3/23

Homemade Bath Bombs

Bathroom, Crafts, D.I.Y. Project, DIY, DIY Gifts, Homemade Gifts, Spa, Video
By Emma Chapman
Fool proof homemade bath bombs via abeautifulmess.com
Easy homemade bath bombsOh yes, we went there. This is a fool-proof tutorial for making homemade bath bombs. I have really been enjoying “testing” these out at home. ๐Ÿ™‚

Bath bombs or bath fizzes are not a new concept. I’ve seen a number of tutorials floating around the Internet, but if you’re not the DIY type, then you can just purchase pretty bath bombs (I recommend LUSH).ย 

Here’s a super quick video tutorial for how to make homemade bath bombs, or scroll down to see the text and image tutorial:

I actually went to make some of these around Valentine’s Day last month and a couple different tutorials I tried did not produce very good results. One of them actually completely stuck to the molds and I had to chip it out with a fork so I could start over. Bummer! But hey, if at first you don’t succeed, sometimes you just have to try again.

On what I had already decided would be my final attempt, I tried this tutorial but changed up the amounts based on how many I wanted to make, and… it worked! I do have a few additional tips if you plan to make these yourself, so check that out below. But now that I’ve found a method/recipe that works, I’m thinking I should have some friends over for a make-your-own-bath-bombs party. Added bonus: It seriously makes your whole room smell amazing while you make these!

Homemade Bath Bombs, makes two (you can easily double or triple)

4 oz. baking soda
2 oz. corn starch
2 oz. citric acid
2 oz. Epsom salt
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons water
5-10 drops essential oil of choice
1 1/4 teaspoon oil (I like coconut or olive oil here)
1-2 drops food coloring (optional)

In a bowl combine the dry ingredients (the first four listed above). Whisk to remove any clumps, corn starch tends to be clumpy. In a small glass jar stir together the wet ingredients (the last four ingredients listed). If you’re using coconut oil, give it a quick melt in the microwave or stove top first so it will more easily combine with the other ingredients. Slowly pour the liquid mixture in with the dry mixture, whisking as you go. If you see the mixture fizz or foam, you may be adding the liquid too quickly. Once all the wet ingredients are combined with the dry, take a small amount in your hand and squeeze it together. It should stick together fairly well in one or two big chunks. If it’s still too powdery to hold together, just add a tiny bit more water and mix until it does hold together. If you find that adding the liquid slowly is difficult use a spray bottle to add them instead of pouring.ย 

Fool proof tutorial for how to make bath bombsThen fill each half of your bath bomb mold with the mixture until it’s just overflowing a little. Press together, then gently remove one side of the mold. Place the bath bomb on a tray and allow to dry out before removing the other side. Wait one hour and then see if the bath bomb easily removes from the mold without breaking. If it breaks, just press into the mold again and let it dry out longer. The goal here is to get the bath bomb out of the mold so it can further dry out overnight. I’ve found that if you leave them in the mold too long they can begin to stick and then it’s more difficult to remove without cracking. So find the balance here and remember that if something cracks at this point it’s totally OK to just press the mixture back into the mold. No worries!

Once you are ready to remove the other side, gently invert the bath bomb so the uncovered side is facing down, then gently remove the other half of the mold from the top. The key word, if you haven’t noticed, is gently. These can fall apart on you very easily if you’re not careful. If a bath bomb does crack in half while you’re removing it, you can gently press it back on top of the other half, or remove all the mixture back to the mixing bowl and start the molding process again. I had this happen to a few, so don’t fret, it’s easy to fix.

Once they are completely out of the mold, allow them to dry out for 8 hours or overnight. Once very dry, you can wrap them in plastic wrap and store in a dry place until you’re ready to use them, or you can gift them to friends.ย 

*I bought my molds from Amazon. But you could also use those plastic holiday ornaments that come apart or Easter eggs for the molds if you already have either of those on hand. I saw they also make these molds, which seems even better than the plastic ones I used.ย 

DIY bath bombs (via abeautifulmess.com) In case you’re curious, the flavors I created included: lemongrass (green), lavender (purple), and peppermint (white and red). You can mix essential oils within each bath bomb too if you’d like to create blends. I’ve had some people ask about using citrus essential oils, since they can sometimes cause photosensitivity (your skin is more sensitive to sunlight) but I think citrus is OK here since you will be washing it off your skin the bath, not leaving it on and then immediately going out into the sun. That being said, if you’re new to essential oils it’s always good to find what scents you prefer and what works best for you and your skin. We are all different so it’s possible some allergies or sensitivities may occur so just be aware and use what is best for you.ย 

You can add dried flower buds, like lavender buds, to these pretty easily. Just remember to use food grade dried flowers to avoid flowers that might have been grown with pesticides as you don’t want to soak in a bath with that. No thanks! Do keep in mind that after using a bath bomb with dried petals, you will have to remove these from your tub. So if that bothers you, then leave the buds out.

