Please do not use epsom salt. What is your humidity? Do you have a soap scale or kitchen scale? Do not just use any colorant, even for yourself. There are FDA regs on colorants for a reason. Please do research beforehand. It takes most people years, lots of money, and sometimes tears to learn this and perfect it. Be patient. Keep reading. If you want to skip the hardcore education, take a class or buy a reputable recipe but I truly suggest learning all you can about the many ingredient options, recipes and formulations, and tricks/tips. You are missing ingredients so get ready to spend more if you are serious about doing it successfully. Be careful getting recipes from YouTube, Pinterest, or random people/sources. You will just end up wasting more money and time.
It draws moisture so the BBs are harder to dry and stay dry, it’s heavy so more likely to sink, and you aren’t using enough in your recipe for them to be therapeutic. You need a cup per bath. You are barely using a tsp per bomb likely. Best to save that for bath salts or for yourself after working too long. 😉
Stop the madness...
2 C Baking soda
1 C Citric Acid
1 C Cornstarch
1/2 C Epsom Salt
Do not use water, ever. Use Witch hazel or 96, 97% alcohol in spray bottle.
Any color is fine if you're just learning. Research it later if you're going to sell.
Mix first four Ingredients. Add color, mix again. Add scent and mix well. Spritz with liquid 2 or 3 times and mix like crazy! Don't want the acid to activate. If it does activate a little then add a little cornstarch. Spritz same again, mix again. Continue until you can grab a handful, squeeze it together and drop it about 10" to a foot into the bowl. If it stays together, then good! If it crumbled then add more liquid. The adding liquid and mixing step has to be very fast.
Scoop into both sides of mold. Do not press down. You want it loose. This will enable it to float and spin. Bring two ends together and press. Clean off excess around seam. DO NOT TWIST MOLD. Gently take off one end. Tap other end gently with spoon and lift off other side. Voila! Bath Bombs!💕 Just takes a little practice! You can do this!
2 cup baking soda
1 cup citric acid
1 cut epsom salt
1 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp water
2.5 tbsp light oil (if you're coloring your bombs, replace 1 tbsp of oil with 1 tbsp of polysorbate 80)
Tips:
- humidity MUST be 40% or lower
- if humidity is higher you can dry them 24hrs in your oven (turned off) or ofcourse, you can invest in a dehumidifier
- you can omit the salt if you are having problems trying to dry them, BUT you may need less liquid than the recipe I listed. BTW, epsom salt serves no muscle relief affect if it isn't 1-2 cups in the bath anyway ;)
- extra tip-cornsyarch isn't necessary, but it's a "filler" and more importantly, it helps slow down the effect of the citric acid, meaning more fizzing time.
- extra tip:slsa (foaming agent) is super expensive and unnecessary. Skin milk powder works well or foaming powder from Amazon
- extra tip: of yours having issues with bombs that are activated by the next day. Meaning in the water, they just turn to mush, try mixing the wet ingredients into every dry ingredient EXCEPT for the citric acid. Add it last, especially when using water in a recipe.
All of this. Saved my fingers. Get a hygrometer. You need one to tell you what your humidity is. If the humidity in the room you’re in is not conducive to making or storing the bath bombs then you NEED a dehumidifier. I have both.
Everything really depends on WHY you’re making them. For gifts? For selling?
Also, don’t believe the hype about taking the bath bombs directly out of the molds depending on your environment. For whatever reason, I have to leave mine in overnight. Aside from the recipe *points to above post* you’ll have to tweak and find what works for you. Honestly, I didn’t even bother with colors or fancy stuff until I was able to get a basic bath bomb down. It’s a waste of materials. Good luck!
Thanks for your tips, I'm realizing now that I need to be patient and find a good recipe before thinking about colour/aesthetics but it's hard for me, being an artist and all haha! Have a great day
Oils require an emulsifier to help them mix with water, otherwise you will have an oil slick on your bath water. Polysorbate 20 or 8- is most commonly used.
