There has been some discussion on the Soap Bubble Fanciers list about the various methods that people use to mix the polymers (such as HPMC and PEO -- aka MethoCel and PolyOx) that are frequently used in making homemade bubble solutions. These are ingredients that tend to clump when added to water. So, people have devised a number of methods of coping with this behavior. Methods include mixing the powders together and then adding them to glycerine while stirring to create a slurry. Others use various types of mixers and may also make pH adjustments.
Now, if making bubble juice on a large scale (i.e. if you are making it for commercial purposes), you need a method to mix up your brew in a time efficient manner. Since I am only making it for personal use and prefer not to hassle with a lot of equipment (and clean up) if I don't have to, I wanted to see if HPMC would dissolve in water if I just gave it time to fully hydrate. Somewhere I read a note from someone that mentioned that most of these polymers take a long time to hydrate but that they will hydrate and mix themselves with water if you just give them time.
Last night, just before midnight, I added 1 gram of MethoCel K15M (a type of HPMC) to 3.5 ounces (by weight) of room temperature water which I stirred with an expresso spoon as I added the powder. The powder floated and clumped. I put the lid on the mason jar that I was using as the container and shook vigorously. I ended up with a clumpy layer floating on the surface of the water. The next morning, the solution was viscous with a small layer of clumps on the surface. I shook vigorously for about 15 or 20 seconds after which there were only a few clumps left.
I used tap water. Our tap water has a pH of 9.1. Dow Chemical's product notes indicated that K15M dissolved much faster in pHs above 8.0 than when the pH is lower. So, it is possible that this would have taken longer if the water were less basic.
When I checked the jar that afternoon (about 20 hours after the mix was made), the solution had no clumps and appeared uniform.
This is the same result that I had with JLube although the JLube took a few days to hydrate and become uniform.
Next test, MethoCel 40-100 and 40-101.