Bubble Blowing Liquid

[KudzuGoddess]

Seeking wisdom from my soapy friends! Is it possible to simply swap any liquid surfactant for dish soap in the formula for Bubble Blowing Liquid as follows:

3 cups water
1 cup dish soap
1/3 cup glycerin

Obviously, I will tighten up the formula with proper weights and measures, etc, etc, but for now I seek the guidance of the community for the important work of trying to blow the biggest freaking bubbles of the summer!

 

[DeeAnna]

I suspect if you change the surfactants you're using, you'll be changing the bubble properties, and that will affect how big your bubbles might get.

You'll want to test various surfs to see which ones will make bigger bubbles that last longer. Surfs that don't lather well on their own or make lather that dissipates quickly probably aren't good candidates for this.

Dawn dishwashing liquid, for example, is mainly SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) and SLeS (sodium laureth sulfate) with some C10-16 generic surfactant. It bubbles pretty well and the lather lasts a long time. So if Dawn is what you're using now, maybe start with one or more of the surfs in Dawn and see how that goes.

The glycerin is another important component -- it slows evaporation of water from the bubble wall which makes the bubbles last longer. It probably also thickens the wall a bit so bubbles will remain more stable as they get bigger.