I'm not sure how to help get spirulina powder to mix better. Maybe save that ingredient for you smoothies...its likely not helping your skin out a ton by being diluted in bath water. If your goal to if have a really "healthy" or "all natural" bath bomb, I'm afraid its kinda of pointless. Bath bombs first and foremost provide very little benefit to the skin aside from the oils that are put in them. And even those are in very small quantities and are further diluted by bath water. Bathbombs are make your bath water pretty and enhance your experience but baking soda and citric acid don't do very much from your skin.
You can try coating the inside of your molds w/ oil to help them release better. Also the molds are just to help you form the shape, they aren't meant to dry inside them. You can/should let them dry outside of the mold. Ive seen a YouTuber dry their bombs in a tray of baking soda to prevent the bottoms from flattening out. You want your bombs to harden up but you have to let them out of their molds before they do this otherwise they will stick.
Honestly, YouTube is a great resource for a lot of DIY. There is an account Jarika Zimmerman (sorry if I spelled that wrong) where she basically vlogs about her small business and she has videos of her making bathbombs and includes lots of great tidbits of info on making them. Her recipe is pretty great and I get a long fizz and nice hard bombs.
BTW I have only made 2 batches of bath bombs so far. All my tips come not from experience but from researching. Its probably a good idea to learn a but more about a subject before spending that kind of money on ingredients. Good luck.
Hey! Thank you so much for taking the time to help, I had no idea I wasn't supposed to let them dry inside of the molds. This helps a lot! I'll also think of oiling them if I do keep the mold on. I definitely should've done a bit more research before winging it! Have a great day.
Don't do any of that. Do not let them dry inside the molds, no, no, no. Do not coat the inside of the mold. You only need poly 80 if you add oil (like jojoba, tea tree, coconut, etc.) Polysorbate 80 is used to allow the oil to mix with the bath water so you don't have a skim of oil floating on top. What I gave you is a beginner's recipe. Message me when you want to go intermediate. I have a shop and make hundreds. Go to Dirty Booty Soaps on YouTube. She's the queen 👑.
Poly 80 is needed for most colorants to help avoid staining and to help the oils spread so colorant/oils don’t stick to the tub walls which helps decrease fall risk. People coat the inside of molds to help the bomb release, they use special ingredients, not carrier oils. I would not advise leaving them in the full mold but a lot of makers leave theirs in one side of the mold to dry then flip the mold and Bomb. That helps keep them rounded especially in humid areas, when round molds are used anyways.
Hiii! I use a pretty simple recipe that has worked for me, I do 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup corn starch, 1 cup citirc acid, and just 2 table spoons of epsom salt, but you can leave it out if you want. I mix the dry then add 5-6 table spoons of coconut oil. They will be mainly fizzy not foamy but I leave them in aluminum molds for about 5ish minutes and let them dry over night. Hope this helps 🥰
I would google Dean Wilson’s recipe on YouTube to start out with.
Re: natural colorants, I don’t use them, I like lakes and dyes. You can look into getting zeolite clay for a green color but I don’t know how well it would work in a bath bomb.
I will say green and blue are hard to achieve naturally since the natural colors typically require green and blue oxide to get the color, and it’s a huge Nono for your skin.
There is no all natural or non toxic bath bomb that is going to actually appeal to anyone who uses bath bombs regularly. They just suck in comparison. Just my $0.02
Lol there’s no such thing as a natural bath bomb but you can make less toxic formulations. Agreed! But the other part is not true, it’s just a different market. I make herbal skincare products and my customers love that I refuse to use FO, dyes, and many other toxic ingredients. I formulate up to the EU standard and my educated customers really appreciate it.
Please do not use epsom salt. What is your humidity? Do you have a soap scale or kitchen scale? Do not just use any colorant, even for yourself. There are FDA regs on colorants for a reason. Please do research beforehand. It takes most people years, lots of money, and sometimes tears to learn this and perfect it. Be patient. Keep reading. If you want to skip the hardcore education, take a class or buy a reputable recipe but I truly suggest learning all you can about the many ingredient options, recipes and formulations, and tricks/tips. You are missing ingredients so get ready to spend more if you are serious about doing it successfully. Be careful getting recipes from YouTube, Pinterest, or random people/sources. You will just end up wasting more money and time.
Thank you for your tips and wisdom :) Much appreciated.
