Soap Bubble Wiki
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2017 06 24 ultra3x 01tubeCROP

Dawn Ultra 3x at 20:1

On SBF, the Soap Bubble Fanciers Yahoo Group (RIP) 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 needed 4 additional grams of citric acid solution to bring it to 7.68 (on a calibrated pH meter). The total citric acid solution was 26 grams.

The Dawn Ultra 3x registered 7.9 when 26 grams of citric acid solution and was not cloudy at all. An addition 6 grams, for a total of 32 grams, needed to be added to get the pH to 7.68. The solution clouded as expected at this pH.

Here are the juices:

20170624 0321 juices SM for blog
 

Here are some pictures to get a sense of how the color profiles compare. If you are not sure how to compare the colors, see Color and Film Thickness and Color Profile

Observations[]

Both juices worked well, but I can't fairly compare which was best because the film thicknesses were so different that what I was responding to as "best" may just have been due to the different flow rates.

I can confirm Megan's observation that the the surfactant strength is considerably different. The color profile of the Dawn Ultra 3X juice was very similar to the profile of 2014 Dawn Pro Manual Pot and Pan at 16:1.

The ultra mix yielded more bubbles per mix and the longest tube was longer than the longest MPP tube -- but both solutions showed such a range of tube lengths that I suspect that I was just seeing the normal ability to get more tube-feet from a thin film than with a thick film under conditions like this. The MPP managed some 30 foot tubes.

I wasn't able to do a fair comparison of bubble life span. It did seem like the 3x bubbles were lasting longer. But more testing needs to be done since longevity in the field is so variable.

Definitely promising. I'll try to carve out some time to do some comparisons at comparable film thickness.

My guess is that the Ultra 3x at 24:1 or 25:1 or so will be similar to the Dawn Pro at 20:1.