Here’s how to make bath bombs, they are one of those luxury bath products that are easy and fun at the same time. You throw one of these into the bath and it immediately fizzes, releasing gorgeous oils, Epsom salts, and fragrances into your bathwater.
Today I’m going to show you my basic homemade bath bomb with luscious oils and exfoliating Epsom salts for your skin, and citric acid for that fabulous fizz.
I’ll also be showing you some made using milk which are just the thing to turn boring baths into a luxury home spa treatment and my confetti bath bombs for a special occasion.
Watch How To Make Bath Bombs
Cheaper Than Store-bought
Shop bought bath bombs are extremely popular because they work the best and are full of amazing ingredients that do wonders for the skin. The only problem? They’re expensive, especially for someone like me who loves baths!
One of these bath treats can set you back up to , which is a lot for something that’s one-time use. Brands such as Lush bath bombs tend to have Epsom salts in them, so I’ve included it in this recipe for an extra touch of luxury, at a price that wont break the bank!
These also make amazing gifts, on their own or as part of a diy bath product set. You can’t go wrong with these, someone you know will love them!
Notes On Coloring
It’s important to choose your coloring agent carefully in order to get the recipe right, especially if you’re planning to gift or sell these. As your bath bomb fizzes, whatever you’ve used to color it will mix with the water in the bath, along with all your other ingredients. However, if the dye isn’t fully water-soluble, then there’s a good chance you’re going to stain the inside of your bathtub.
While this isn’t the end of the world if they are just for you and you’re not that worried about the condition of your tub. But if you’re gifting or selling these, it can become a serious problem.
Soap dyes and food coloring are both good choices for dye. These will be your staples, your go to’s.
In the past I’ve used mica, but it isn’t completely water-soluble, and I had an annoying stain on the inside of my tub. In small quantities, you’ll probably be fine, but heed my warning and steer clear if the thought of even the slightest stain is too much.
So I prefer to use soap dye above all other dyes for this recipe, it just works the best.
Ingredients in these quantities should get you anywhere from 8-10 depending on the size of your molds. Just keep going until you’ve used up your ingredients, you’ll find uses for them I’m sure. You can use whatever essential oil, fragrance oil or color dye you like, although I do think almond oil works the best for this recipe.
How To Make Bath Bombs
Ingredients
- 2 cups Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of Soda)
- 1 cup Corn Starch
- 1 cup Citric Acid
- 1 cup Epsom Salts
- 4 tsp Sweet Almond Oil
- 4 tsp Orange Essential Oil (or choice of Fragrance Oil)
- 2 tsp Distilled Water
- A few drops of Orange Soap Dye
Instructions
- Bring together all of your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, excluding your citric acid. We want to leave the citric acid until later, as adding it now can complicate things during the liquid pour step, just trust me.
- You can go ahead and mix your liquid ingredients as well, including any coloring agent you’re planning to use.
- Working slowly so as not to disturb the bicarbonate of soda too much, add your liquid to the dry mixture a bit at a time and mixing thoroughly with your hands. (Adding your dye to the Epsom salts rather than your liquids is an interesting alternative worth trying at some point. Just mix thoroughly before adding the salts to the rest of your dry ingredients).
- As you work the mixture, you’re looking for a texture that is similar to that of damp, but no saturated, sand. You’ll notice that the mixture will begin to stick together at this stage, a bit like wet sand does in your sandcastle bucket.
- Once all of your liquid has been added and you’ve mixed thoroughly, add your citric acid and mix once more. It’s okay to use your hands but as citric acid can cause irritation and burns, make sure you’re using gloves.
- Now to get that orb-like shape we associate with bath bombs. Take both halves of your mold and pack them with your mixture. You want it ever so slightly heaped so that your halves stick together well.
- When you’re ready, press the two halves together tightly so that the mixture bonds into an orb. After a few seconds, you should be able to remove one half of the mold.
