h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What a bludding nuisance they are.

They get all over everything and prevent seeing into the washing up water to spot that elusive teaspoon.

Mrs PP loves them and swishes everything about until there are gallons of suds.

I sneak the liquid into the bowl gently in order to minimise the froth.

Do we really need them? Are they just a marketing ploy? Can I get WUL without foam?

PP

And they're always white. Even when the detergent is green or yellow, the bubbles are white.

Is that the secret of , then?

ooooh washing up with guiness

There's this story that bubbles were added at some point (after the war?) as a marketing thing. You don't need them for the job.

Some of the 'green' dishwashing liquids don't have many suds (Ecover, that sort of thing).

I loved them as a kid..well the actual liquid because you can blow bubbles with one of those circular things..though not as big as the specially designed stuff.

You need to add a tiny bit of water to the washing up liquid though from what i remember.

My Dad always said, why have a detergent to remove grease, when the majority is wasted as bubbles and not in the water?

I think it was Fairy who provided them to infer, after x amount of time, that the bubbles inferred the detergent was still working.

I.e. no bubbles, no workee!!!

MMF

It's also fun to take a big handful of them and blow them across the room.

(Does anyone remember crazyfoam?. Came in aerosol cans.).

Lol. Definitely. Kids today don't have all the fun!

But then bubble-bath is the same, I guess.

Who didn't create fancy head-gear out of bubbles when they were much younger?

MMF

And getting back to the bubbles you blow. What brilliant strange slow swirling weaving and winding patterns of different colours you get on the bubbles.

"And they're always white. Even when the detergent is green or yellow, the bubbles are white."
New Scientist explained that one once. It's something to do with the light refracting off all surfaces of the bubble, and mixing, causing the final emitted light to be white, rather than whatever the source colour was.... or something

If there weren't bubbles, you couldn't put in a milk bottle and blow them up to immense proportions until they take over the taps.

Or was that just me?