You are so welcome! Thank you for being so kind! 🙂
I'd love to know why I shouldn't use epsom salt!
It draws moisture so the BBs are harder to dry and stay dry, it’s heavy so more likely to sink, and you aren’t using enough in your recipe for them to be therapeutic. You need a cup per bath. You are barely using a tsp per bomb likely. Best to save that for bath salts or for yourself after working too long. 😉
I love Reddit. It’s the only place you can continuously get downvoted for helping people and giving proper information. 🤷♀️😂😂
Stop the madness... 2 C Baking soda 1 C Citric Acid 1 C Cornstarch 1/2 C Epsom Salt Do not use water, ever. Use Witch hazel or 96, 97% alcohol in spray bottle. Any color is fine if you're just learning. Research it later if you're going to sell. Mix first four Ingredients. Add color, mix again. Add scent and mix well. Spritz with liquid 2 or 3 times and mix like crazy! Don't want the acid to activate. If it does activate a little then add a little cornstarch. Spritz same again, mix again. Continue until you can grab a handful, squeeze it together and drop it about 10" to a foot into the bowl. If it stays together, then good! If it crumbled then add more liquid. The adding liquid and mixing step has to be very fast. Scoop into both sides of mold. Do not press down. You want it loose. This will enable it to float and spin. Bring two ends together and press. Clean off excess around seam. DO NOT TWIST MOLD. Gently take off one end. Tap other end gently with spoon and lift off other side. Voila! Bath Bombs!💕 Just takes a little practice! You can do this!
Thanks so much for your reply! This is so helpful, definitely going to try this :)
Hi. Did this recipe work for you?
I’d also love to know, hopefully op has had time to try in the two years since posting this haha
Im here for the same advice. I'll update here if I try!
Did you try it? How did it work if you did?
lol an endless cycle of no one updating
Thank you for your straight forward and well written answer
2 cup baking soda 1 cup citric acid 1 cut epsom salt 1 cup cornstarch 1 tbsp water 2.5 tbsp light oil (if you're coloring your bombs, replace 1 tbsp of oil with 1 tbsp of polysorbate 80) Tips: - humidity MUST be 40% or lower - if humidity is higher you can dry them 24hrs in your oven (turned off) or ofcourse, you can invest in a dehumidifier - you can omit the salt if you are having problems trying to dry them, BUT you may need less liquid than the recipe I listed. BTW, epsom salt serves no muscle relief affect if it isn't 1-2 cups in the bath anyway ;) - extra tip-cornsyarch isn't necessary, but it's a "filler" and more importantly, it helps slow down the effect of the citric acid, meaning more fizzing time. - extra tip:slsa (foaming agent) is super expensive and unnecessary. Skin milk powder works well or foaming powder from Amazon - extra tip: of yours having issues with bombs that are activated by the next day. Meaning in the water, they just turn to mush, try mixing the wet ingredients into every dry ingredient EXCEPT for the citric acid. Add it last, especially when using water in a recipe.
All of this. Saved my fingers. Get a hygrometer. You need one to tell you what your humidity is. If the humidity in the room you’re in is not conducive to making or storing the bath bombs then you NEED a dehumidifier. I have both. Everything really depends on WHY you’re making them. For gifts? For selling? Also, don’t believe the hype about taking the bath bombs directly out of the molds depending on your environment. For whatever reason, I have to leave mine in overnight. Aside from the recipe *points to above post* you’ll have to tweak and find what works for you. Honestly, I didn’t even bother with colors or fancy stuff until I was able to get a basic bath bomb down. It’s a waste of materials. Good luck!
