Bath Bombs Basics

Who doesn’t love a fizzy bath filled with relaxing or invigorating scents? I know I do. Why not try making them?

Updated 12/30/17 to include more information to make better bombs.

In order to make the bath bomb spin you want to have different ratios of baking soda and citric acid for your embeds versus your bath bomb. I use a 1 to 1 ratio for the embed and a 2 to 1 ratio for the rest of the bomb. I suggest making them a day or more before you make the bath bombs so they are nice and dry. You can do a rainbow effect in the tub easily by making the embeds different colors. If you don’t care if they spin then you can scroll down to the Bath Bomb section.

Embeds

Ingredients

• Baking Soda – 1 cups
• Citric Acid – 1 cup
• Rubbing Alcohol – 3 tbsps
• Bath bomb colorant (depends on the colorant you use as to how much you need)
• Polysorbate 80 – 1 ml (use a pipette for this too)
• 1/2 or 1/4 teaspoon – to use as mold. You can use plastic ones or metal ones but if you use metal I suggest stainless steel.
• Cookie sheet wrapped in saran wrap or silicone mat to place Embeds on to dry out.
• You will also want to remove hand jewelry and wear gloves. I like nitrile doctor type gloves mostly cause I keep them on hand. They are more to keep my hands from contaminating the bath bomb. If you are making them to use yourself you don’t really need gloves just wash your hands.

Directions

1. Mix your dry ingredients. This means the baking soda and citric acid also if your colorant is powdered then include it as well. You want them to be completely blended together for an even fizz. Using a strainer to break up bigger pieces into easier blended powder makes for more uniform bath bombs and embeds.
2. Mix your wet ingredients in a separate container. This would include the polysorbate, rubbing alcohol and if you are using a liquid colorant. Make sure they are mixed well.
3. Slowly add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. I think a spray bottle is the easiest way as a beginner. I now use a pipette and sprinkle it across my dry ingredients then mix sprinkle then mix repeat until your mixture holds together well. I use my hands to mix so I can feel the consistency hence the gloves. The mixture should hold and not crumble. If it holds but starts to sag there is too much liquid. This is why you add it slowly. You can still fix it, just add a tsp of citric acid and a tsp of baking soda and mix well. You don’t want part of your mixture perfect and part of it dry or too wet. Once you start molding you want to be able to just pop them out. You will have wet ingredients left over.
4. Pack your mold. I like to push the teaspoon against the side of the bowl to pack the mixture in tightly and evenly.
5. Set the embed on your cookie sheet or silicone mat. I like the cookie sheet because I can move it if I need to use my work station for something else. I wrap it in saran wrap because what cookie sheet is truly clean. To get it out I gentle tap the back of the mold or tap the mold on the cookie sheet.
6. Repeat until you use all of your mixture. Your first batch will probably start drying out in the bowl towards the end. You should have wet ingredients still and can add them in a little to continue using your mixture. As you make more, you will get faster and won’t have this problem.

 

Bath Bomb

Ingredients

• Baking Soda – 2 cups
• Citric Acid – 1 cup
• Rubbing Alcohol – 3 tbsps
• Olive Oil – 1 tbsp
• Essential oil or Fragrance Oil of your choice – 2 ml (I use a pipette to measure fragrance so it isn’t wasted)
• Bath bomb colorant (depends on the colorant you use as to how much you need please check with the manufacturer)
• Polysorbate 80 – 4 ml (use a pipette for this too)
• Bath bomb mold  – With this recipe you will only need 1 as you can use it over and over
• Nitrile gloves (or latex if you aren’t allergic)

Directions

1. Mix dry ingredients – (Baking soda, Citric acid and if you use a powdered colorant) I use a whisk to mix the ingredients together. You want them thoroughly blended. Using a strainer to break up bigger pieces into easier blended powder makes for more uniform bath bombs and embeds.
2. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl. (Rubbing Alcohol, Essential or Fragrance oil, Olive oil, Polysorbate 80, and if you use a liquid colorant that too) mix thoroughly.
3. Slowly mix wet ingredients into dry. You want to add a little and mix, add a little and mix until it will hold together well. Make sure it is mixed thoroughly you want to be able to just fill bath bombs after this step and not have to adjust the recipe as you go.
4. Fill the mold. take a half of the mold and scoop the mixture into it. DO NOT TIGHTLY PACK. you want one half to be heaped over the top the other just filled to the rim. when you push the two halves together you will be compacting the mixture plenty. By not packing before pushing the two halves together you get a more universal compactness and a lighter more buoyant (it floats) bath bomb.
5. To use embeds and make a spinning bomb you will want to put four embeds in one half in a square before pushing the halves together. I like to use one that is slightly bigger than the other three. Put them in a square shape. If you want a rainbow effect then you need to use different colored embeds in your bomb. If you make a smaller bomb you can use as few as one.
6. Unmold. I like to use a cupcake pan with saran wrap the silicone cupcake liners so the bath bombs do not become flat on the side you set them down. I have also seen people use egg carton foam (like for sound proofing). Once you compact the bomb can come out of the mold. They do not need to stay in the mold and if you do leave them they are very often hard to unmold especially if they expand even a little. They should hold together on their own if they don’t refer to pictures below.
7. Let them dry. About a day or two and they are ready to use. I recommend storing them in a dry environment perhaps with a dehumidifier for extended shelf life. You can also shrink-wrap them but it does not always protect them. The very best way is to seal them in an airtight container.

Things that go wrong

 This one has started to crack and lost its shape. to fix this just crush it down and remold it. This was after it sat for about 30 minutes. If it had immediately done this I would have added dry ingredients.

Also this is on a towel and the towel fuzzies stuck to the bomb. It was one for personal use so I didn’t try very hard.

 

This one needs more wet ingredients. It is way too dry and was actually towards the end of the batch so the wet ingredients started evaporating out.

 

 

 

Do you have other problems? Questions? I would love to hear them. Feel free to share comments or even pictures of your own creations.