Video of Me Trying To Break a Bath Bomb
If you're a beginner to making bath fizzies, read this quick overview of the ingredients and process. You will see that there's nothing to it. All you need is some inexpensive ingredients and a little practice, and you'll be on your way to creating bath bombs that rival Lush's.
As seen in Ready Made Magazine's blog (thanks, Megan of notmartha.org!) The FREE Bath Bomb Fast Guide is probably the only instructions you'll ever need to "debug" your bath bombs. It's 48 info-packed pages long, but it will only take you a few minutes to locate the section you need.
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Basic Bath Bombs Recipe
This recipe is not meant to be a substitute for in-depth instructions. It's just here to give you a basic understanding of how to make bath fizies. After you read this, I recommend that you download my Bath Bomb Fast Guide.
Ingredients
2 cups Baking Soda
1 cup Citric Acid (Sour Salt)
Spray Bottle with Tap Water
Optional: 5 - 20 drops liquid food coloring
Optional: 1 or 2 teaspoons of massage oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil, or almond oil
Optional: 1 tsp. skin-safe fragrance oil
Why do I say those last three are optional? Because they are. You don't need anything other than baking soda, citric acid, and a little water to make bath bombs. You can even hand mold them! Yes, they'll be boring bath bombs, but they will fizz in the bath.
Combine your oil, fragrance, and dry ingredients in a large, wide mixing bowl. If you're using coloring, drop the coloring in at this point. It will fizz a little and ball up in the dry stuff, that's normal.
Start with two or three spritzes of water into the bowl, and rub the mix between your palms. This way, the color will break up and distribute evenly. You will get some fine speckles, but I figure that it's part of the beauty of a handmade product :)
When the bath bomb mixPut your molded bath bombs on a tray to dry overnight. Of course, you can use them immediately - after all, they're just going to get wet again! But you should not wrap them or store them until they are fully dry. If they retain moisture, the bath bombs will start to "fizzle out" over time. It's a slow process, but it does happen. starts to clump together when you squeeze it, you should stop and test its mold-readiness, even if you think it's too dry. Mold one bath bomb, and see if it holds together.
If it does, mold the rest. If it kind of falls apart, add another spritz or two, and do another test mold.
Put your molded bath bombs on a tray to dry overnight. Of course, you can use them immediately - after all, they're just going to get wet again! But you should not wrap them or store them until they are fully dry. If they retain moisture, the bath bombs will start to "fizzle out" over time. The bath bombs will be hard and dry, but their fizzing power will be disappointing. It's a slow process, but it does happen.
