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Love those awesome fizzing bath bombs but don’t want to spend $6 a piece? It’s easy to make your own with natural ingredients that soften your skin.
As this recipe is part of the Natural Skincare Series the ingredients are natural and safe. While there are many other recipes that recommend using synthetic fragrance and coloring, there are many options available that are 100% natural and will not harm you when absorbed into your skin.
You can feel confident that when you use these natural products, or give them as gifts, that they are healthy for the body.
Ingredients / Materials:
- 2 cups baking soda
- 1 cup citric acid
- 100% pure witch hazel
- spray bottle
- 10-20 drops of 100% pure essential oils (do not use fragrance for any bath or body products)
- natural colorant (green=spirulina, yellow=turmeric, purple=ratanjot)
- plastic moulds
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, measure in the baking soda, citric acid and mix well.
2. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of coloring and mix well. Add more colouring if you want a deeper colour, but keep in mind that too much coloring will leave a ring in your tub, so go easy. The color will become more pronounced when you add the witch hazel anyhow.
3. Add 20-30 drops of essential oils and mix well.
4. Using an atomizer or spray bottle filled with which hazel, spray the entire surface of the powder mix and mix with your hands. Keep spraying and mixing rapidly until the mixture holds together when scrunched with your hand (think of making snowballs).
5. Working quickly, firmly press mixture into moulds. You can use soap-making moulds, chocolate moulds, ice cube trays, or even plastic Christmas tree ornaments that snap into two parts. The key is that they are plastic and large enough for the bath bomb to combine and set.
6. Gently tap the mould so that the bath bomb releases and carefully lay on a towel or tray to dry. To make a round bath bomb, over-fill two moulds and press them together firmly before tapping the mould to release the bath bomb.
7. Let the bath bombs dry for 30 minutes or until they are firm and won’t fall apart.
Tip: use the extra powder from the bowl and counter and shake it into carpets or rugs, then vacuum. Instant deodorizing!
Where does a person get some of these ingredients? like citric acid and natural colorings? Also do you know where a person can get melt and pour soap making bars that don’t have sorbitol or related ingredients in them. I would like to make some soap but am allergy sensitive to sorbitol. Thanks. Any info would be helpful.
Kathi, I’m not sure where you live, but I can certainly tell you exact places in vancouver. More generally, citric acid can be found at some grocery stores as it is used in cheese making and preserving. You can also find it at a soap supply store in your town or online. Natural colorings: try the bulk section at a natural food store. Sometimes I use whatever I can find, like ground sage for green.
Love these! Thank you so much for sharing! This is a great tutorial and great idea for gifts!
Stevie you have so many wonderful ideas on your blog that I want to make. Wish I had more time. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas.
what a simple and sweet idea
for crafting bath bombs
especially for a last-minute
Christmas gift
thanks for sharing at Fridays Unfolded!
alison
Oh dear. I made your sugar scrubs, which turned out FABULOUSLY and I’m so excited to give them away this weekend! The bath bombs, however, didn’t turn out so well and I’m not sure where I went wrong…it just continues to grow and puff up like a souffle, overflowing the plastic moulds and the bowl. Too many sprays of witch hazel? Any ideas on what to do now? Can it be saved? I can stir it down in the bowl, but it just keeps on “souffleing” up again.
Oh no, Aimee! Sounds like wayyyy too much witch hazel. Try only a few spritzes on the top of the mix at a time, mix with your hands quickly and it should be really dry when going into the moulds, sticking together like snow does – that perfect snowball snow: light and fluffy but sticks together when scrunched.
Unfortunately your batch can’t be made into bath bombs any more. But you can add that powder to the bath. Either keep it for yourself or put it in the same canning jars that you used for the scrub.
This is fabulous! I have been wanting to make some. Thank you for sharing and merry Christmas ;)
Absolutely great tip for crafters.
I am just wondering where I can buy all this things in Stockholm? I am not asking you §:-)
Hope I can grab this things and try.
TY for sharing your educational ideas.
Greetings from chilly Stockholm,
/CC
Thanks for another fabulous idea and recipe!
Thank you for sharing the season at Potpourri Friday! May you have a Merry Christmas and the Happiest of Holidays!
Thank you for joining me at Home Sweet Home and have a very Merry Christmas!
Sherry
How cool! I would love to make some of these!
These are really neat. What a great gift idea! Thanks for linking up at So Very Creative. I featured this today.
http://soverycreative.blogspot.com/2011/12/last-minute-gift-ideas.html
How delightful! I’m all about “natural” products! Thanks for sharing your recipes. ;)
And thanks for linking to Time Travel Thursday.
