Bubble Bath recipe by Failor

[PrairieLights]

I made the super sudsy bubble bath recipe out of Catherine Failor's book, hoping to provide the grandbabies with a bubble bath that is less chemicals than store-bought, but also made by ME!
I let it cure for one week and grandprincess1 tested it. Bomb. Waiting for second week, but not sure that will help. What really gets me is that the residue left in the pot bubbled up profusely in my dishwasher through 3 washes! But it bombs in the tub? Help!? Any ideas on how to make it more bubbly?

 

[DeeAnna]

Not everyone has a copy of Failor's book, so you may want to give a summary of the recipe and method you used, so folks can get up to speed with you.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I made the super sudsy bubble bath recipe out of Catherine Failor's book, hoping to provide the grandbabies with a bubble bath that is less chemicals than store-bought, but also made by ME!
Any ideas on how to make it more bubbly?

Hi Prairie Lights. I tried that recipe in Failor's Book and was also disappointed. I never made it again. I make a lot of my own stuff but that's one thing I could never create that came anywhere close to the "real" thing. Even my most bubbly liquid soap and shampoo doesn't rise to the occasion, so to speak.

But, if your grands are really into bubble baths, as am I, then you might want to give WSP's Clear Bubble Bath base a try. I make it for the 3-year-old daughter of a friend and she says "It's the best!" I have dry sensitive mature skin and I find it is not irritating at all, like most BB's on the market. I add a capful of Liquid Calgon to the bath water. It makes copious bubbles just like you see in the ads. It takes color (food coloring) and fragrance well. It also does a pretty good job of cleaning the tub! What's not to like? LOL

 

[PrairieLights]

Thank you, DeeAnna and Zany! I am wondering if it is because I do not want to add sulfates...

For those curious, here is her recipe:

42 oz coconut oil
8 ounces olive, canola, or almond oil (I used olive)
14 oz KOH
20 oz soft or distilled water
22 oz grated sodium soap (NaOH soap - regular CP or HP hard soap)

Then for the neutralizer, she recommends boric acid solution or citric acid solution. Boric acid can be rough on sensitive skin (babies!) so I used the citric acid. I know their skin does well with that because they use the bath fizzies I make.
She suggests 1-2 weeks of sequestering.

Why do I feel like I put glycerin in it??? Hmmmm..... I wouldn't have if the recipe didn't call for it... *scratching head*... maybe I should add glycerin.....I need coffee.

 

[DeeAnna]

Thanks for the recipe and method -- I appreciate that and I think there will be other readers who will appreciate this too.

Curious -- Why do you think adding glycerin will help?

Try this experiment --

Put some of the soap in a pint jar half filled with room temperature DISTILLED water and shake. How much foam does the soap make? How long does the foam last?

Then repeat the experiment with your regular tap water -- the water you'd use for taking a bath. How much foam does the soap make? How long does the foam last?

Is there any difference when you use tap versus distilled?

Do you have a commercial bubble bath solution? If so, try the same experiment with that, and compare how it performs versus soap.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Glycerin won't help with the bubbles. It's purpose when used to make the KOH solution is that it allows you to soap hotter which brings the batch to trace more quickly. If added after dilution, it is a solvent and acts as a clarifier, along with simple sugar syrup and alcohol (See Failor, pp. 8, 70). Of those 3, a bit of alcohol and sugar are known to boost lather and can be added before sequester.

Citric acid can flatten soap if you add too much. This can happen if you measured straight citric acid instead of the recommended 20% solution (See p. 42)

My choice for the liquid oil would be castor oil to add bubbles, although olive oil is a good choice for conditioning.

22 oz. of NaOH soap adds bulk to the formula. I would recommend a high lathering soap, 0% SF.

Failor's recipes make huge batches of LS. For a trial batch, it is best to make a small 16oz. oils batch. That goes for all her recipes. Some are definitely better than others.

Do you have a commercial bubble bath solution? If so, try the same experiment with that, and compare how it performs versus soap.

@PrairieLights I have a gallon of WSP Bubble Bath arriving soon. I would be happy to share if you'd like to try it.

 

[PrairieLights]

Thanks for the recipe and method -- I appreciate that and I think there will be other readers who will appreciate this too.

Curious -- Why do you think adding glycerin will help?

Try this experiment --

Put some of the soap in a pint jar half filled with room temperature DISTILLED water and shake. How much foam does the soap make? How long does the foam last?

