Orbeez or you can also call them water beads, that looks so soft, squishy, and so fun to play with. These orbeez are made out of gel that can absorb large amounts of water easily, that helps them to expand the size.
The transformation of these small seed-sized beads into marble-sized balls is quite magical. At least for the kids, it is a magical and thrilling experience.
But, have you ever wondered how long do orbeez take to grow? Moreover, how to make orbeez grow faster?
Well, on average, an orbeez can take 4 hours to upto 6 hours to grow. The actual duration may vary a lot depending on the environmental conditions, size of the water bead, and the amount of water you’re soaking in.
Hey everyone, I am Julie – a DIY lover, and in this post I am going to discuss how long does it take for orbeez take to grow, factors affecting orbeez growth, and how can orbeez grow faster, and various other FAQs that you may have in your mind related to orbeez.
So, without any further delay, let’s start the discussion.
About Orbeez And The Science Behind It
Orbeez are tiny hard pellets that expand when they absorb water and grow up to 150 times their original size. These super-absorbent orbeez are great for playing, because of their soft and vibrant colors.
But these orbeez can be used for many other purposes like DIY crafts, home decor, foot spa, ice packs, stress relief toys, plant hydration, sensory play, and a lot more.
Originally these orbeez were created to keep the plants hydrated but now because of their pretty colors, spherical shape, kids love playing with them.
Orbeez are also referred to as super-absorbent polymer and in dry form, it is known as slush powder. This component is responsible for absorbing the water and expanding its size, becoming a soft and bouncy spherical shape.
This all happens because of the magical component called Sodium Polyacrylate, when the tiny hard orbeez come in contact with water, the water molecules get filled into the space between polymer chains, making the tiny bead swell and grow in size.
How Long Do Orbeez Take To Grow?
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Now comes the real question, how long do orbeez take to grow?
Well in most cases, these orbeez can take from 4 hours to upto 6 hours to fully grow depending on the size of orbeez you want. However, growth speed of orbeez depends on many factors like the humidity, temperature, surrounding environment, and chemicals inside the water. Moreover, it can also depend on the quality of orbeez.
For example, the largest orbeez takes up to 24 hours to go to its full size.
As we mentioned earlier, the temperature of the water plays an important role in the expansion of the orbeez. For example, orbeez can grow faster in warm water while slower in cold water. However, it’s important to note that the water temperature shouldn’t be too high as it can totally damage the water beads.
The best water temperature to grow orbeez faster is the room temperature itself, which is 68-72°F (20-22°C).
Moreover, the quality of water also matters, it is said that orbeez grow best in distilled water comparing to tap water, as the minerals present inside the tap water can inhibit the growth.
So, while you’re trying to grow orbeez make sure:
- Always use clean water or distilled water.
- You can add a pinch of salt to extend the life expectancy of orbeez. However, it may slow down the growth speed of orbeez.
- Use warm water to grow orbeez faster.
- Keep orbeez for atleast 4 hours. The longer you soak them, the bigger it would grow.
- Use only high quality orbeez to get better results.
The above points can help you get better orbeez growth.
What should be the ideal gel balls to water ratio?
Now, ratio of water to gel balls(or you can say water beads) is extremely important to grow your orbeez perfectly.
Although, many people don’t pay attention to it, however, to get best results you must care about every small things.
So, coming to the point, according to the WikiHow, you should always use atleast 250 mL of water for every 100 orbeez water beads. Although, it’s not really important to follow, but, higher amount of water can help your orbeez grow better and decreases the time it takes to grow.
How to make orbeez grow faster?
Well, this may sound a bit tricky, however, by using correct technique and materials, orbeez can grow faster.
Simply put, you can grow orbeez faster using lukewarm distilled water and putting orbeez in a large container with excess amount of water.
Lukewarm distilled water is basically neither hot nor cold. It is little warmer than the normal temperature.
Below are a few factors that can help you speed up the growth of orbeez:
Use warm water
Water temperature is one of the most important factor that may either slow down the process or speed up the process.
By using warm water, you can fasten the growth of orbeez. Warm water increases the soaking capacity and helps water beads absorb water faster.
An important thing which is worth noting here is DO NOT PUT THEM IN BOILED WATER. Boiled water can melt the polymer and deform the shape of orbeez.
To simply give it a bench mark, you can use 110°F warm water to increase the growth rate of orbeez.
Use distilled water
Water beads or water ball are made of polymers. A study carried by science direct, indicates that the hard water can hinder the water absorption in polymers. Which in turns, hard waters can hinder the growth rate of orbeez.
It’s because of the principles of molecular diffusion that help in growing the orbeez balls
When orbeez are put in warm water, the temperature of warm water increases the kinetic energy of the water molecules, making the orbeez grow faster.
Hence, make sure you use distilled water or filtered water. This would help orbeez to grow faster.
Stirring the water
Once you’ve kept orbeez in water container, you can stir the water(with the help of straw) after every 10 minutes. This would help the orbeez to absorb water quickly and removes the accumulated minerals from the surface of water balls.
Before you go ahead, please note that do not stir the water with high speed. Stir it just once or twice in every interval of 10 minutes.
