A new video posted on the platform Imgur is getting a lot of buzz on the Internet. You may have already seen it: two children stick their noses out of a gigantic mass of bubbles that rises from their bathtub to the ceiling. As well as showing us that their parents are pretty cool, this video raises a question: how the heck could they have created a monolith of bubbles as monstrous? Do not panic, we'll explain everything.
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Before going any further, let's go back to the powers of the bubble bath. You should know that the bubbles create a layer of insulating air to slow down the rate at which the water in your bath cools. Indeed, this revolutionary product has more than one advantage! But as the video shows, it can go well beyond one layer of foam. How? The secret of the bubble tower has not been clearly elucidated but according to specialists, it would be possible to reproduce it at home and here is how:
- Use a bubble bath product. Logical. Foaming bath or soap are surfactants: they reduce the surface tension of the bubble and make it more elastic. That's why it's easier to create long lasting bubbles when you add dishwashing liquid to water. This mixture of water and surfactant has just enough fluidity and flexibility to form beautiful bubbles. Egg white, another surfactant, also allows the formation of very stable bubbles.
- Make small bubbles. When water runs from the tap into the bathtub, tiny bubbles form. In the absence of surfactant, these bubbles burst immediately because the surface tension of the water is too great. However, thanks to the presence of the bubble bath product, they become more flexible, taking the advantage over their larger cousins that can be deformed more easily. They are therefore an excellent foundation for your tower.
- Limit disturbances. To preserve the life of your bubbles, you will need to make sure of two things. First, avoid drafts, which can create pressure on the bubbles and pop them. Also, make sure there is a minimum of fat in the water. Oil and grease are bubbles' enemies: they spread out on their surface and make them burst.
- Use an air source. Do not just rely on your bathtub faucet to create enough bubbles. To get a tower so big that it will scare your neighbours, you have several options available. If you have a jetted tub, turn the jets on but try to find the right mix so as not to create too many disturbances. Otherwise, a simple air pump will do the trick. This is perhaps what has been used to create the foam igloo.
Good luck and have a nice bath!
