Ivory Soap

[da]

Recipe: one bar Ivory soap, one microwave, on 1 min. 30 seconds.













Anyone care for Antactica on a plate?...







I rather like this one:



...the only adjusting was bumping up the contrast and gamma a little bit. That's just about what it looked like in my microwave.

Two animated gifs.

Expanding. (985KB)

Contracting. (641KB)

The finished product still feels soapy on the skin. It crumbles, though a wettened clump of soap-cloud will compress more, and act just about exactly like the original bar.



[edit: for anyone joining here for the first time, original motivation was a conversation with bats22 and subsequent googling found this thread from madsci.org which has an explanation for why it happens.]

Comments

[ex-halfwitte432.livejournal.com]

I am *so* doing this at home and putting them in the bathroom.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Now there's an idea for ya, at least long enough to make people ask where the hell you got such weird soap.

[ex-halfwitte432.livejournal.com]

Well, it's a rare occasion when one gets to utter the phrase "I grew it in my microwave."

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

You know, you could have waited until I at least had a microwave again...I am so doing this once it gets re-set!

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Ha. I was slightly worried you'd be saying "Ieee! you did what in our microwave?..." :)

You could always try and use one at the university :)

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

I don't want you to use our microwave to make plasma bolts, but I don't care much about soap. As long as it's clean when I'm there, and you don't try to short it into oblivion, I don't much mind.

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

It's delightful! It looks like cloud formations!

If I wasn't [oh tragic irony] allergic to ivory soap, I'd do this and use it.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

I assume to the fragrence? I've thought for a while that ivory should make a fragrence-free version, but mostly, I've just gotten used to it. Thankfully, I'm not allergic, just a bit sensitive to manufactured smells. :)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

This site described it as cummulous-like, and I thought they were being hyperbolic. But they weren't. :)

It really does look like clouds, even close up.

[mynatt.livejournal.com]

It does. I was certain you had photographed a cloud until I remembered your crazy soap plans.

weird, weird, weird

[(Anonymous)]

I just might try it.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

That's awesome. :) What's the consistency like after?

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Um- not squishy; the bubbles are brittle. The surface feels... sort of soapy. :)

It crumbles somewhat easily, into a coarse powder which feels grainy. But the biggest chunks (which are sitting in a dish in my bathroom!) are solid enough that I can pick it up.

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

AWESOME!!!

[zombiefodder.livejournal.com]

Very cool! And, it works.

As soon as I read it, I grabbed the kids and a bar of Ivory and hit the microwave. It worked perfectly. The youngest wants to use the remains for his bath tonight.

[My sister-in-law - fupher - pointed me this way.]

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Awesome! :)

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

that is SO COOL.

[180milehug.livejournal.com]

I think you have just performed the greatest feat in scientific history.