Blessings,
Liz @ The Brambleberry Cottage
Thanks for featuring the bath bombs, Heather!
CC, I’m sorry I can’t help you find supplies in Stockholm. I hope you have luck fining everything you need!
Cool! I’ve always wanted to try and make these. Thanks!
These are great! Thanks for sharing the recipes.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful post at Potpourri Friday! Have a very Merry Christmas and wonderful Holiday Season!
Thank you. This is a great post. I just stumbled upon your site through someone else’s favorite bar. I pinned this in Pinterest about half an hour ago and it is being re-pinned like crazy. Thanks again.
Thanks, Tammy. Yes, I see it is getting a lot of pinning on pinterest from all over the place. Love pinterest!
Stevie – Just wanted to give an update on what happened to my “too much witch hazel” bath bomb mix. (First of all, don’t EVER try putting in, um, into a loosely lidded jar until it is completely – and I mean completely done “souffleeing”…picture a loud BOOM followed by me discovering a literally exploded bath “bomb” all over the ceiling, cabinets, curtains, refrigerator, windows, and Rufus the cat! The upshot was the kitchen got a good cleaning and smelled GREAT!)
Eventually, the mixture dried out. After the little catastrophe mentioned above, I gave up on the mix and just let it sort of fizzle itself out for about an hour, figuring I would take one heck of a long luxurious bath that night. Lo and behold, it eventually dried out enough to match the consistency you described – incredible! It didn’t want to stay in my silicone ice cube tray moulds, so I abandoned the mould idea altogether and just sort of stirred the dried, crumbly mixture – Behold: Bath FIZZ! I managed to fill a few small mason jars with Bergamot Bath Fizz and used what was left in the bowl for my own bath. Success, in an unexpected way! Thanks for all your fantastic posts – you inspired me to make a lot of Christmas presents this year, and I’m so grateful!
Happy New Year!
Oh my, Aimee, you have had an adventure! Well I very much hope that all you have written here will help others. The lesson: go easy of the witch hazel…and have a good sense of humour! I’m sorry about your explosion, but happy to hear you found success in the end.
Thanks you for trying the projects and for coming back to comment. I really appreciate your feedback and compliments.
There are lots more projects coming this year, so get ready for more adventure!
Stevie
thanks for sharing
Thanks for linking up to Serenity Saturday Link Party, hope to see you there again this week
Natasha xx
http://serenityyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Serenity%20Saturday
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Hi! I am so excited to use this recipe, but I have one little hang up. I could buy citric acid, but know that I have ascorbic acid in the form of Vitamin C supplements I could just crush up in my mortar and pestle. Can they be substituted? Thanks!
Hi Kristen. Hmmm, I wouldn’t use the vitamin C because I bet they are not citric acid. Ascorbic acid is not the same http://www.ochef.com/1075.htm Also looking at the recipe amounts – you would need a whole lot of crushed vitamins to make 1 cup. I hope this helps – have fun!
Can I use water instead of witch hazel?
wine making stores should sell citric acid at a low cost. I own a store in BC Canada and we sell it for wine making and bath bomb makers.
That’s great, June. What’s your store called and where can we find you?!
I own Black Bear Wine and Brew in Maple Ridge BC and we sell Citric Acid at what I am told by my customers, a much lower price than other sources. Most wine making stores should be able to bring it in if they don’t stock it.
Loved this idea. As soon as I saw this I rushed out to purchase all the ingredients (most of them I had). But they turned out perfectly. I have a lot of essential oils so I made quite a few different kinds. They are wonderfully relaxing and everyone is going to love them at Christmas. Thanks.
That’s wonderful news! Thanks for sharing.
Do you have to use citric acid/ sour salt….I cannot find it anywhere?
Could I just use baking soda?
Hi Heather, yes, you really do need the citric acid. I’m not sure where you live but you can gets some online here http://amzn.to/15m7nHd. Also try a large pharmacy or a wine making store…they may carry some if you can’t find it at specialty food stores.
My husband and I own a U-Vint and you can buy Citric Acid in bulk (1kg pkg) which will be cheaper than buying it at a grocery or Health Food store.
Witch Hazel…you can purchase this at your local pharmacy and possibly at your grocery store. Check out it’s many uses to include fading bruises within a couple/ few days.
We own the Wine Kitz store in Sidney, B.C. (on Vancouver Island) and are able to order Citric Acid in bulk; 1kg bags. The price point, in comparison to Health Food stores (or otherwise), is quite reasonable. We can order in the Citric Acid, with advance notice, for pick-up from our store.
This weekend, we will be making these Bath Bombs with our grandson which will form part of the Gift Basket that he will be giving to his Mom and Step-Dad for their Wedding.