If you want to create two tone bath bombs, like my peppermint ones, just mix up your batter in two separate bowls and only add the food coloring to one. Easy!

Fool proof homemade bath bombs These turned out to be a lot of fun to make, and they are even more fun to use (although no soak is complete without one of these and a good book, am I right?!). I highly recommend giving them a try, or you could make a batch to give away to friends or family. Enjoy! xo. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.

143 Comments

  • This place ( http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/ ) has a ton of fun bath bomb ingredients, and every essential oil you can imagine! (My husband works there and comes home smelling A-MAZING.) They have all the molds, too. They also have ingredients to make bath tea! Yes, that’s tea for your bath! And you can pretend you’re in a giant teacup. (that part is optional, i guess.)

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      • I buy mine at Walmart from the food canning section. The Ball brand is my favorite citric acid to use for these, It doesnโ€™t foam as much when you are mixing them. The wide mouth canning jars are great to hold the bombs when you are done, I have also used spaghetti noodle containers and Jameson whiskey gift tubes. I use cupcake papers as molds to make the Vickโ€™s vapor shower tabs which are basically bath bombs that are discs. I use tea tree, peppermint and eucalyptus oils for those, they really open up your nasal passages.

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      • You can buy citric acid from any bulk food store, as a rule. It comes in small containers and larger packages. I recommend the larger package, as you will use 2 oz for each large bath bomb. Good luck!

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  • I LOVE making bathbombs with my essential oils! You can get some pretty great scent combinations happening.

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    • Hi I was thinking of making my own bath bombs but don’t know we’re to get the ingredients from can any one help thanks x

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      • I got the Epsom salt and metal molds Walmart, the citric acid from Amazon the essential oils from p&j trading on Etsy. They have a great selection of scents for $3

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  • These sound great!!
    Love the idea and the DIY sounds fairly easy, I’ll definitely give that a try ๐Ÿ™‚ ..I can already smell it in the air

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  • Such an amazing DIY idea! The lavender and lemongrass sound so relaxing โค๏ปฟ
    munchies&musings

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  • That is so cool !! I want to make bath bombs so bad but always just end up buying them. maybe try this for mothers day!

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  • hahahah I would never try to do it myself… I rather pay some money for it!
    I really deserve a relax-long bath. Soon we have easter holiday and I’ll definitely do ^^

    Here my latest post, about how Armani invites consumers to participate on the brand’s 40th anniversary special website through the hashtag #Atribute.

    http://mgluxurynews.com/posts/

    I hope you enjoy it! Bests ๐Ÿ™‚

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  • Oh wow! I love bath bombs, but I’ve never thought about making my own! These look so good, just like the ones you buy from Lush! I remember going for a job interview at a Lush store when I was at Uni. Sadly I didn’t get the job, but it was a really fun interview playing with all the products and giving hand massages to the other interviewees! We all got a bag of bath bombs to take home too at the end of the interview! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Jennie // Scarletscorchdroppers

    x

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  • EMMA. These look awesome!!! Okay first thing to do when we get to AZ is start making these on the regular. Miss you guys already. ??? love you all!!!

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  • I’m so excited to make these!
    For a natural coloring option, you can use alkanet root powder. I use it to tint my lip balm!

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  • Ahh this is so amazing! I have to try this out! (as soon as I get my bathtub fixed)
    Such a great post!!

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  • Wooo I have all of the ingredients at home! Might need to make these and sample them this weekend!
    Nidhi
    An Unblurred Lady

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  • I love these!! They make the absolute best gifts ever. It reminds me that I have some at home I need to use up. How perfect for a Monday night!!

    xx Jill
    Latest – Beauty Hacks for Travel: How to Fit Your Favorite Toiletries into a Carry On

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  • I’ve been looking for a easy bath bomb DIY for some time! This tutorial looks easy to follow, definitely going to try this soon!

