Saturday, February 12, 2011

Big bubbles

Maybe you've seen the guy walking through a campsite followed by kids as he's made huge soap bubbles. Maybe you've even seen a stage shoe, or something on TV. Have you ever wondered what they used to get those three foot round bubbles? Here is a GREAT recipe.

One bottle of "Dawn Classic" *Do not use Ultra. (Classic can be found at the Family Dollar store.)

One tube of personal lubricant. (the cheap store brand is fine.)

One 4oz bottle of glycerin. (Can be found at drug stores.)

One gallon of distilled water *Important to use distilled, not tap water.


pour 2 cups distilled water, the tube of lubricant and 2-4 oz of glycerin into a microwave safe bowl. Heat until hot. No need to boil.

Pour Dawn and distilled water into a bucket at a 2-1 ratio water to Dawn. Stir with as little agitation so you mix, but don't make bubbles.

Add your hot glycerin/lube mix slowly while stirring until well mixed.

Let age over night. Can be bottled and stored, but aged mix works better than virgin mix.

You can dilute the concoction when you go to use it to stretch it, but thicker makes bigger bubbles than thinner. If you make it too thin, just add some more of the base mix.


Bubble wands

Go buy some cotton string. The kind they used to use to wrap meat is perfect. You want a string that holds solution well, but also wicks away freely as the bubble is formed.

Also find two 1/4 to 3/8" dowels

Use loosely braid three 4' long lengths of this string. You don't want a tight braid that makes the bubble wand string rigid, but just enough to keep three lengths together.

Tie one end the braided string to one dowel end then tie the other dowel between 12-14" down the string from it. Finally tie the other end of the string to the first dowel. The end result is a loop of string you can open and close by bringing the dowels together, and then spreading apart. This closes the loop so you can make new bubbles until the string needs reloading with solution.


I've used dawn Ultra and it is not nearly as good as Dawn Classic. Knowing where to find Dawn Classic will have me making big bubbles this summer. It's a great stress reliever.

15 comments:

Timt49 said...

yehHuck, it's that personal lube that does it:)

Anonymous said...

If you want to see huge bubbles, sit in a hot tub. Not all of them are coming from the aerator.

kkdither said...

That sounds like fun, but a lot of running around to get the materials. Will you bring some to the summer picnic???

Okay... a blast from the past. Let's see who remembers this stuff. It came in a metal tube, like toothpaste. You squeezed a small amount of this clear, glue like substance onto the end of a straw and blew plastic bubbles. It reeked like mad and probably killed quite a few brain cells, at least until they realized kids were probably getting high from the fumes and stopped making it.

OrbsCorbs said...

I don't remember that stuff, kk, but I spent years making models and, I'm sure, inadvertently huffing. Lot's of plastic cement and painting.

OK, I'm naive - what's "personal lube"? Like KY jelly?

I like bubbles, too.

Huck Finn said...

KK they still make that stuff. It still smells nice. Dollar stores carry it. My sis bought some for a picnic last year. And... Kmart has all except the Dawn Classic

Orbs, yes, like KY jelly. KY was for people that have lots of money. Generic is for folks that realize cheap or expensive, it's all the same thing. As a paraplegic, I'm stuck using it for various uses... I always wonder what the poor cashiers must think when I stock up and buy three or four tubes once. It helps to have dark humor when you are a Para.

drewzepmeister said...

kk, that would be the Super Elastic Ball. I remember the commercials from back in the '70's.

kkdither said...

Gee, I don't remember it bouncing like that and being colorful... We were pretty poor, I must have been given the generic. Hahaha. Good old wham-o, they made everything!

Toad said...

Huck: I remember that stuff. I bought It a Snyders 5 and 10. You rolled It into a bugger type ball and stuck It on the end of the tiny straw. GREAT fun. Actually now that you mention It, I can smell It. I'll never forget seeing my first tube of Prussion Blue, at work. I thought It was bubbles. We had LOTS of fun with that stuff too. Most of the lathe handles still have bluing on them. Ha, Ha.

Toad said...

I guess I meant to send that reply to KK. I'm OLD.

Huck Finn said...

But does KK know what Prussian blue is? Real dirty shop antics is putting some ion the car door handle... Not that I ever did that.

Anonymous said...

KK, I remember that stuff, it was called Super Elastic Bubble Platic. And yes, IT STUNK.
Here is a commercial on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pErbVm-LGI

lizardmom said...

does sound like fun, Huck, I think that's what I'll put you down to bring for the picnic, nothing like a bunch of irregular folks like us sitting around blowing massive bubbles, sounds like extreme fun :)

kkdither said...

Nope, I never heard of Prussian blue. I googled it, but it appears that even Google doesn't know what you are talking about....

According to Wikipedia: "Prussian Blue was a white nationalist pop teen duo formed in early 2003.

And according to the CDC: "Prussian blue can remove certain radioactive materials from people’s bodies, but must be taken under the guidance of a doctor."

I'm pretty sure neither of these are what you were referring to?

Huck Finn said...

Actually, Prussian blue has been used to rid the body of heavy metals and some radioactive isotopes. It secretes from the pores, so I can't imagine what that must be like. Prussian Blue is a non drying ink type of stuff. It is VERY blue. it gets on everything if you touch it. It's used primarily in the machine trades to show minute high spots. Now i have to see why you couldn't find anything.

Huck Finn said...

Here ya go KK. Also known as "engineers blue," your problem was a capital B in blue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussian_blue