Making a Great Bath Bomb All That Can Go Right

Making great bath bombs seems to mystify even the most experienced bath and body crafters at times, sometimes batch after batch can fall into ruins. I've heard many sad tales of cracked bath bombs, bath bomb mixture stuck in molds, crumbly bath bath bombs, bath bombs that turn to play dough and even of few minor explosions. I confess I've had a few mishaps when experimenting with  recipes(or should I say I strayed from my own tried and true recipes). I'm not only here to tell what can go wrong but what can go right when it's all going wrong! Soon you'll be turning your lemon bath bombs into lemonade bath treats!

First a little about the basic bath bomb recipe...here is the standard bath bomb recipe, the foundation of all  recipes.

2(2cups) parts sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)

1(1cup) part citric acid

.5 oz fragrance

 A scant teaspoon of mica (colorant)

Spray bottle with witch hazel 

You can adjust your fragrance and colorant slightly less or more. When you put a powdered colorant into your dry mixture it will look very light, but will darken with the addition of liquid. It is also acceptable to replace the witch hazel with water, but witch hazel makes your bath bombs hard  and less prone to early fizzing.

Mix your baking soda and citric acid together using a fork or your hands then add your mica. Add your  fragrance oil. Mix all together. Spritz your dry mixture with your witch hazel once or twice. Your mixture should hold together when pressed but still feel dry. Pile mixture loosely into each side of the mold and hold together for about 5 seconds. Release one side then the other. Lay on flat surface to dry.

This is a very basic bath bomb recipe that will give you a very hard, fast fizzing bath bomb that will release fragrance into the water. This is a good recipe to start practicing with.  Once you have this recipe down you can begin to add oils,butters,advanced coloring techniques and additives. I will be posting more advanced recipes in future posts.

Next Post, Part II....What Can Go Wrong and How to Spot the Signs

Part III...How to Turn Potential Disasters into Bath Time Delights