EGoo 1.0 [April 2012 UPDATED AUGUST 2012]
Egoo with a small tri-wand.
Jakey and the Giant Bubbles
An early test using a bit more WSR301 than the current recipe. Watch full-size at HD resolution.
2012 04 28 rayon modular 4 1 blue, egoo
An Egoo test session. Watch full-size at HD resolution.
2012 04 28 modular 32" rayon loop 4 1 white
Another Egoo test run
This is the recipe for a super-concentrated bubble goo that is especially nice for making bubble juice that has water to detergent ratios in the range of 20:1 to 35:1. At the upper range of dilution (where detergent to water is over 35:1), you may find it useful to supplement with a bit more PEO or BLM. This is currently my preferred mix (April 2012), I find that it is as easy to use as less-dilute mixes but has superior colors.
This makes a bubble juice that is great for very colorful giant bubbles. It also works well with garland wands.
1/4 cup of EGoo can be diluted with anywhere from 3 to 5 1/2 cups water (or more). When using the maximum dilution, you may want to supplement with some additional PEO or BLM as high dilutions need significantly more PEO than less dilute solutions for optimal friendliness. When using only 3 cups of water, the result is quite, well, gooey. When using more water, it won't seem stringy at all.
NOTE - Aug. 23, 2012: this recipe was developed using some WSR301 and J-Lube that apparently had lost some potency. I am exploring a way to make the recipe more universal. Follow this page to be notified of updates. If your diluted bubble juice is stringy, dilute the juice with a mix of 25 parts water, 1 part detergent and 2 grams baking soda/1 gram citric acid (per liter water) until the performance improves. Depending on the potency of your PEO, you might need as much as 3 or 4 parts of the water/detergent solution for each part of diluted eGoo.
See also: this blog entry about PEO potency.
Recipe
8 oz of EGoo makes 1 gallon of bubble juice when diluting with 15 parts water. (I currently favor 20 parts water per 1 part concentrate - July 2012).
The following recipe makes 8 oz (roughly 1/4 liter) of EGoo. The recipe scales up well by doubling, tripling or quadrupling all of the ingredients.
My recommended dilution range is 16 to 22 parts water per 1 part concentrate. If you do not have a scale that is precise to hundedths of a gram, you should make no less than a quadruple batch if you are using WSR301 since scales that measure tenths of grams are not accurate enough to measure 0.56 grams.
Make sure to read the application notes lower down on this page!
Ingredients
0.56 grams PolyOx WSR301 or 2.24 grams J-Lube [SEE THE NOTES FARTHER DOWN THE PAGE. These amounts appear to apply to somewhat degraded WSR301 or JL -- you may need to use much less]
3.2 grams baking soda
1.6 grams citric acid
76 grams room temperature or warm (not hot) water
146 grams Dawn Pro
PEO Note: Dow PolyOx WSR301 and J-Lube are two sources of PEO of similar molecular weight. More J-Lube is required than WSR301 because J-Lube is only 25% PEO. For more information see the Ingredients article.
DETERGENT AND INGREDIENTS NOTE: These proportions work well with my curent (now 24 month-old) stash of WSR301 and J-Lube and Dawn Pro. When I use Gain, the results are ok but nowhere near as good as with Dawn Pro. It may be an issue of dilution. The goo made with Gain is much more self-siphoning than when made with Dawn Pro. It may be that a higher dilution will yield better results or a different amount of Gain (either less or more -- I am not yet sure). I have had mixed reports of good results with Fairy Ultra. A couple of people report excellent results and one reliable person reported disappointing results. We are trying to determine if this is a PEO "strength" issue.
Steps
Fizz mix the PEO. Combine powders in a narrow-bottomed tall container (if available). It needs to be tall-enough to contain the foam that will be created when the fizzing starts. Start stirring the powders before you start to pour the water. While stirring the powder, add the water and continue stirring until the foam has subsided and you have a nice uniform mix (this can take 30 seconds to a couple of minutes). NOTE: You do not need to use fizz mixing. If you have another preferred method of mixing up PEO, feel free to use your preferred method.
Add the Dawn Pro after the fizzing and foam have subsided. Stir gently to mix the detergent and goo. You want a uniform mix.
It is best to let the goo sit for 10 to 15 minutes before using although it can be diluted right away for use.
This concentrate seems to have a very nice shelf-life at a reasonable room temperature.
Dilution
Dilution recommendation: While eGoo works with a variety of dilutions, I recommend trying 16-22 parts water to 1 part concentrate before trying other dilutions.
