Bath Bombs. Yes, Bath Bombs.
I started looking into Bath Bombs (bbs) because my friend, Lee Rong, had asked me to craft some home beauty products for her. Naturally, I got a little curious since I have never heard of such a thing. Standard procedure of any 20 something year old was to automatically Google “DIY bath bombs” which came back with a bunch of different recipes and YouTube videos on Lush Bath Bombs. Looks like Lush has got the market down for these bad boys (Ha that can also be what bb stands for).
BBs are basically balls of baking soda and citric acid combined with beneficial ingredients for skin such as Epsom salts, kaolin clay, corn starch, oatmeal, essential oils, etc. that you drop into your bath water. They fizz up and then release whatever oils or color into the water. The ingredients you add to the baking soda and citric acid is what provides the skin benefits to these balls of wonder. You can really add anything you want into these as long as you make sure you have the right ratio of baking soda to citric acid to ensure for a good fizz.
The first bb recipe I came up with uses oatmeal as a binder along with Epsom salt. Most of the recipes I came across used corn starch which I felt was just a little weird. Maybe it’s just the Chinese in me, but I feel cornstarch+ water = gravy thickener and I just don’t want that in my bath. That’s not to say that corn starch doesn’t have its benefits but I noticed none of the Lush bombs used corn starch.
So I thought to myself, what can I use that is fine and powdery but also provide awesome skin benefits without weirding myself out too much? OATMEAL!
Oatmeal has been used in beauty products forever so I see no reason why you shouldn’t use it in a bath bomb too. Oatmeal can be used to treat acne, dryness, moisturize and relieve itchiness, skin lightener, and natural cleanser. I’ve seen some recipes that just mix whole pieces of oatmeal into their bath bombs which makes them look kinda like powdery granola balls and powdery granola balls do not look as cute as those Lush bbs with surprises and glitter, hence, the use of my handy dandy coffee grinder that I use to turn whole oatmeal into oatmeal flour.
Epsom salt is also used because it’s great for relaxing the nervous system, curing skin problems, soothing back pain and aching limbs, easing muscle strain, healing cuts, treating cold and congestion, and drawing toxins from the body. It also helps bind these balls together.
Throw in some essential oils and moisturizing oils such as coconut, avocado oil, jojoba oil, sunflower oil, etc. and we have bath bombs!
The hardest part about making bath bombs is the moisture content. Too little water and your bombs will crumble and fall apart. Too much water and the citric acid and baking soda reaction will occur and your bombs won’t fizz and will just be growing balls of oatmeal that sink to the bottom of your bath. To combat that, I suggest using a spray bottle so that you can lightly mist the mixture until it clumps together almost like wet sand. Some people suggest using witch hazel instead of water because the witch hazel won’t cause a reaction as quickly. I didn’t have any on hand so I just went with water.
Coloring the bath bombs is completely optional and some people may just prefer the plain ol’ white. I, on the other hand am obsessed with the idea of colored baths and have used both food coloring and soap colorants. I learned from the soap lady I get my colors from that all she really does for gel colorants is mix the mica powders with some glycerin. If you plan on making this a hobby, you may want to look into just mixing your own gel colorants. Mica powders are extremely strong and a little goes a long way. You are at a higher risk of staining your tub with mica powders than food coloring.
You can use a multitude of different molds to personalize your bath bombs. I’ve experimented with silicone which gave me those awesome little orange/pink slices and even used an ice cream sammich mold for that heart. I think plastic molds work a little better than silicone. The plastic gives a harder surface to compact your bath bombs against and you really wanna pack the mixture in. Silicone molds work but are a little harder to get the pieces out, especially if they are super detailed. You may end up ruining some of the details if the mixture isn’t just the right texture. Just look around the house and get creative with it. You would be surprised by what you can use to shape these things. I’ve even used cookie cutters!
With all that being said, here goes the recipe.
Oatmeal Bath Bombs
1 cup baking soda
½ cup citric acid
½ cup Epsom salt
½ cup ground oatmeal
3-4 tablespoon coconut oil (you can substitute any of the oils listed above such as almond, sunflower, jojoba, avocado, or even do a combination)
1 tsp essential oil (whichever scent you prefer)
2 tablespoon water or witch hazel (you won’t use all of it)
Food coloring (optional – amount depends on whether you want your bath to be really colored)
- Combine baking soda, Epsom salt and ground oatmeal into a bowl. You can sift the ingredients if you want to make sure there are no clumps but I just like to run my hands through the mixture. If you have clumps, you will get little tiny warts on your bath bombs which won’t be pretty.
- In a separate bowl, combine coconut oil and essential oils.
- Slowly mix in your wet ingredients to the dry ingredient mixture. You will want to do this slowly as to not activate the baking soda. If you want to color your bath, add some drops of food coloring into the mixture as you combine the wet and dry ingredients. Keep in mind that however much color you add will be transferred to your bath water. If you want a really vibrant color in the tub without dyeing yourself with food coloring, you can purchase special colorants that are used for bath bombs.
- Add in the citric acid into the wet/dry mixture and combine evenly. I like to add this more towards the end to try to minimize any baking soda/acid reaction that may occur while mixing in the wet ingredients. I noticed they also did this on the Lush manufacturing videos.
- If your mixture is not moist enough that it clumps together in your hand like wet sand, lightly spray the mixture with water or witch hazel, one spray at a time to make sure that you don’t over moisturize the ingredients. There is no set amount of water you will need to add as humidity in the room can affect the mixture.
- Once the mixture is able to clump together, you can start filling your bb molds. I use plastic ornaments that come apart and I like to use two different colors. You can fill your bath bombs with whatever kind of design you would like, just make sure to pack it in tightly. I mean really squish it in there. The more compact it is, the more fizzies you will have in the bath.
- Let your bombs sit in the mold for a few minutes and then slightly tap on them to remove the mold. The bombs will need to cure for at least 24-48 hours before use.
Notes
*I used a 70mm plastic ornament from Hobby Lobby for $1.29.
*Depending on how well I compact the mixture into the mold, I get around a 6.5oz bath bomb. I would say this recipe created about 3.5 bath bombs.
*Since you are using hydrating oil in these bombs, your tub may be a little slippery when you get out. Use caution!
*For sanitary purposes, you should wear gloves while making these. If you are using two colors or more, be careful not to accidentally get some of the other colors mixed in together. I like to fill each color all at one time into the balls so I can rinse off my gloves between.
*The first test of this bath bomb did not float. I suspect it is the oatmeal that causes it to sink. I plan on experimenting with other mixtures such as kaolin clay and milk powder. I’ll let you know how it goes. A small leftover bomb I had floated just fine so if you want to keep the oatmeal, just make the bombs smaller and they should float.
*I used less than 10 drops in my mix the first time around and I wasn’t impressed with the color. I wanted a fireworks show. I added more food coloring the next time and the bath had a pretty tint to it without staining the tub. I used at least 12 drops for half the mixture.
MAK SWAG 