 from UK.
For each detergent I weighed two samples and then dried them to constant weight to determine the concentration, the 'percent solids'. Because detergents dry to a waxy solid I absorbed the samples onto paper towel to avoid the possibility of water droplets getting trapped. (see pic)
I also weighed a 250ml sample of each detergent to get the density, so I could report both the percent solids…
J-lube V J-Jelly
I have used J-LUBE Powder with great effect, How does J-JELLY differ if at all ?.
2017 06 24 Quick Ultra vs MPP 2017 Shootout
On and Facebook, there has been a resurgence of discussions about whether Dawn Pro (both versions) has changed for the worst. In those discussions, a few people have reported good results with Dawn Ultra 3x and also Dawn Platinum. Intrigued by a post from former Guinnes World Record Holder Megan on SBF about her shootout, I quickly mixed up some 20:1 BLM-based juice with 2017 Dawn Manual Pot and Pro and Dawn Ultra 3x (classic scent and blue color).
Both mixes started with:
- 3520 g tap water
- 176 gr detergent
- 25 g blm
- 22 gram 5% citric acid solution
The goal was to have pH 7.6 juice.
The BLM was added to the water and the jugs were steadily rocked back and forth until the BLM was incorporated fully (no visible blobs).
The Dawn Manual Pot and Pan mix…
2017 05 31 - The Profiler - Windowpanes and Small Wands
As I try to find simple indoor methods for people to study the thickness of their soap films and strength of their detergents and surfactant mixes, I am playing with a lot of setups -- trying to find simple equipment that yields similar color profiles to the ones that I get with my tri-strings (which are so reliable and consistent). There have been some surprises along the way -- such as bubbles being thicker when created by sweeping a hoop from low to high to create a bubble as compared to when sweeping the hoop horizontally.
After exploring various hoops and small tri-strings and the longevity setup (all of which work) I have been finding simple small plastic wands -- the ones that come in 6 or 8 ounces bottles of bubble juice -- to be v…
2017 05 16 The Profile - Preparing to Prepare
About a year or so ago, I performed a series of video shoots documenting the colors typical of different dilutions of water and Dawn Pro. In order to make sure that the videos were documenting differences in the solution and not differences in lighting or weather or equipment, all videos were shot in the same location at the same time of day with the same lighting. I shot every juice on multiple occasions and examined the videos and found that the profiles were highly consistent. One could easily identify the solution from the pictures. These were all done with tri-string wands and the profiles were quite consistent across loops sizes as long as the loop material had reasonable capacity.
Unfortunately, these profile videos require certain c…
2017 04 18 RAD 1.0 Quick Test with Decyl Glucoside
I've had the ingredients for RAD for a while but had little time to do any bubble testing. Some decyl glucoside (a mild surfactant that Rick has found to improve RAD 1.0) arrived yesterday. It rained a little this morning and there was some decent humidity (88%). So, diluted some RAD 1.0 concentrate that I had mixed up six days ago.
NOTE: The original article title had Decyl Gluconate in it -- the additive was decyl glucoside. Oops!
I diluted two batches. Both had 500 ml RAD 1.0 concentrate and 500 ml of tap water. To one batch, I added 3.5 grams (was supposed to be 3.0, but I goofed) of decyl glucoside.
Both batches averaged over 10 bubbles per dip (and frequently got more) with my handy dandy small plastic wand.
I headed outside with two 30" …
2017 04 17 Brief Baby Shampoo Exploration
People have periodically mentioned Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo as a possible bubble juice ingredient over the years. I did a little experimenting when I started out but wasn't impressed.
Recently, Rick Findley and I have been discussing his RAD formulation and the possibility that J&J baby shampoo might be a useful additive.
I was testing some RAD 1.0 the other day. I made some nice bubbles, but the film is not as forgiving as Dawn-based solutions. I recalled that Rick had mentioned baby shampoo in a past discussion. I decided to add a little and see what would happen.
Yesterday, I had a few minutes to do some bubbling. The conditions were ok but not great. I didn't have time for a formal test or to set up a camera. I made some bubbles wit…
2016 03 Rubbermaid Rayon Finish Mops Redux
For quite a while, the Rayon Fishish mops available at Home Depot were one of the preferred materials for makers of giant bubbles. Then in 2014, the construction of those mop heads changed. Instead of being made from a single 100+yard length of yarn, they deconstructed into lengths of 40 inches.
