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How to make homemade bubble solution | Best DIY bubble recipe

Inside: How to make homemade bubble solution easily at home. Contains affiliate links.

Bubbles are great, aren’t they? For me, they sum up my summer as a child. I could sit for hours blowing bubbles and my kids are exactly the same. They love nothing more than to blow bubbles both big and small, trying to get them to float up way into the sky without popping. The problem with bubble mix is it often gets spilled on the floor and you end up buying more and more.

Homemade bubble mix is easy to make using a simple recipe of water, dishwashing liquid and glycerine. The result is strong bubbles that last for ages and the ability to make it over and over again as you need it. Put it in a dispenser and the kids can help themselves!

I have been using this homemade bubble recipe every year since my eldest was a toddler and it has never let us down. I hope this gives you a fun idea for your summer bucket list this year.

homemade bubble mix

How do bubbles work?

Bubbles are made with soap and water and are filled with air. When the bubble mix is placed on a bubble wand and air is blown into it, the soap forms a skin around the air, trapping it to create a bubble.

My mum used to make her own bubble solution when I was little using dish soap and water. I mean really that just creates soap bubbles and not exactly what you’d expect but I was happy enough.

The reason most homemade bubbles pop is because the water in the bubble’s skin evaporates. You may have noticed that hotter days are worse for a mixture compared to cooler days. To prevent this happening, you need to add in another agent that will strengthen and thicken the skin to prevent the evaporation process happening as quickly.

The secret ingredient? Glycerine.

The glycerine helps the bubbles last longer and also allow you to create large bubbles as the skin can stretch and grow with a reinforced surface tension.

Homemade bubble recipe

This recipe uses simple ingredients and is a fun activity to do with the children on a lazy summer day.

You will need:

  • Washing up liquid (dish soap)
  • Water (tap water is fine)
  • Glycerine (find it in the baking aisle)

And that is it! Combine the ingredients and you have the best DIY bubbles on the block! Pop the mixture into a bottle to be used when they like (I saved some old bubble mix bottles with the smaller wands) or you could even pop it into a bubble machine to have the machine do all the hard work for you. Our favourite machine is from Gazillion Bubbles and you’ve never seen anything like it!

Small-scale bubble solution recipe

Now I am working in ‘cups’ here, I don’t mean mugs I mean the specific measuring cups you can buy. I use them for so many things but if you don’t have them then 1 cup is roughly 230ml.

If you don’t fancy making an enormous batch then this is the basic bubble recipe.

  • 1/2 cup of washing up liquid (dish soap)
  • 5 cups of water
  • 2 tablespoons of glycerine

Easy peasy!

For best results, try to avoid shaking it up as you combine the ingredients and if possible allow it to settle overnight. It will still work if you use it immediately but it will be so much better if left to rest.

best bubble mixture, make your own bubbles

Large-scale homemade bubble recipe

This will make you enough for the summer (four times the basic recipe)

You will need:

  • 2 cups of washing up liquid (dish soap)
  • 20 cups of water
  • 8 tablespoons of glycerine (4 of those little bottles you can buy). 

As with the small-scale recipe, you want to leave the mix to settle overnight so that you can create the best bubbles possible.

Such an easy recipe and will mean the kids have a great time.

How to make giant bubbles

With your own DIY bubble solution ready, you can now make the biggest bubbles ever! All you need is a giant bubble wand and a tray or a large bowl to be able to dip it into.

If you don’t have large bubble wands then you can always make your own using pipe cleaners. They can be twisted together to create a hoop to any size you want – big enough to make huge bubbles – so much fun to be had!

How to store your DIY bubble mixture

Nobody wants to be called over to top up empty bubble bottles every five minutes so my best advice is to get yourself a giant dispenser like this one…

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Isn’t it amazing?! I found this Collapsible Folding Water Dispenser and it is a bargain! First of all, it holds enough bubble mixture to last all summer but the best part is the tap- the children can help themselves when they spill or run out of bubbles! Genius!!

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I hope this easy bubble recipe has shown you that making your own bubbles at home is super simple. Let me know if you give it a go!

bubble mix for summer
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Sarah

Monday 5th of June 2023

After letting it settle over night do I shake it up?

Katy

Tuesday 29th of August 2023

I never do x

Bonnie

Wednesday 10th of June 2020

I’m planning on using a washed out large laundry detergent container that has a spigot to store the bubble solution in

Katy

Wednesday 10th of June 2020

Great idea!

Lauren

Wednesday 23rd of May 2018

Love the bubble recipe, but using a water dispenser to put in something that looks like juice makes me nervous.

Katy

Friday 22nd of June 2018

I think it is about using your judgement as a parent to know whether your child is likely to make that mistake. Mine know that it is bubble mixture and so wouldn't even consider drinking from it. x

100 awesome low cost ideas for kids this summer | Daisies & Pie

Tuesday 9th of January 2018

[…] play with bubbles […]

Melanie

Sunday 7th of May 2017

Has anyone tried it with baby soap for "tear free"? Also is the glycerine really sticky, we tried it to syrup and it was really sticky.