DIY Bath Bombs
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 molds
Make it!
1. In a large bowl, measure in the baking soda and citric acid and mix well.
2. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of coloring and mix well. Add more coloring if you want a deeper color, 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 molds. You can use soap-making molds, chocolate molds, 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 mold 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 molds and press them together firmly before tapping the mold 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
CC, I’m sorry I can’t help you find supplies in Stockholm. I hope you have luck fining everything you need!
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
Thanks for featuring the bath bombs, Heather!
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
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
So Aimee, am I correct in understanding you used too much witch hazel? My reason for asking is I had my own adventure this morning. Everything seemed fine, but when I tried putting the mix in the ball molds I bought they kept popping open and continued growing larger and larger. Eventually I took everything out of the molds and just tried making round balls with my hands. I then set them on a towel to dry. They have continued to grow and spread to where I now have a dozen blobs drying. Too funny! Looks like I’ll be making up jars of fizzy powder too. Have you ever made these since and with more success? If so, tell me your secret!
Hi Judy, there might be something about the ingredients you are using that is causing your adventure. What sort of baking soda / citric acid / essential oils / witch hazel are you using? One idea could be to try spritzing water on the mixture instead of witch hazel. If there is still a big reaction, then it could be one of the other ingredients that is causing it. I’d love to hear more because this has never happened to me and I have never been that picky with the brands for each of the ingredients, other than to make sure they are all pure.
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.
Was wondering about how many this makes per batch? Let’s say you used something like a mini muffin tin to make these. About how many per batch? I’m trying to figure out the price to make these for my Mom’s group. Thanks!!
You must be a mad scientist-you made fizzies at home! I love this idea and included it in a a recent blog post for great essential oil based holiday gift ideas! Please keep up the great recipes!
http://essentialoilbenefits.org/10-diy-essential-oil-holiday-gift-ideas/
I tried making these last night… I let them dry over night but then they started crumbling this morning when I started putting them in a jar. Did I not mix in enough witch hazel? Any suggestions?
Hi Danielle, yes, it sounds like not enough witch hazel. Also make sure you really pack it into the molds firmly. You will have to start again as you can’t rebatch them. But…you can crumble the ones that didn’t turn out and put them in mason jars…call it fizzing bath powder and it won’t be wasted!
I have heard you can substitute lemon juice for citric acids. Is that correct? Could that be possible for this specific recipe? And are there any other possible substitutes for the citric acids? This may seem a bit “amateurish” (Granted I’m only 13 and fairly new to this.) but I was looking for some simple recipes to make for my mother for Christmas. Of course being as young as I am it is somewhat difficult for me to acquire such ingredients as citric acids, not to mention do it discretely and with a limited budget. Thank you. :)
Dear Starburst – it really has to be citric acid. I’m sorry. How about these tub teas: http://gardentherapy.ca/homemade-bath-gifts/ or these http://gardentherapy.ca/lavender-tub-tea/ or even these bath salts: http://gardentherapy.ca/bath-salts-recipe/. If you don’t have lavender at home, I can send you some. Can you email me: [email protected] if you need some? Alternately, you can use tea from tea bags to make the bath salts (like mint tea).
Ok. Thank you so much! I will try some of these and definitely email you if I need any lavender! Thank you so, so, much for your time and the explanation, I truly appreciate it! :)
Hello,
Just wondering how many this would make per batch? Say in a mini muffin tin maybe?
Just trying to see how much I should buy!
Thank you,
Hi Jennifer,
This recipe will make 3 cups of mix – so if each muffin tin 1/8 cup (I’m guessing here) then it would make 24 bath bombs.
Hello!
I was just wondering what difference witch hazel makes? Most recipes Ive seen for bath bombs and shower tabs call for water….Just curious because Im having issues with mine holding together and wonder if the witch hazel will help? they come out fine, its just later on if Im not careful with them they break
thank you
Hi Carole, I can imagine that the water will just make the ingredients expand – like in the tub! The witch hazel speeds drying time and firms them up fast. I’ve never used water, only witch hazel.
Hi. I had a question about the ratanjot. Is it a powder or do you need to buy the root and then grind a little off to make it a powder??? I wasn’t sure. Also, could I use alkanet powder to make a light purple to make a lavendar bath bomb? Please let me know. Thank you so much.
Cherie
Hi Cherie – I buy ratanjot as a powder. I haven’t used alkanet personally so I can’t say how it would turn out. Let me know what you try!
Thank’s for this. I appreciate your time & effort for this Keep it up.