It was then discovered (after much gnashing of teeth) that a RubberMaid Professional mop made of the same rayon yarn was available through Walmart with the old construction style but a different model number. Back in March, it was brought to our attention that this same mop is also available via some other sources (notably Amazon).
Here are some pictures submitted by wiki member Meredith Keebler. We thank her for sending these along.
Modular Composite Diamond Braid vs. Braided Twine Garland
I like to show my construction 'failures' as well as successes here. This is a good example.
I made a garland of these links about 3 yrs ago as a sort of proof of concept. I wanted to see how a 'composite' garland could perform - one with top-strings that were much heavier than its bottom-strings. To accomplish this I used the same material, diamond braid cord, but treated the tops and bottoms differently. Both started out with coring, boiling, and washing. The tops were soaked in sodium carbonate. Bottoms were very harshly bleached and abraded. Both were dyed in the same batch. It was interesting to see how differently the dye took.
The results were very good! But not good enough to justify all the effort. I tested it against one made of 3x…
Recipe used by Gary, during his GWR attempt
Hello fellow bubble heads! I've been meaning to post this for quite a while now and since there doesn't seem to be any shortage of requests for the recipe, here goes... For the record (no pun intended) this is the concentrate that I sent to Gary Pearlman, for use during his (successful) Guinness World Record attempt. It resulted in the creation of his monstrous "largest free floating" outdoor bubble, which measured nearly 3400 cu. ft!
Ingredients:
4 cups Dawn Professional, Manual Pot and Pan Detergent
1 g. PEO (WSR 301)
2 teaspoons 91% isopropyl alcohol (chilled in the freezer)
1 oz. (Measured by volume, not weight) Surgilube
I started with the detergent in my mixing container, slurried the PEO with the alcohol and stirred that into it, then …
Still Alive!
Hey fellow bubblers,
Wanted to stop in and say a quick hello and an early seasons greetings. I apologize that I've not been on it quite some time, nor have I posted many of the things I've wanted to post. I haven't forgotten about this community - not one bit! I look forward to more experimentation and bubble making in the upcoming year.
2015 has been a very intense roller coaster of a year, and things have just been too busy to even blow a bubble!
I look forward to seeing all of your posts and trying some new recipes in the new year!
All the best!
Cooking BLM and dealing with J-lube clumps
When making BLM by the traditional microwave method, I've always done what I could to avoid letting the semi-hardened over-cooked J-Lube sticking to the sides of the bowl get into the finished concentrate. I mainly just avoided scraping this stuff into the bowl as I continued with the process.
Inevitably a few pieces would make it into the mix anyway. I could see them as I poured the BLM into clear squeeze bottles and sometimes saw ghosts of them in the bottles themselves. But after a week or so they were no longer visible and I never noticed them as I dispensed the concentrate. The only inhomogeneous thing I'd notice was that the last ounce or two was thicker and more difficult to squeeze out. I assume these were those clumps settling and …
Tap vs. Distilled: Round 1.a (a as in ARG!)
This post is a continuation of: Tap vs. Distilled: Round 1.
Frustrated by the immediate findings in Tap vs. Distilled: Round 1, I decided to run another test in parallel, this time testing my guar hydration technique with two additional solutions. Edward has noted in several places that this is the most common issue with sludge. Based on the instructions in the Basic Mix page, I believed my hydration technique to be adequate, but thought that for any testing to be accurate going forward, I better get a handle on exactly how much agitation and attention I should be spending with each test batch to ensure that I wasn't confounding my own data by inadequately hydrating my guar.
- 1 The Test
- 2 Preparation
- 2.1 Sample A
- 2.2 Sample B
- 3 Observations
- 4 Shaking it…
Tap vs. Distilled: Round 1
I spent a small portion of the weekend running some tests using my tap water and distilled water in otherwise identical batches, as Edward suggested.
So far, findings are rather inconclusive. I was hoping for a conclusive "calcium rich hard water is the cause of sludging" indication, but have instead found what might, with further testing, turn out to be the opposite. Hopes aside, I'll continue my testing to the best of my abilities to fully prove or disprove my hypothesis, as any result that furthers our knowledge is a good result!
