Orbeez, that is also called water beads that expands in water, are becoming popular among children as well as adults. Besides the sensory fun toy, they are also used by home decor enthusiast as as DIY craft and various home decor projects.
But, have you ever wondered – how long do orbeez take to grow?
In short, an orbeez can take anywhere from 4 hours to upto 6 hours to grow. However, the actual duration may vary a lot depending on the environmental conditions, size of the water beads, and various other factors.
This post discusses the growth process of orbeez, the science behind them, and various tips for achieving more spherical and bigger orbeez. We will also discuss how you can make your orbeez grow faster. This article will provide you everything you need to know about these water beads, let’s dive in!
- Growth Time: Orbeez typically take 4 to 6 hours to fully grow when soaked in water, depending on various factors.
- Factors such as water temperature, quality of water, size of the beads, and the amount of water play a crucial role in how long it takes Orbeez to grow.
- For faster growth, always use warm water (30° – 40°C), distilled water, and keep Orbeez away from direct sunlight.
- If your Orbeez is not growing, check if there is insufficient water, not enough soaking time, or if the temperature is too cold.
- Adding salt doesn’t speed up the growth.
What are orbeez?
Orbeez are tiny hard pellets that expand when they absorb water. These water-absorbent orbeez are great for playing, relaxing, and foot spa because of their soft and squishy nature.
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 water beads swell and grow in size.
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.
Moreover, these orbeez can be used for many other purposes such as DIY crafts, home decor, foot spa, ice packs, stress relief toys, plant hydration, sensory play, and a lot more.
You’ll be surprised to know that an orbeez can grow up to 100-150 times of its original size, depending on the various factors and right procedure.
How Long Do Orbeez Take To Grow?
Well, generally orbeez take from 4 hours to upto 6 hours to fully grow, from tiny beads to large squishy spheres. However, growth time depends on many factors, such as – water temperature, size of the beads, and water quality.
While you pour water beads into water, always make sure that the water is at room temperature – neither too cold, nor too warm. Typically, 20°C – 25°C is a good temperature range. This process will take upto 12 hours to grow.
To make the process faster, use warm water. A water temperature between 30°C – 40°C is a good temperature. This water temperature will help your water beads grow faster, bigger, and better. With warm water, you can grow orbeez in 3-6 hours.
Moreover, always make sure you use clean distilled water and not tap water. The quality of water plays an important role in overall growth of an orbeez.
The Science Behind Orbeez
The sciene behind orbeez is as exciting and fascinating as their magical growth process.
Orbeez works on the method of polymer science. The science and chemestry behind these tiny orbeez helps you understand how do they grow 100 times of their original size, when soaked in water.
The entire transformation is based on a simple concept of science called “osmosis”. According to the osmosis process, water moves from higher concentration(outside the orbeez) to the lower concentration(inside the orbeez). The process of osmosis is crucial reason how orbeez grows in water.
Going a little deeper, at the center of the orbeez bead, there is a superabsorbent polymer(SAP), a substance that has capacity to absorb large amount of water. This polymer is made up of hydrogel that absorbs and hold the water, making orbeez bigger and bigger when kept under the water for a longer time.
Factors Affecting Orbeez Growth
While the process of growing orbeez is quite simple and straightforwards, however, there are many factors that can influence the growth rate of orbeez.
These factors have direct correlation with orbeez growth time. By understanding these factors, you will be able to grow your water beads much bigger and faster.
Let’s look at these factors:
Water temperature:
In a study carried by International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science, the temperature of the water plays an important role in the expansion of the orbeez and the time taken to grow fully.
Warm water can increase the growth speed of orbeez, due to which these tiny beads will take less time to grow. However, the water should be little warmer than the normal temperature, typically room temperature is the most optimum.
Size of the beads:
Orbeez comes in various size options, from tiny water beads to the bigger. And, the growth speed of orbeez depends on it’s size as well. Bigger orbeez takes more time to grow while smaller beads takes around 4 hours to grow.
Amount of the water:
The right amount of water is a crucial factor to correctly grow an orbeez.
While you are trying to grow orbeez, make sure you’re using the right amount of water to orbeez ration. Too less amount of water can keep your beads undergrowth while too much water can slow down the process.
As a benchmark, always try to make sure you’re using 250 mL water for 100 orbeez. This ratio will make sure your orbeez grows fully, bigger, and faster.
Quality of water:
Quality of the water is another important factors in deciding the orbeez growth time. Impure tap water generally makes orbeez grow slower, while warm distilled water makes orbeez grow faster.
Hence, make sure the water you’re using to grow orbeez is clean, dirt free, and distilled. This way you can grow orbeez bigger and faster.
How to grow orbeez at home effectively?
Growing orbeez is a fun and exciting process, but there are several things that’s need to be kept in mind during the entire DIY process. A few mistake can ruin the entire process and you will end up waiting for your orbeez to grow.
Hence, in this section, we are going to share a step-by-step guidelines to help you grow these orbeez at home. By following this process you should be able to get your desired results within 4 hours or so.
Step 1: Pour water beads into a large bowl
Pouring water beads would obviously be the first step. Simply, start pouring water beads into a large bowl. Make sure the bowl is large enough to carry the required water.
Step 2: Fill the water to completely submerge the water beads
Your next step would be to fill the bowl with the water, such that the water beads should be completely submerged into the water bowl. While choosing the water, make sure it’s little warm at temperature 30-40 degree celsius, clean, and distilled.
Avoid using tap water as it contains a lot of impurities which can hinder the growth of orbeez.
Step 3: Wait 4-6 hours
Once you’ve soaked water beads into water bowl completely, it’s time to be patient and wait for 4-6 hours. While you leave beads to grow, keep watching to track their growth rate. Moreover, you can also keep them submerged whole night for the best results.
Also, make sure the bowl isn’t contact with the direct sunlight, as it can slow down the process and would take longer than usual time to fully grow.
Following the process, you can effectively grow orbeez at home with no mistake at all.
Does Adding 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.
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, however, it can take even longer than that. The overall time of orbeez growth depends on factors such as – water temperature, amount of water, quality of water, and the size of water beads.
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 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 process. The best temperature range is between 30°C-40°C.
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, 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.
How long does 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.
Conclusion
I hop this post was able to clear your question on how long does it take for orbeez to grow.
Let’s have a quick recap.
In this post, we saw orbeez generally takes 4-6 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 growth time of orbeez.
To get best results, always keep your orbeez in a warm distilled water, within a temperature range of 30-40 celsius, that’s a perfect environment to make orbeez grow faster and bigger.
Thanks for reading this post until here. If you have any suggestion or ideas, feel free to throw them down in the comment section below.