- Lastly, gently set the exposed half onto a silicon cupcake case. You don’t have to use a cupcake case, some people use muffin tins for this, but I find it’s the best thing to rest these on without them falling apart. Hopefully, it should just pop out of your mold, but if it doesn’t gently tap it to try and loosen it up. If this becomes a regular issue, take a look at how much liquid you’ve used. Also try working a bit quicker and don’t leave the mixture in the mold for more than a few seconds.
- You can use plastic molds but prefer to use metal molds, and haven’t had a problem with them. If you’ve had problems with a mold made from a particular material (say plastic) let me know how it turned out. Otherwise, stick to metal. You'll then want to leave them to harden for a couple of days. Pop them somewhere they won't be disturbed easily, just reduce the chance of dents and imperfections.
Notes
How To Use And Gift Them
So now you have some great bath treats, let’s move on to how we use them which is totally easy. The next time you run a hot bath, throw one into the water. The ingredients all mix with the water to create the chemical reaction that makes a big fizz, and it will take about 5 minutes to completely fizzle away, so you can wait until you’re in the tub before you pop it in.
These bath treats make perfect gifts. Sometimes I gift these on their own for the hell of it, using cute little paper gift bags and some shredded tissue paper without any need other than my love of sharing homemade things.
But if it’s someone’s birthday, pop one in a gift bag with some other lovely beauty products. You could even make a nice gift basket or hamper if it’s a very special occasion.
Final Thoughts
That’s everything I have for you today. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning how to make bath bombs. The liquid pour stage can be a bit of a struggle sometimes, you’ll get used to it after the first few batches you make. Just remember to add the citric acid last and you shouldn’t have too many problems.
I can’t say this enough; these make fabulous gifts that nearly everyone will enjoy. Perhaps not a great choice for a man, but you never know! The only thing I can think of that might put someone off is if the color or fragrance isn’t to their liking. Either make lots of different varieties or you can customize a batch just for them. The latter is what I tend to do as it’s such a lovely, thoughtful thing to do. Everyone will be impressed with them, all of my friends certainly are.
Take a look below for more DIY bath bombs, and don’t forget to let me know how you’re getting on in the comments section. I love to hear your trial and error stories. Sharing your successes and even your failures can really help someone that’s quite new to this sort of bath and body recipe.
hi this recipe looks wonderful .. i am reluctant to use corn starch and wondered what i could use instead to ‘pad’ out the bath bomb or help slow the fizz. thanks
Hi Erica, I’ve heard that some people us arrowroot powder instead, but I haven’t tried it.
And I used cream of tartar and whole milk powder for my mini milk bath bombs.
I’d never made bath bombs before, and I’ve now made these twice. I’ve read a lot of comments, here and elsewhere, and I have to say, this seems to be a great recipe. I live in a humid climate, so I worried about how they’d turn out.
I made two big mistakes with my first batch. First, I didn’t check the fragrance oil first and it turned out I had half the amount this recipe called for. So I split everything in half. The second mistake was that I forgot to split the water. So it was very difficult to get the halves to stick together. Most fell apart when I set them on the drying tray, so I had to put them back together. I made a few in cupcake tins because I was tired of fighting with the round ones, and the edges of those ‘fizzed’ before they dried due to the humidity. One cracked and nearly all flattened on the bottom, due to too much water. Still worked great in the bathtub, though!
The second batch, I used the correct amounts. It’s amazing how much easier they went together! I found that if I fill part of the mold, then press, but not pack, then loosely add to make it heaping, do the same with the other half, then put together, they turn out perfectly. Pressing the mixture too hard into the mold means the halves never stayed together.
I put them in an old Tupperware container, the lid on top loosely, and put a bunch of packets of desiccant around them. I noticed this morning that the packets all said they’re saturated, so I’ll change them before heading into the office. I felt that using a lid would cut down on making the entire house smell like Ocean Breeze, as well as ensure the packets dried out the bombs and not the whole area.
Hi, vk rose!
Thanks for sharing! I love to hear about how you get on. It also gives others some neat tips, like your mold packing method. Thanks again.
