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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. might have led to slightly longer lasting bubbles but it was hard to say. And conditions were such that really large bubbles weren't possible with either solution. The size of open tubes was not appreciably different between the two solutions.

Yesterday, I mixed up a 20:1 water:Dawn Pro based juice with sodium alginate, baking soda and citric acid and some dry alcohol used for a slurry. The air temp was 75F and humidity in the 25% to 30% range. There was a steady fairly strong breeze. With a 32" top-string, I was able to get a few 2 to 3 foot diameter bubbles that lasted updwards of 15 seconds -- which is quite good for full-sun on a dry day. I had a guar-based juice (water:detergent 25:1) which seemed to behave similarly. It wouldn't be fair to drawn any conclusions as the breeze was shifty enough and the session short-enough that the difference in behavior could have been due to noise rather than a differerence in the performance -- as bubbles with both juices were showing a wide range of longevities.

A day later, I tried the two mixes (and a mix of the two) with air temp 70F and humidity 34% with a 32" Lehigh top-string loop. There wasn't enough difference to make a judgment. I would like to try with two kids' bubble guns to see if there is an appreciable difference with small bubbles.

I will try to follow-up in the not-too-distant future, but my time is very limited right now.

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