Soap Bubble Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Dow's MethoCel 40-100 and 40-101 are types of HPMC with which I plan on experimenting. 40-100 has similar to viscosity to K15M but may have different flow or react differently than K15M. 40-101 is about 6.5 times more viscous than K15M. I have the cold-water dispersible versions of these polymers. I was curious to see if one could get these to hydrate and dissolve without using electrical equipment or modifying the pH. (For the 40 series, it is recommend to disperse the polymer in pH 7.5 water and then raise the pH to hydrate). Since I am just making small batches and am patient. I wanted to know if I could bypass using a mixer.


The short answer is: yes.


The tap water here (Redwood City, California) has a pH of 9.1. Since pH influences hydration of these polymers, it is possible that this might not work so well with your tap water. At some point, I will try this with slightly acidic water.


I have to say that I goofed big time when I did this. For both polymers, I used 1 gram of powder and 3.5 ounces of tap water. The mistake I made was to put the powder in the jar and add the water. I shook the jars vigorously and put the jars on the shelf. The next morning, there was a layer of gel on the bottom of each jar but the water above it was not viscous. I stirred the jars to break up the gel layer and put the jars next to my computer keyboard.


Periodically as I worked I shook the jars vigorously. After 48 hours the jars were uniformly mixed. The 40-101 hs not entirely uniform. There seems to be some slightly more viscous stuff at the bottom but it stirs easily.


The next time that I do this, I will follow the same procedure as I did with the K15M the other day. Start stirring the water and then pour the powder in and then stir again a bit later once things have started to hydrate.


Undoubtedtly, making a slurry by mixing the powder into glycerine or propylene glycol would would be a better way of doing the lazy man's mix. But since I want to test the effect of the polymers by themselves, I don't want any other ingredients besides water and HPMC.


Next step: test these in detergent solutions to measure their effects.

Advertisement