Put orbeez in light
Putting orbeez water container under the light to speed up the growth may sound weird, but putting orbeez under the light can seriously increase the growth rate.
However, this is not too effective method, but it’s worth considering when you want to grow orbeez in just 5 minutes(Just kidding, this isn’t possible).
Use large container
A final way to fasten the orbeez growth is using a large container. Large container will contain high amount of water and may increase the water absorption by water balls.
Does Salt Make Orbeez Grow Faster?
If you put your orbeez in saltwater thinking that this will make them grow faster, then you are wrong. There is no experiment out there that confirms that salt makes orbeez grow faster.
Surprisingly, adding a pinch of salt into orbeez can actually decrease the growth speed of orbeez due to the increase in concentration of water.
The simple reason why this could happen is because of difference between the osmosis that happens between low concentration solution to high concentration solution.
Because salt on orbeez does not make them grow faster, always use warm water instead. Warm water actually increases the osmosis process between orbeez and water, making them grow faster.
What will happen if you take orbeez out of water too early?
Taking out orbeez early from water container won’t have much effect on it. However, as discussed previously, the longer you keep orbeez in water, the bigger they’ll grow.
Same formula can be used here as well. By taking out orbeez midway, they won’t grow to it’s potential size and may look opaque(Not transparent).
Additionally, they may remain harder and won’t be squishy. But, these harder orbeez can be used by those who want to play with the orbeez gun or gel blaster.
What happen if you leave orbeez in water for too long?
While this keeping water balls or water beads in water for longer time can help it grow to it’s maximum size, however, leaving them for too long in water will over saturate it and they’ll start breaking easily.
But, how long is too long?
Well, we recommend you to do not keep orbeez in water for more than 2 days or 36 hours. This duration is more than enough for orbeez to grow to it’s maximum size.
How long do orbeez last?
Orbeez can last from as little as weeks to as long as months. This mainly depends on the surrounding environment of orbeez.
For example, putting them in exposure of sunlight can decrease the lifespan of orbeez and they may start shrinking within a few weeks. On the other hand, if you keep orbeez in moisturized surrounding, it can lasts for months.
But, whenever your orbeez starts shrinking, you can regrow them by again putting them into the water container. They can be used multiple times by continuously regrowing them in water.
You might be thinking – can’t we increase the lifespan of orbeez? Isn’t it possible?
Yes, this is possible. You can increase the lifespan of orbeez by putting them into the jar or air tight bags. Additionally, the best way is to add a spinch of salt when you were growing them for the firs time.
Adding a salt or sugar will decrease the growth speed but increases the lifespan of orbeez.
Why Are My Orbeez Not Growing?
There can be multiple reasons why your orbeez might not be growing normally. For example, you might have not put enough water in the bowl.This would lead orbeez to not expand to their full size as they need water to grow.
Another reason can be, that you didn’t give them enough time to absorb water. If you keep taking them out of water in a short span of time, they might not be able to properly absorb enough water to grow.
Finally, make sure the temperature of the water isn’t too cold or too hot. As discussed, cold water can slow down the growth rate of orbeez.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do orbeez take to grow?
On average, Orbeez takes 4 to 6 hours to grow but the time frame can vary depending on the size of the orbeez. If the orbeez is large then it will take more time to grow, the largest orbeez can take up to 24 hours to grow to its full size.
How big can orbeez grow?
An orbeez can grow up to 14mm or even more. The size of orbeez depends on several factors like- the quality of the water, the temperature of the water, and how long you keep the orbeez inside the water. Orbeez grows faster and larger in distilled/sparkling water, that’s because the minerals present in the water affect the growth of orbeez.
Should I put orbeez in hot or cold water?
Putting orbeez into hot(specifically warm) water can help the orbeez grow faster, on the other hand putting them into cold water can slow down the orbeez growth rate.
How long do orbeez take to grow for orbeez gun?
2-4 hours is sufficient for orbeez to grow for orbeez gun or gel blaster. This time is sufficient for orbeez to get perfect shape, hardness, and size to fit into orbeez gun.
Does salt make orbeez grow faster?
No, the salt doesn’t make orbeez grow faster. But it can make your orbeez’s life last longer. Just add a pinch of salt to the water and that would be enough to make your orbeez last longer and they will not dry out as fast.
Can orbeez grow overnight?
Just place the orbeez in a bowl of water and leave them overnight, the next day, you will find them fully expanded.
Conclusion
Orbeez is fun and a great way of relieving stress, from children to adults, everyone loves to play with them. We learned a lot about in this “How long does it take for orbeez to grow” article.
Let’s have a quick recap.
In this post, we saw orbeez generally takes 2-6 hours to effectively grow to it’s full size. However, in some cases, it can even take more than 24 hours to fully grow.
Factors like the temperature of water, the amount of water you put in the bowl, for how long you keep them in water, and the quality of water are the major factors that determines the speed of orbeez growth.
Orbeez are eco-friendly so feel free to play with them, use them in your DIY crafts, or foot spa, or you can also use these orbeez to keep your plants hydrated, you can use them for lots of other things.