Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

In my search for a satisfactory surfactant, I was having trouble finding "Miracle Bubbles" made by Imperial and often reported here to not cause clouding of the water.  I did find this at Dollar General though, and since it is also made by Imperial, I decided to try it.  Here is a photo of the product I used for surfactant:

And the display this approximately 3" tall bottle was in:

I'm happy to report I've had no problems, even after allowing the lamp to completely cool down and heat back up again.  No clouding, sticking or streaking...yay!  I should note the only other ingredient added to the lamp was epsom salts.  I will report back here any negative developments in the lamp.  Here is a current photo of my Grand after using the "Easy Squeezy Bubbles" by Imperial for my surfactant:

 

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Beautiful lamp Jus!  Nice and clear, great pic! Please keep us updated to how this surf worked!

I promise to do that, and thanks!

Couple questions Jus:

 

1)  Did you try this because you were having sticking, streaking and/or fogging on the inside of your globes using the MT goo surfactant?

 

2)  Is this MT goo or LL? and

 

3)  How did you mix the Epsom salt mixture?  Did you add water to it and if so how much? 

 

I have 2 kits that just keep continuing to stick, streak and fog up using the traditional MT goo and surf.  My others are ok.  I just ordered another bottle of surf from them so I can take down those 2 kits and clean out the globe.  I usually do a straight vinegar soak overnight, then rinse well with tap water and a final distilled water rinse.  I called MT and Kim said that this was being caused by running it too hot, but since then I only run them 8 hours minimum and only adjust my dimmer until I get the slowest of flow, then leave it.  I was considering using something else so this may be a good time to experiment.  Let me know your thoughts. 

 

Tnx!!!

Hi Carol-

I tried this because the flow had turned out to be almost always stuck in one single column from top to bottom.  It would rarely break off and form globs.  It drove me nuts, so I decided to try this.  Really glad I did because for whatever reason, the single column stage has vanished, and it sends blobs up continually now.  WHEW!

It is MT goo.  I make a super-saturated solution of water + epsom salts by heating a small amount of water to about boiling, then I add the epsom salts, stir, add, reheat, add, stir---over and over until I can't get any more epsom salts to dissolve into the water.  I just clean my globes with dawn, rinse real well and fill.  I never turn my lamp off.  I do use a dimmer, but I keep it set half way between full blast and barely flowing.  I will report any problems, if they occur.  Good luck getting your's to do right, Carol!

Here are some bubbles you do NOT want to use as a surfactant in a lamp with epsom salts.  After about 24 hours it begins to get more and more cloudy.  These are not good:

 

I just dumped a little dish liquid in my 2 foggy lamps because I figured what can it hurt, they already have to be redone anyway.  Didn't do much for the inside of the glass though.  I ordered another big bottle of surf from mt.  I may use that but also try a bit of the bubble solution as well to see if it keeps the inside of the globes from fogging up.  A little experiment, lol!  I'm not going to mess with the Epsom salts just yet.  Haven't had good luck with that, so am kind of wary using that.  Gotta get a gallon of good ole fashioned vinegar and soak my globes overnight.  When I just rely on dawn to clean them, they get much worse as far as sticking.  Maybe after the vinegar soak, i'll do dawn, then a distilled rinse, then see how they hold up.  Thanks for the info!!

Good luck Carol!

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