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  • These look beyond incredible! This is definitely something I need to try.

    nueyork.blogspot.com

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  • I’m so going to try this! Do these fizz up when they get wet or do they just kind of disperse into the water?

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  • These look great! I have seen some of this on Pinterest but thought for sure it was more complicated than this. Seems fairly easy…even for someone like me who doesn’t have the patience for anything DIY.

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  • Such a good gift idea! Especially since bath bombs are “in season” and therefore, expensive! Thank you, Elsie and Emma!

    – rocionaval.blogspot.com x

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  • This is such a fabulous post and I am so impressed by how these turned out! I am always craving lush bath bombs but don’t like to have to shell out the money so maybe I will attempt to make some of these on the weekend!

    Rae | love from berlin

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  • I’ve been wanting to make bath bombs for the longest time. My daughter loves them but they tend to get a little pricey. Thanks for sharing and I hope to have some for Easter ๐Ÿ˜‰
    charity
    lifeafterbaseball.net

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  • I never even thought of making bath bombs! Thanks for sharing this after all your labouring and testing, these will make the most lovely of little presents – for my friends or just for me!

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  • Wanna try making these now! My favourite from LUSH is the Avobath one as love the citrusy fresh smell it has but now I can experiment with other smells and colours thanks to this post. Excited to test the waters with this!

    Diana xx | London Girl Diana

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  • Do you have any leads where to get the super fine glitter that lush uses in their bombs? Regular glitter can be very scratchy. Such a great post! I love this blog.

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  • Are your measurements by weight or by volume. I don’t see a scale so I’m assuming by volume?

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  • I am SO glad you did all the testing for this (instead of me) and shared!! I’m totally going to do this.

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  • I never knew you could make bath bombs at home i definitely going to try this when I get the chance to. The ones you made looked amazing!

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  • Hello!! I just made these and noticed that after they begin to dry the are cracking. Any tips? Love them regardless!!

    I’ve noticed that adding the water mixture super slow helps with less cracking as well as really really really mixing everything together.

    I’ve made 2 batches already and they seem to be cracking at the 4 hour mark.

    Any other tips?

    Thanks!
    Amanda

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  • This is a great project! Can you please provide the amounts of the dry ingredients in tablespoons/cups? I can’t figure out the ounces. I tried my best and got a few made but I think there’s way too much essential oil in each one. I’m also having a little trouble getting them to stick together and I’m wondering if that’s related to the amount of ingredients. They are still in the molds drying so hopefully it will turn out well. If not, then I will put the ingredients in a baggie and pour it in the tub!

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  • Hi Aubree! Here’s the total amount of dry ingredients that you’ll need:

    1/2 cup baking soda
    4 tbsp. corn starch
    4 tbsp. citric acid
    4 tbsp. epsom salt

    The rest of the ingredients are listed in teaspoons in the post. Let me know if you have anymore questions! ๐Ÿ™‚ -Jacki

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  • These turned out beautifully! I’ve never tried making bath bombs myself but I’m a big Lush fan ๐Ÿ™‚

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  • Ah I can’t wait to try this!! I love the Lush ones, but they can be pricey! These will be great to give as easy gifts!

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  • My bath bombs seem to “puff up” when I put them into the molds. When I take them out, they seem to turn flat like cookies! What am I doing wrong???

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  • they look so great! i want do some of these right now. =D

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  • I’ve been making these for two weeks now and they start off fine, but the next day when I get up to check on them they’ve cracked all over! What am I doing wrong?

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  • Hi! My daughter wants to try this as part of her chemistry project.
    I cannot find the bath bomb mold you mentioned in the recipe, would a silicone round bakeware mold work ?
    Also I live in a tropical country, after making it, how long can it last in the fridge?
    Thank you for your help ๐Ÿ™‚ Cheers!

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  • I noticed that Baking Soda is no longer on the list since the last time I made them(last year). Is there a reason?

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  • Hi dear,
    Thanks for sharing it! I just tried with my friend. Sadly we got quite a few cracks and even one of the bombs were half-broken. Could you let us know what can cause these cracks…? Could it be because of more oil used? We are trying to figure out why… thanks! ๐Ÿ™‚

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  • For ladies that made these..How softening to the skin were they? I want to make bath bombs that are very moisturizing as well as looking cute. ๐Ÿ™‚

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  • Hey! I was wondering if the food coloring will stain the bath tub. It would be really helpful to know if they do. Thanks!

