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…
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" …