It’s a truth universally acknowledged that everyone loves a good bath bomb. After all, what’s not to love about topping off a relaxing, warm bath with a fountain of colorful bubbles? That being said, you can’t always trust bath bombs found in stores to not contain any chemicals; and buying all-natural bath bombs can be a bit of a splurge. The solution to this problem is an easy fix, and an awesome DIY craft idea: just make your own!
Awesome All-Natural DIY Bath Bombs
Dry ingredients:
- Baking Soda – 8 ounces
- Citric Acid – 4 ounces
- Corn Starch – 4 ounces
- Salts – 4 ounces (Dead Sea Salts are preferable, but mineral salts work too, and are easier to find and less expensive.)
Wet Ingredients:
- Water – .75 tbsp
- Essential or Fragrance Oil – 2 tsp
- Oil – 2.5 tbsp ( any light vegetable oil will work)
- Food coloring – 1 or 2 drops. Instead of a chemical dye from the grocery store, use a natural beet dye substitution.
Directions
- Begin by putting all of your dry ingredients into a big bowl. Glass is best because it is non-reactive. Whisk or pestle all the clumps out. You want a fairly smooth consistency throughout the entire mix.
- Blend the wet ingredients together. Don’t worry about separation too much, you are not going to get a full emulsion. While whisking, slowly add small amounts of the liquid to the dry ingredients.
- If the mixture starts to foam, you are adding the liquid too fast. Quickly whisk the reacting ingredients into the nonreactive part and you should be able to stop the reaction. Add about a teaspoon at a time, and when all of the wet ingredients have been added, you should have a mixture with the consistency of slightly damp sand.
- Once your mixture is together, you have a pretty limited amount of time in which to get it into molds. To make your own mold, try using old Christmas tree ornaments, or plastic Easter eggs. To do a three-dimensional bomb like these, you pack each side, then overfill a tad at the center and press the two sides together.
- Don’t leave them in the mold for very long. They can be tapped out after about 5 minutes, and left to dry on a baking tray.
- Once they are completely dry, store bath bombs in an airtight container or bag. High humidity will make them activate. Because this recipe uses oil and water, and no preservatives, they should be used within about 6 months.
- When you’re ready to use one, just drop it into a warm bath, and relax.
