Today, I have just a quick update about some Charmy explorations done since I last checked in. Details will come in another blog post.
- Sodium citrate does not have the potentiating effect (at least with the Charmy/Guar recipe) that baking powder or baking soda + citric acid does. The pH of the solution with sodium citrate was 8.5 (which is the same as without sodium citrate when using my tap water).
- Citric acid seems to have the same potentiating effect in a Charmy/Guar juice as that baking powder or baking soda + citric acid. I added small amounts of citric acid to a Charmy/Guar/Tap Water mix (25:1 water:Charmy) until the pH was 7.4 which was the same as the pH of the baking soda + citric acid mix. The film color looked the same as with the other potentiators. I did not test any other solutions as time was fleeting. So, I cannot compare the quality of the juice to the others.
- Reducing the amount of Charmy in Mr. Oono's recipe to achieve 25:1 water:detergent and adding baking powder resulted in a noticeably thicker film than with the Classic version of the recipe, and the substitute juice was more finicky. I need to do another trial using a bit more detergent. For this trial, I considered water:detergent ratio. But, the classic recipe is 20% PVA Laundry starch -- which is probably 90% (or more) water. For the next test, I will use more detergent and achieve 25:1 water+starch:Charmy ratio. While this substitute juice did not work great, it worked pretty well considering that it had less than 1/3 the detergent as the classic.
I am quickly running out of Charmy with many trials that need to be done. FIngers-crossed that I will find a source -- or a detergent "mule" that can bring some Charmy back from Japan.