Then repeat the experiment with your regular tap water -- the water you'd use for taking a bath. How much foam does the soap make? How long does the foam last?

Is there any difference when you use tap versus distilled?

Do you have a commercial bubble bath solution? If so, try the same experiment with that, and compare how it performs versus soap.

I am going to do this with my grandprincess! It sounds like a fun learning experience for her bb. Thanks, DeeAnna!

I did dilute the citric acid per her instructions and added per her instructions. Glycerin? Because it came to mind... probably because I used it for her blowing bubbles we made.

The bad news is that I made the entire batch, feeling overly optimistic. I now have 7 pounds of soap paste in the frig while I wait to see if the bubble bath works. If it doesn't start producing.... what to do with that soap paste. Ugh.

And yes, DeeAnna, I think I should have used high foam bar soap... perhaps even a 100% CO... I am going to try that next time - and the castor instead of olive. BUT... what do I do with this huge batch of soap paste!
P.S. I even bought them all adorable glass bottles for their gramma bubble bath!

 

[DeeAnna]

Actually I doubt even a 100% coconut oil soap will meet your expectations. Even though a CO soap lathers well initially, the suds aren't all that stable -- they don't last a long time. People often complain about the lack of long lasting suds when they make a 100% CO soap and use it for dish washing. Bubble bath in a tub is roughly the same kind of situation.

There's nothing wrong with trying a 100% CO soap to learn more about its properties, but I'd recommend taking Zany's advice about making a smaller batch rather than Failor's monster batch size.

Anyways, regardless of the fats a person uses, the fact remains that soap does not have a stable foam when highly diluted in regular tap water. Soap lathers nicely in the hand or on the wash cloth, that's true. It might create abundant "flash" foam -- lather that lasts a short while. But long lasting abundant lather like you want for a foaming bubble bath ... nope, not gonna happen.

The downfall of real soap -- any kind of soap -- is the hard water minerals naturally found in normal tap water, even tap water that's been softened. When soap reacts with these minerals, it forms soap scum and soap scum doesn't lather. Also the dilution of soap in lots of water weakens the stability of the bubbles, so they pop more easily and the suds break down quicker.

That's why I suggested the experiment in my previous post so you could learn for yourself about this. I have no idea why Failor said her "bubble" bath soap will make lots of suds, unless she bathes in rain water or unusually soft tap water.

 

[trellism]

I cannot explain why, but when I tried just leftover grated CP soap with a dash of glycerin in the bath, I got amazing bubbles - far more then I think I had a right to. We do have a water softener which does make a difference. I've tried various other recipes but nothing has worked as well as that....
(Water went grey which was a bit unappealing)

 

[DeeAnna]

The milky or gray color in your bath water is the soap scum. Even softened water will have some hard-water minerals, just not as much as unsoftened water.

You can see examples in this thread -- Does water really matter? Look at the first photo in post 2 with the four jars of soap with varying amounts of soap scum.

You can see the difference between hard and softened water in that photo. Jar 1 (far left) is hard water right from my well and Jar 2 (second from left) is softened water. Jar 4 (far right) is distilled water.

 

[trellism]

The milky or gray color in your bath water is the soap scum. Even softened water will have some hard-water minerals, just not as much as unsoftened water.

You can see examples in this thread -- Does water really matter? Look at the first photo in post 2 with the four jars of soap with varying amounts of soap scum.

You can see the difference between hard and softened water in that photo. Jar 1 (far left) is hard water right from my well and Jar 2 (second from left) is softened water. Jar 4 (far right) is distilled water.

Yes, I know, I take the grey water as the price for free bubble bath. I hate baths anyway but the others in my house love them and aren't bothered by the colour.

 

[PrairieLights]

I'm feeling grossed out now...

 

[PrairieLights]

Well in order to wrap this up, I spoke to 3 of my kids and they all still want the bubble bath. They are more interested in avoiding unnecessary chemicals than big bubbleage (new word! yay!). Eldest grandprincess (7 - in my profile pic) insisted I continue to make it because it 'bubbles sparkles'. (idk... ...she is a mini soaper/candler so she biased...hahaha)

Thank you so much, Zany, trellism, and DeeAnna! I truly appreciate you!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

You're welcome! Congratulations to grandprincess for being a wise consumer! Please keep us posted of any changes or improvement in your formula. For example, I've noticed that adding baking soda to the bath water as a water softener helps "bubbleage" (LOL) and also makes my skin feel soft and less dried out.