Dilution Table
The table below shows information about diluted eGoo at various water:concentrate ratios. It includes a column that will be especially convenient to people that like to dilute using measuring cups. When diluting by volume try to be as accurate as possible. Tablespoons are an American measure that is equivalent to 0.5 fluid ounces.
| Water:Conc. Ratio | Resulting Water:Det. Ratio | Water to Add to 1/4 cup eGoo | PEO% | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.5:1 | 20:1 | 3 cups + 2 tbsp | 0.0192% | |
| 15:1 | 23.8:1 | 3-3/4 cups | 0.016% | |
| 16.4:1 | 25:1 | 4 cups + 2 tbsp | 0.015% | |
| 19:1 | 30:1 | 4-3/4 cups | 0.0128% | |
| 20:1 | 31.7:1 | 5 cups | 0.012% | |
| 22:1 | 35:1 | 5-1/2 cups | 0.011% |
% PEO is calculated as a function of total water rather than as a function of the total bubble juice
- The PEO dilution is based on 0.56 grams of WSR301 or 2.24 grams of J-Lube per 'batch'. This table will need to be re-adjusted when the recipe is updated to take into account the PEO potency. [August 2012]
Important Application Notes
I have received a lot of feedback recently with people both loving eGoo and being frustrated by it. I am investigating to get to the bottom of the inconsistency. There are a few factors that may be coming in to play.
One thing has become clear, mixing the super-concentrate and then diluting yields different results from doing a fresh mix with the same quantities of the ingredients and skipping the super-concentrate phase. If you have disappointing results when using eGoo, try mixing up a batch that uses the same quantities of ingredients as a diluted mix, use about twice as much baking soda/citric acid as called for, and add the detergent last.
Preliminary results (and guessing) seem to indicate that (especially if the eGoo has been resting for a long time) using very warm water to dilute is useful. Make sure to stir quite thoroughly after diluting. The mix may improve over night (especially if the goo has been resting a long time). It seems that this super-concentrate MAY (this could be wrong) need a bit longer than less-concentrated mixes to reach its optimal state. (Is it possible that the very long molecular chains actually need time to untangle?)
- WSR301/J-Lube "Quality" - see the note below.
- Baking soda/citric acid amount - some people are finding that the mix improves with more baking soda and citric acid. You can use twice as much (or more) as is called for in the recipe without risk it appears. If you dilute and the performance is disappointing, add more baking soda/citric acid OR 1/2 tsp. baking powder per liter of bubble juice. Stir and let it sit for 15 minutes or so and then stir gently again. If using baking powder, there will be some white sediment. Don't worry about it.
- Hydration time - I have done a few tests with a 3 month old batch of eGoo and the juice performed better the day after dilution than it did 10 minutes after dilution.
- Dilution procedure - it seems to help to use very warm water to do the diluting.
PEO "POTENCY" (August 12, 2012). Based on feedback from a fairly sizable number of people , some of whom are loving eGoo and some of whom are getting disappointing results, it appears that eGoo may be more sensitive than some other recipes to the amount of PEO (WSR301 or J-Lube) or some other factors that may include water content. It is looking quite likely that the variations in performance are related to the state of the PEO. WSR301 and J-Lube (and all very high molecular weight PEO) have a tendency to "degrade" into a lower molecular weight over time. Even the "degraded" stuff works great. And, in fact, once degraded it is extremely stable. It is very difficult to tell (except in extreme cases) where one is at on the aging curve. If you are using Dawn Pro and this recipe (mixed as directed) is disappointing, it probably means that you need to use either less PEO or more. People with very fresh PEO are reporting that mixed as recommended and diluted at 16 parts water and one part concentrate that they are getting a solution that is very very stringy. If this is the case, you should use 1/4-1/2 the amount of PEO. If the mix doesn't work well and the solution is not stringy at all -- you may need to use up to twice the amount of PEO recommended. I am trying to figure out a simple test to determine PEO equivalence -- but I have not had a chance to delve deeply. IF YOUR DILUTED JUICE IS STRINGY: dilute the juice with a mix of 25 parts water, 1 part detergent and 2 grams baking soda/1 gram citric acid (per liter water) until the performance improves. Depending on the potency of your PEO, you might need as much as 3 or 4 parts of the water/detergent solution for each part of diluted eGoo.
One thing has become pretty clear, mixing as directed gives different results than if you make a mix that has all the same total amounts as this recipe but is mixed by creating a fully diluted solution.
Videos
A couple of long-lasting pretty big bubbles, one of which is attacked by a large crow. Water:concentrate ratio: 20:1 (>30:1 water:detergent ratio). Conditions pretty good with 65% humidity. Full-sun. 63F. 2012 07 20 test session.
Windy unfavorable conditions. 20:1 water:concentrate ratio, strong winds, 50% humidity and 70F. 2012 07 21 evening test session. This large bubble doesn't last long due to the very strong wind. But the color is great. The smaller bubbles that broke off -- however -- lasted a long time.
A long session with eGoo. This is a 13 minute video of a complete session with no dips edited out to give you a feel for how well-behaving eGoo should perform under nice conditions.
MORE VIDEOS COMING SOON WITH eGoo under reasonable conditions