There has been some talk on SBF [1] [2] [3]  of sodium alginate (which is derived from kelp) being a useful polymer for bubble juice -- especially for making bubbles in dry conditions. It has a wide variety of gastronomic applications from acting as  foam stabilizer for beer, making spheres with a thin gel skin and liquid center to jelly candies and more.

I have had some S.A. for a few years because of my interest in molecular gastronomy (a phrase I hate). A few weeks ago, I mixed up some sodium alginate and water and added it to some diluted eGoo. I haven't had much time to make bubbles. I did a quick test on a day with 50% humidity but changeable conditions due to a shifty breeze. I couldn't drawn any conclusions. The solution with S.A. m…

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I have been exploring some new 100" top-string setups and refining my HEC-based mix (my preferred mix is now 20:1 water:detergent with 2.3 grams HEC -- either Natrosol 250HHR or CelloSize QP100MH) plus baking soda and citric acid.

I have had nice results with a RubberMaid microfiber webfoot top-string and just a single strand of twine for the bottom or a strand of twine and a strand of bamboo yarn. I want try a slightly higher capacity bottom (maybe two strands of twine) with a higher-capacity top.

Here are some vids of this setup:

Here is a giant bubble with just a single twine strand for the bottom.

http://youtu.be/bbOfbi3MLpE

Here is a giant that I didn't manage to close but which I found beautiful. I have slowed down the bubble so it can be…

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I have been playing around with the soda-washed Bed, Bath and Beyond cooking twine as the bottom strings for 100" top-string loops whose top strings are usually full-ply rayon mop yarn or webfoot microfiber mop yarn (both from RubberMaid). I have been impressed by the size potential with a strand of this twine. I have been able to make bubbles (closed ones) that rival the biggest I have made. I have made bigger bubbles with a single oversized strand of rayon (which seems to hold a bit more juice than the twine and is more self-closing at this size when empty), a double-strand rayon bottom and t-shirt yarn bottom. I have been thinking that I would like to try both a double-strand of twine and a twine/bamboo yarn combination to see if it wou…

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A few weeks ago, cut 3 130" lengths from a spool of the Bed, Bath and Beyond Twine that I purchased in 2012 (the 17 unfluffy thread kind). 

All three strands were soaked in water and Dawn Pro in the sink for an hour, rinsed and hung to dry.

The remaining two twine lengths were simmered/boiled for 30 minutes.

Both of those lengths were hung to dry.

One of those strands was soaked for 30 minutes in 1 tablespoon washing soda and 8 ounces water then rinsed and air dried.

The final length of the strings was 118" for the unboiled twine. The other two strings were 110".

The strands were marked with different colors using colored permanent markers (red, green, and blue Sharpies) and then tied to make a loop. Split rings were attached with lark's head kn…

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[IN PROCESS. PLEASE VISIT LATER. IMPORTANT TEXT MISSING] Not quite a year ago, I started exploring the impact of water:detergent ratios on bubble juice and posted my first blog entry about the topic . The explorations were eye-opening, at least to me. I had intended to have frequent blog entries with updates as my explorations progressed. I never managed to do that. This entry summarizes much of what I have learned during that time period. This information will be the basis of some proper wiki articles, but my thoughts are not yet organized enough for that article. In the meantime, it seemed like it would be worthwhile to gather together the relevant information in one place as I think that it is important info for any serious bubblehead t…

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