PAM

PAM (polyacrlamide) is a polymer that appears to be quite effective for bubble juice. In September 2018, RogerH published a blog entry detailing some successful trials with it (which you can read here).

Roger with a 32:1 Fairy Solution making big bubbles with his PAM recipe

 

As of this writing (September 2018), there have not yet been enough experimentation to know how well this ingredient compares to PEO , HEC or guar gum in terms of effectiveness. But the reports so far are quite promising.

It appears to be effective at very low concentrations (similar to PEO). In Roger's initial report, he reports that as little as 0.01 grams per liter of bubble juice is effective.

There are many varieties of polyacrylamide -- many of which are unsuitable for bubble-making as they are so heavily cross-linked as to be insoluble in water. 

The variety that RogerH has explored is used as a soil amendment for helping water retention and takes some time and patience to dissolve. He notes that polyacrylamide is a very stable molecule which may make it less likely to degrade in storage than PEO.

There are many varieties of PAM out there. Roger used this one which runs less than $10/lb with shipping in the U.S.

 

Usage

Roger recommends making a 0.1% PAM solution and adding this to a detergent/water mix (and adjusting the pH as one does for optimal bubble juice). These instructions are based on the variety of PAM used by RogerH which is marketed as "Water Absorbing Crystals" from The DIrty Gardener on Amazon. For different varieties, you may need a different amount. Roger notes that his PAM-based bubble juice is much "goopier" than juice made with PEO .

To make the PAM solution:

• Add 1 gram of PAM crystals to an empty container (jug or mixing bowl). 
• Add 1 liter of water to the container AFTER adding the PAM crystals
• Let it stand for about 8 hours then give it a good stir (he recommends a whisk)
• Let it stand for another 8 hours and give it a thorough mixing until you have a uniform solution

To make bubble juice:

• Use 10 to 100 grams (or ml) of the PAM solution
• Add enough water to bring the amount of liquid to one liter
• Add your preferred amount of detergent
• Adjust the pH as you usually would

Volume/weight equivalence: In one trial with The Dirty Gardener Water Absorbing crystals, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of the crystals weighed from 3.6 to 4.4 grams. Due to the large coarse texture of the crystals, there was a lot of variation in how much PAM one teaspoon contained. We recommend using weight rather than volume for accurate measurement.

What Version of PAM

Sept 2018: Exploration of PAM as a bubble ingredient is new here on the wiki. There are many varieties of this molecule. Some are so heavily cross-linked that the crystals absorb water and swell but do not dissolve. The variety that Roger has documented is water soluble but it takes longer to dissolve than the other common polymers.

We have had a lot of questions about whether other versions of polyacrylamide work. We don't know! Roger has recommended that you buy the smallest amount possible and determine if it is water soluble before investing in a large quantity.

To determine if it is water soluble: add something like 1 liter of water to 1 gram of PAM -- or 500 ml of water to 0.5 grams of PAM, let it sit for 8 hours. Stir vigorously. Let it sit for another 8 hours and stir vigoursly and see if the result is a uniform solution or if you just have chunks (which might be transparent) suspended in water. If it still isn't uniform, repeat the stir and wait process a few more times before completely giving up. Try pouring it through a sieve, if it has dissolved then it will all go through and if it hasn't then the water will go through and the sieve will be full of little lumps of gel.

Are there ways to speed up the hydration? Good question. I don't know at this stage. I am curious as to whether heating up the water at some point might speed things up, but I haven't tried it yet.

Report Your Results!

This is a new ingredient. Please share the results of your experiments with us!