Don't buy Soap Bubble Mix! Save money and have more fun by making your own soap bubble mixture.
Soap bubble mix is insanely expensive if you buy it in the shops. Far better value and as much part of the fun with your kids is to make your own bubble mix.
A few people have asked us for recommendations, so Moley has been experimenting and come up with a couple of simple soap bubble solution recipes to get you started.
Basic soap bubble recipe - as simple as it gets:
- 2 tablespoons concentrated washing up liquid
- 1 cup water
Stir soap bubble solution gently and you're ready to start your soap bubble blowing frenzy!
Professional soap bubble recipe - produces much better quality bubbles that last much longer
- 1 teaspoon glycerin
- 2 tablespoons concentrated washing up liquid
- 1 cup water
Stir all the soap bubble solution ingredients gently and leave to settle, preferably overnight or longer if possible before using.
You should be able to get glycerin in most pharmacists and chemists, and possibly in a few larger supermarkets.
Of course, if you're making the bubble mix with your kids, the chances of being able to set the mixture aside overnight are pretty close to zero, so make a bit more than you wanted so you can use some straight away, and keep the majority to settle and improve overnight.
Tips for blowing great soap bubbles
1. Adding glycerin to the soap bubble solution makes bubbles stronger and last longer
2. Stir rather than shake the bubble mix - you want a liquid not a foam to blow bubbles from.
3. Prepare the bubble mix in advance - if you can store it overnight or longer, you'll tend to get better quality bubbles.
4. Dry surfaces are bad news for bubbles and tend to pop them - if you want to try to catch bubbles, make sure your hands are wet.
5. Blow gently and steadily to create the best bubbles - Kids (and excited adults) tend to blow too hard, creating lots of small bubbles rather than fewer, larger ones.
6. Water, washing up liquid and glycerine can create wet, slippery surfaces. Take care, especially indoors!
7. Bubble mix is for blowing bubbles and not for drinking. Any liquids can be mistaken for a drink, especially by kids, so do please take care...
If you want to know a bit more about the science of bubbles
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/bubbles/bubbles.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_bubble
There are lots of other recipes for bubble solutions. If the ones above don't work well for you, try using slightly different proportions of ingredients or a different washing-up liquid. If you have a bubble mix recipe which works well for you, do please share it with us.
Happy bubble blowing