Gigantic Bubbles

After I stumbled across gigantic bubbles and was as excited about my discovery as if I had invented them myself, I learned they were old hat for some of my friends (including the ones who said they used to make them in their bathroom).  But they were new to us, and our little family has had loads of fun with the biggest bubbles I have ever seen in my life.  Like gigantic amoebas, the bubbles ooze off of our wand, then morph themselves into irresistible, shimmering circles, so delightful to make and so fun for children to burst. Just in case you haven't tried them yourself, I'll share our favorite recipe with you.

Giant Bubbles that WORK:
24 oz. Dawn dish-washing detergent (Hypoallergenic works best, they say; we used regular.)
1 T. J-Lube  (a powdered, veterinarian need; can be purchased at farm supply stores.)
3 T. Baking Powder (optional, but it makes the bubbles last longer)
3 gallons water (some say distilled water; we used pure drinking water)

Dump the dish soap into a clean container.  Stir in the J-Lube and baking powder until it becomes a thick slime and the J-Lube is dissolved.  Add in one gallon of water, pouring carefully against the side of the container to avoid creating bubbles. Add remaining water. (FYI: I found the recipe here.)

We tried other recipes but this is the only one that worked well for us consistently. To make our wand, we used two dowel rods, a length of yarn (braiding the yarn makes a thicker wand that holds more bubbles, but braiding it isn't necessary), and a washer to help hold the yarn open. Our wand looks like this:

Tips for Success:

• Several recipes say that the mixture works best if left set overnight.  We use ours immediately with great success, but if you are having issues, you could try letting it rest overnight.
• Use cotton string for your wand. 
• Wind is one of your bubbles' worst enemies.
• Bubble size is limited by wand size, so don't be shy in making a big wand, much bigger than our child-friendly version. The guy in the video where I got the recipe uses something that looks like fishing poles and creates bubbles big enough to happily swallow our bed mattress. Magnificent, of course, but much larger than we needed to be wowed.

Pictures of Success: