Physicists have found that adding guar gum and glycerol to a detergent solution helped to create large, long-lasting soap bubbles

Physics 22 September 2022

A large bubble made by the researchers

Serge Guichard

Physicists have worked out the optimal recipe for making giant, long-lasting soap bubbles. It should allow anyone to reliably blow bubbles at least 12 centimetres across and potentially create some large enough to envelop a person.

Marina Pasquet, who carried out the research with her colleagues at the University of Paris-Saclay, started the project by investigating what liquids artists and performers were using to make giant soap bubbles. “There are a lot of recipes out there,” says Pasquet, who is now at the …