- 1 The Recipe
- 2 Initial Measurements
- 3 Preparation
- 3.1 Washing
- 3.2 Labelling
- 4 Mixing it Up
- 4.1 Measuring
- 4.2 Creating the Guar Slurry
- 4.3 Hydrating the Guar
- 4.3.1 Heating the Water
- 4.3.2 First Hydration Phase
- 4.3.3 Second Hydration Pha…
Hard Water Experimentation
It seems that a number of bubble juice brewers on the forum have attempted to mix guar juice using one or more of the recipes posted and have run into sludge issues. It is possible that this is due to failure to follow the steps as listed for the given recipe, but I've witnessed a case first-hand where steps were followed exactly only to have sludge form hours after brewing. I believe that the variation in results may be due in part to variations in water hardness between the locales of those brewers. In the upcoming weeks, I'll be doing some testing to verify whether my hypothesis that hard water (specifically due to calcium hardness) causes guar juice to develop sludge is verifiable, and if so, at what concentration calcium becomes a pro…
Some Hot Glue Applications for Bubbling Cords
I've found a few more practical uses for hot glue in building bubbling cords. I've used it before to join the ends of diamond braid cotton for novelty garlands like my cheerio bubbler and for some prototype loops for a heartstrings garland.
I've also found it useful for forming connections in what I call grinner (a.k.a. denture) garlands that use a thin and easily twisted line to connect the loops rather than swivels. I like using Dacron fishing line to do the whippings and make the connections. The best and worst thing about this line is that it's difficult to knot. With something like cotton, if you accidentally make a knot while you're using the garland, it can be more or less permanent. It hasn't happened to me yet, but I worry about th…
Guar Sludge Blues
The recipes I've used to date have all been based on the Basic Mix recipe, and regardless of how much I stir, how hot the water I use is, or the amount of guar gum used, I always end up with about an inch of sludge in the bottom of my container. I've prepared about 10-12 batches all using the same recipe with variations in temperature, agitation level, hydration time, etc. and always end up with the same sludgey result.
The juice produced works relatively well despite the sludge, but the bubbles always seem to be lacking the reported self-healing and lifespan of the guar juice described in this forum. I would describe the bubbles as good, but not great, and not nearly as eye-popping as some of the photos posted here.
I live in an area with w…
Experiences so far
I've spent a few evenings and weekends mixing up batches of bubble juice, creating my first tri-string wands, and having a total blast with giant bubbles. My wife thought I was crazy at first, but when she saw a 10-15 foot tube stream by the window in our backyard she started to get my fascination with it all. I think the neighbours might have, too, as the first few large bubbles flew directly over some of their fences, and I could hear the surprise in their voices. "Oh my goodness, what is THAT?" was one response. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No.. it's a.. gigantic soap bubble! Then "POP" and a polymer/surfactant membrane slinks down onto one of their heads and again "OMG - what is THIS?!"
Being the proud Canadian I am, I immediately launc…
An Introduction
Hey! I'm Chris from Canada. Nice to meet you, eh!
I'm a relatively new bubbleologist and have been having a blast so far. I just randomly stumbled into it when one day, in my office, a co-worker had brought some store-bought bubble solution in. We spent about 20 minutes messing around with it, when another colleague popped over and blew our minds by blowing a bubble into a bubble - it turns out he had done some graduate work on these types of membranes, and he mentioned to me that in some of his work, he had come up with his own bubble recipes that produced much larger than store-bought bubbles. I was fascinated, and instantly attempted to dig up some recipes online. Unfortunatley, the first recipes I found were the detergent-glycerine-wate…
Making the Cheerio Bubbler Prototype
Making the Cheerio Bubbler Prototype
This is the story, in pictures, of how I made my cheerio bubbler prototype. Please note that there are certainly better ways to do this and I'll build my next one differently. This one will likely have a limited lifespan. Nevertheless, it performed surprisingly well. It's really fun to fly!!!
Not pictured in this gallery but also needed are: wire cutters, light household string (cotton or cotton blend), and a hot glue gun.
My setup
Today I have an setup thats pretty ok. At least it works for me.
I use tent poles as sticks, works really well up to four pieces, after that they bend to much if the string is heavy. I try to use the original string for as long as possible but quality are never that good so they break over time. That its possible to just fold them makes them really easy to bring everywhere.
I use gems/paperclips on the ends to hook on and off my strings. Sometimes they hook into the string but not often.
I pull most of my items on this old beer carriage but I also have an backpack where I keep the tent poles. I can use the big bucket of just use the smaller on top, if I don´t fill upp the big bucket I can use it to transport water.
My strings, I try to have th…
A new day
So after almost a year with not many experiments I hopefully now can come back to the world of bubbles.
