James' Fun Recipes
All Soap Bubble recipes have certain common ingredients. These are liquid dishwashing soap (usually Joy or Dawn, the more expensive brands seem to work better), water (Distilled works best), glycerine (which may be found at drugstores and pharmacies), and corn syrup (Karo is the brand name most often mentioned) or sugar. The following recipes may call for all or just a few of these, and all in varying proportions. Almost all call for glycerine; however, this can be left out if it is unavailable. Glycerine makes the bubbles last longer. The fun of Bubbles is to experiment for yourself to find out what formula works best for you. Some people want to blow pretty bubbles on a beautiful day, and some want to blow bubbles in a dish and experiment with them. Play with the recipes and have fun!
Remember that these recipes were developed before the "Ultra" or concentrated formulas of liquid dishwashing soap. If you cannot find the regular versions, you need to adjust the ratios below.
Conversions:
1 gallon = 3.8 liters appx.
1/3 C = .08 liters appx.
1 C = .24 liters appx.
| 1/2 Gallon Water 1/3 Cup dishwashing liquid 1 Tablespoon glycerine |
1 Cup dishwashing liquid 2 Cups warm water 3 Tablespoons glycerine 1/2 teaspoon sugar |
1 part glycerine 1 part dishwashing soap 1 part water |
| 1 Cup dishwashing liquid 10 Cups water 3-5 tablespoons glycerine |
1/2 Cup dishwashing liquid 1/4 Cup granulated sugar 1 Tablespoon glycerine 1 Gallon water |
2 cups dishwashing liquid 6 cups water 3/4 cup light Corn syrup (Karo) |
| 6 units (glass, cup, whatever) of water 2 units dishwashing liquid 4 units glycerine |
2/3 cups dishwashing liquid 1 Gallon water 2 to 3 Tablespoons of glycerine |
FOR STRAW EXPERIMENTS 1/2 cup of Dawn 1 tablespoon corn syrup (Karo) |
Directions are the same for all of the above:
Add all ingredients together and mix carefully. You don't want to create a lot of bubbles and froth. Either mix slowly with a spoon, or place in a sealed container and slowly turn over and over.
Your bubbles will be better after 24 hours of just sitting (some suggest shorter or longer periods, but letting the solution sit will definitely give you a better bubble!); however, you can use the solution right away as well.
Store your solution in an air tight container.
Wand suggestions:
soda can collars
thick wire shaped into a ring
a wand from an old commercial bottle of bubbles
bubble pipe
straw (be really creative, you can blow bubbles inside of bubbles with a straw)
Your bubble will stick to anything that is wet (including your hands) and will pop when something dry touchs it. So, when experimenting with wands, such as straws, make sure to dip them into the solution far enough to get them wet wherever the bubble will touch.
Long-life Bubble Solution & Experiment from Soap Bubbles: Exploratorium Exhibit
1/3 cup commercial bubble solution
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup glycerine
Blow a single large bubble onto a glass or plastic ring (the Exploratorium uses a watchglass) that is glued (with hot-melt glue) to the bottom of a large mouth sealable jar. The Exploratorium suggests using stretchy wax sealer (see Soap Bubbles: Exploratorium Exhibit); however, a clamp jar should work as well. Seal the jar. If carefully turned over, the bubble can drain some. This formula has created a 3 month old bubble -- try it and see!
For More Great Recipes see: Bizarre Stuff You Can Make in Your Kitchen
Making Real Soap
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©1997 James Fuqua
Last update 20 August 2002
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