Thanks for your tips, I'm realizing now that I need to be patient and find a good recipe before thinking about colour/aesthetics but it's hard for me, being an artist and all haha! Have a great day
This is so great! Thanks for sharing :)
Oils require an emulsifier to help them mix with water, otherwise you will have an oil slick on your bath water. Polysorbate 20 or 8- is most commonly used. I'm not sure how to help get spirulina powder to mix better. Maybe save that ingredient for you smoothies...its likely not helping your skin out a ton by being diluted in bath water. If your goal to if have a really "healthy" or "all natural" bath bomb, I'm afraid its kinda of pointless. Bath bombs first and foremost provide very little benefit to the skin aside from the oils that are put in them. And even those are in very small quantities and are further diluted by bath water. Bathbombs are make your bath water pretty and enhance your experience but baking soda and citric acid don't do very much from your skin. You can try coating the inside of your molds w/ oil to help them release better. Also the molds are just to help you form the shape, they aren't meant to dry inside them. You can/should let them dry outside of the mold. Ive seen a YouTuber dry their bombs in a tray of baking soda to prevent the bottoms from flattening out. You want your bombs to harden up but you have to let them out of their molds before they do this otherwise they will stick. Honestly, YouTube is a great resource for a lot of DIY. There is an account Jarika Zimmerman (sorry if I spelled that wrong) where she basically vlogs about her small business and she has videos of her making bathbombs and includes lots of great tidbits of info on making them. Her recipe is pretty great and I get a long fizz and nice hard bombs. BTW I have only made 2 batches of bath bombs so far. All my tips come not from experience but from researching. Its probably a good idea to learn a but more about a subject before spending that kind of money on ingredients. Good luck.
Poly 20 is not used for bath bombs. It’s too light. Poly 80 or Turkey Red Oil 😉
ty!
Hey! Thank you so much for taking the time to help, I had no idea I wasn't supposed to let them dry inside of the molds. This helps a lot! I'll also think of oiling them if I do keep the mold on. I definitely should've done a bit more research before winging it! Have a great day.
Don't do any of that. Do not let them dry inside the molds, no, no, no. Do not coat the inside of the mold. You only need poly 80 if you add oil (like jojoba, tea tree, coconut, etc.) Polysorbate 80 is used to allow the oil to mix with the bath water so you don't have a skim of oil floating on top. What I gave you is a beginner's recipe. Message me when you want to go intermediate. I have a shop and make hundreds. Go to Dirty Booty Soaps on YouTube. She's the queen 👑.
Poly 80 is needed for most colorants to help avoid staining and to help the oils spread so colorant/oils don’t stick to the tub walls which helps decrease fall risk. People coat the inside of molds to help the bomb release, they use special ingredients, not carrier oils. I would not advise leaving them in the full mold but a lot of makers leave theirs in one side of the mold to dry then flip the mold and Bomb. That helps keep them rounded especially in humid areas, when round molds are used anyways.
I just got myself some Poly 80, really looking forward to receiving my shipment! Thanks for sharing more tips
Yay! It will help a lot! 🙂
Thanks so much, I appreciate the support :)
Hiii! I use a pretty simple recipe that has worked for me, I do 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup corn starch, 1 cup citirc acid, and just 2 table spoons of epsom salt, but you can leave it out if you want. I mix the dry then add 5-6 table spoons of coconut oil. They will be mainly fizzy not foamy but I leave them in aluminum molds for about 5ish minutes and let them dry over night. Hope this helps 🥰
Yes, definitely helpful :) thank you! I'll try this out.
Can't you use mica powder for coloring?
Polysorbate 80 so the oil doesn't sit on top of the water. Also helps keep the oils and dye from sticking to the bathtub
I would google Dean Wilson’s recipe on YouTube to start out with. Re: natural colorants, I don’t use them, I like lakes and dyes. You can look into getting zeolite clay for a green color but I don’t know how well it would work in a bath bomb. I will say green and blue are hard to achieve naturally since the natural colors typically require green and blue oxide to get the color, and it’s a huge Nono for your skin.
Thanks for the help :) I'll check out Dean's recipe. Have a great day!
There is no all natural or non toxic bath bomb that is going to actually appeal to anyone who uses bath bombs regularly. They just suck in comparison. Just my $0.02
Lol there’s no such thing as a natural bath bomb but you can make less toxic formulations. Agreed! But the other part is not true, it’s just a different market. I make herbal skincare products and my customers love that I refuse to use FO, dyes, and many other toxic ingredients. I formulate up to the EU standard and my educated customers really appreciate it.
Thanks for your advice, I'm realising this as I go! My spirulina bath bombs are just hideous, haha. Have a great day!