I have been able to bubble a bit and changing some bit in my recepie but ended in no good juices.
I have found a contact in Japan thats looking into Charmy for me, it would just be fun to use it and se if theres a difference.
I have also looked into Polyvinylalcohol, as its a base ingridient of Mr. Hisao Oono´s bubble juices. I now understand how it works and why his recepie works at all.
I´m not sure what starch do to water, and how it works, need to look into that.
I have looked into making my own starch using rice flour, to see if that has anything to do with it. Have not done a blind test or even side test yet.
Hopefully this year will be …
2015 03 23 Color Profile and Dilution Mini-Surprise
In late summer/early Fall 2014, I was making an effort to catalog the color profile of Dawn Pro at various dilutions and with various polymers. In order to get the most meaningful profiles, sessions were only done early in the morning (after sun up) on heavily overcast days (because the indirect light gives the clearest colors). In Central California, where I live, such conditions are sporadic. As I reviewed the photos, I began to recognize that there are a number of potentially confounding issues: temperature (does the temperature influence the film thickness), flow rate, and wick characteristics. Sessions were done to explore the influence of pH on the film thickness, and I settled on pH range of 7.4-7.6 (except for those sessions done a…
2015 03 10 Exploring Uncle Bubble Dilution
Updated March 20, 2015 with 16:1 dilution pictures from March 11 session.
Ever since I first tried Uncle Bubble Ultra Concentrate, I have wondered how it would perform at higher dilutions than the standard 9-to-1 recommended by its manufacturer. To my eye, the film thickness (gauged via its Color Profile) is something along the lines of Dawn Pro at 16:1. Since, UB is based on a totally different surfactant than Dawn Pro, I have no idea how to map changes in dilution from one to the other.
I tried UB at 11:1 last week and was surprised how little of a shift there was in film thickness. The film was a little bit thicker but only subtly so.
I diluted the UB to 14:1. There was a color shift (though not as big as I expected), but bubbles became ha…
2015 01 31 Quick Demo of How Detergent Amount Influences Color Profile
A busy life has prevented my posting (or experimenting) for a few months. On SBF recently, there was a discussion about the influence of dilution on colors. This morning it was foggy and cool (50F with 95% humidity) and I needed to clear my mind. I had a bit of guar juice left over from a session in October or November and decided to see if it was still good. It was.
I made a few bubbles with a 70" Webfoot Microfiber top-string (full-ply) and a 2-ply RubberMaid Rayon Finish Mop bottom string. The breeze was very light and 5 foot diameter bubbles were lasting up to a minute or more.
After making a few bubbles, I dumped some Dawn into the juice so that I could demonstrate the big color shift that happens when there is a lot of soap in the mix.…
Denture Garland
- 1 Denture Garland
- 1.1 MATERIALS
- 1.2 TOOLS
- 1.3 PREPARE THE CORD
- 1.4 MAKE THE LOOPS
- 1.5 MARK NEEDLE ENTRY AND EXIT POINTS
- 1.6 PREPARE TO BUILD
- 1.7 BUILD THE FIRST HALF
- 1.8 BUILD THE SECOND HALF
It looks kind of like a set of teeth and the fishing line I used to buildit feels like dental floss!
All it takes is diamond braid clothes line, hot glue, fishing line, and a tapestry needle. It's pretty easy to make, functions very well, and opens up some interesting design possibilities.
Diamond braid utility cord. I used 15 lb. SecureLine diamond braid clothes line.
Fishing line. The heavier the better. A certain amount of stiffness is desirable. I used Cabela's 50 lb. dacron line. Braid lines would work too. Monofilament would create problems, I'm sure.
Hot glue gun w…
Rebuilding My Corny Garland
Last year I built a small-loop fast-wind bubbling garland. It performed well, but I have some ideas how to improve it. So now I'm disassembling and rebuilding it. In the picture the old one is on top.
BASIC SPECS
It has 33 loops with approximately 3.25" (8cm) tops, plus extensions for adding 18 more loops. It's about 140" (3.5m) long with leaders, and about 210" (5.3m) with the extensions. It's made of 9 braided strands of aMAIZing corn fiber tape yarn.
Problem #1 - Loop hangups and fold-overs
I expected to have a few. I've made garlands with swivels every 2nd loop, and they're pretty reliable. But with a swivel between every 3rd loop, this garland fails to fire on all cylinders about half the time. Now I'm going all the way! Each loop gets a …