How do you test your citric acid to make certain it is still usable. I have had mine for many years.
Michelle,
Citric acid can be tested by mixing a few pinches with a bit of bicarb and then chucking it into a bit of warm water. It should fizz up just like a bath bomb. If in doubt, chuck it. I can’t tell you how disappointing it is to make a bath bomb and find out your citric acid is no longer good. But otherwise, good luck with making yours!
Hi there,
I want to add polysorbate 80 to this recipe how much would you recommend?
Hi Jacquie!
I would start off with a teaspoon, and reduce the amount of oil/butter by this much to even out the liquid to dry ratio. If you find they are a bit dry anyway, you don’t need to reduce the amount of oil, but you may find they take much longer to dry. Test them and see how they react in the bath. Hope this helps!
I had to add about double the amount of liquid and I still think the mixture was a bit too dry. Also I don’t think I packed the molds tight enough as one ball slightly crumbled after removing it from the mold. This was my first attempt, will try again with a moister mixture. Thanks for the guide, these were fun to make!
Thank you SO much for this recipe. I e tried so many others and they never turned out quite right.
Your welcome Evan!
Do i have to use almond oil or can i use coconut oil?
Hi Hannah,
I’ve tried lots of different recipes with various different ingredients. I’ve found that almond oil just works the best. By all means, give it a try with the coconut oil, but for optimal results I recommend the Sweet Almond Oil.
Could these also be used as shower steamers thanks
Hi Dorothy. I’m not really sure about this one, as I haven’t tried it and not sure how effective they would be. I also don’t have a steam shower so I’m not 100% sure how they work. The steam should moisten them, but immersing them infuses the lovely ingredients into the water. But nevertheless, give it a try! I’d love to know how they work out!
If you are going to make steamers use baking soda . There are several recipes on Pinterest for steamers .
Hi Debrah,
That’s actually a really good idea. I’ve never made one myself, I’ll have a look as well! Thanks! 😀
Hi I tried these last week and it seemed to work ok but durring the drying processes they all cracked and fell apart. Do you know what may have caused this?
Hi Rene. This can happen from time to time. I find that on particularly sunny or warm days the mixture can dry out much faster than anticipated. Try your best to work with it quite quickly once you’ve mixed the ingredients, and make sure you get a nice firm press with the molds. If they still crack, try adding a little bit more liquid to the mixture (we’re talking a few mls more, not much) little by little.
I live i a humid area and I have found that if I decrease the epsom salt since the magnesium sulfate attracts moisture it seems to help them cure a bit better and not crumble.
Hi Debrah,
You’re full of amazing ideas! If you have any more ideas or recipes, I’d love to hear them! You can share your knowledge here by sending in a submission. Thanks again!
This seems so easy..!
By any chance can we use synthetic vingear instead of citric acid and water?
Hi Lavanya, Sorry I’m not sure about that, you would have to experiment to see if it works and I would love to hear back from you on it 😉
My 7 year old and I are making these right now… so far we have like 20 bombs (mix of small and medium.) We used lemon essential oil and coconut oil because that is what we had on hand and so far so good.
Hi Amanda,
That’s great! I love that you’re getting your little one involved. I always think bath bombs especially make great bath time fun for kids of all ages. I personally love the smell of lemon essential oil, and coupled with the nourishing qualities of coconut oil sounds absolutely delightful! Keep having fun!
I’ve seen recipes that require finely grained Epsom salts. I can’t find a place to buy it so will try a blender. Any experience with this? I think the bombs will be a lot smoother, not grainy. Stay tuned????
Hi Liz, I’m looking forward to hearing how it goes 😉
Wow Fantastic !
Ive been trying to get my bath bombs right for a couple of months and every recipe I have followed they didn’t go together (the 2 halves properly) I gave your’s a go this afternoon and made 16 perfectly round bath bombs 🙂 thank you
Hi Michelle, that’s great news thanks for letting me know 😉