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  • I was wondering approx how many bombs this recipe makes or approx oz….thanks this is going be great for gift ideas

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      • Thanks for your reply. I make A lot of day projects do my small home based business (for extra cash who couldn’t use that lol). I make candles, wax melts, bath products, Laundry products, and more. So I love this blog!! And what several people dont realize instead ordering hgh end products from vendors (with a lot “scientific or proper names” )of products they can look for same thing in local Wal-Mart’s or deep stores. Which i still order my fragrance nd EO oils from vendors of course to have great qualities of scents.

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      • Im sorry meant to ask if it makes 2 bombs then do u know approx oz. Weight of one BB or gram weight

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  • Thank you for the detailed instructions and the beautiful photos, too! My daughter is interested in making bath bombs, so I purchased the ingredients listed and printed your page and will put it all together for a nice Christmas gift. Thanks again!

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  • How many bombs does this DIY make? Just wondering if I need to double up the batch.

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  • I made up a whole bunch of these but I think it may call for too much oil. They are so strong smelling. Iโ€™ve found for a bath you should add 7 drops of essential oil. A tsp is 100 drops so that is about 50 drops in a bath. Has this irritated anyoneโ€™s skin?

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  • I just made these last night. This was my first time making bath bombs and I think they turned out well for the most part. This was definitely a messy process! Finding the citric acid and figuring out what essential oils to use was the harder part. I ended up finding the citric acid in the canning and preserving section at Menards. They had is for under $3 for 7.5 oz. Two bottles was enough to make 12 bath bombs. The essential oils are the most expensive part of this process and their cost depends on the quality of the oil you want to include. For 12 bath bombs I ended up using 2 0.5oz bottles.
    I used a scale and measured out each dry ingredient before I added it to the mixture. I used medium-sized plastic christmas ornaments as molds, which meant that each batch only made enough for 1 and 1/2 bath bombs. I realized quickly that I needed to pack down each side and then put some more powder in the middle to bind the two halves together so that they would to separate when drying. They looked great and were holding together last night, but at some point in the process of drying overnight many of them cracked in various ways. They are still holding together, but they don’t look as professional. I’m not sure why that happened…? They still look and smell good, but I wish I would have put less essential oils in them, they are really strong smelling. I think 14 drops for the two bombs instead of 100 is a good call. (Based on the 7 drops per bath that Cara mentioned.)
    I hope this helps others with this recipe. It was fun, but time consuming. I think it would have been more fun to buy all of the ingredients on a different day and make them with a friend.

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  • I made these bath bombs and visually were perfect. but the essential oils that I used, left little to no fragrance. Can you recommend a scent or fragrance store where I can buy them from? Apparently mine arn’t strong enough

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  • Once I try to put the two halves together (still in their molds) they will NOT stick together enough to remove one half of the plastic mold. Help!!!! How do I get the two halves of the bath bomb to stick together?? Not to mention it’s impossible to get them out of those plastic molds.

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  • I made eucalyptus bath bombs and put them in my freezer to harden fast. This was a month ago and my fridge and freezer still smell like eucalyptus. Any tips on getting the smell to go away?

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  • God!! My diy bath fizzies were an absolute disaster!! Though they looked really nice…I put too much oil because I thought the would smell extra nice…it was unpleasant to say! But i really wanted to try bath fizzies so used one my sister regularly uses and they are absolutely beautiful. And the best part is that they are 100% natural. You guys can try it out if your diys also failed like mine!! https://www.lilynaturalbeauty.com/Sona-Bath-Fizzy.html

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  • Does the oil component leave a slick in the tub, or does it rinse out when the tub drains? I really like your recipe but the oil component worries me a little.

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  • Good Day,
    I see not many men here, but I like making my own products, soap, deodorant,lotions, Things like that, my wife loves them.
    OK my question is,
    When making bath bomb’s bubbly ,most say to use Glycerin, I would like to know if you can use Castor Oil? not 100% though, maybe 50-50 with coconut oil?
    Would this be better?
    Thanks

    Reply

  • Hey, really helpful. I like the way you’ve used the ingredients! I totally love the bath bombs concept. But if people are like me, lazy :D, then I’d suggest bath fizzies from lilynaturalbeauty. They are made from natural ingredients and are actually the same as the ones we’d make using the above told process.

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  • Is there any way I could get the measurements in terms of Cups instead of Ounces? I don’t have a scale so I wasn’t really sure! Also, do these require a certain kind of coloring so that the bathtub doesn’t stain? IM SO EXCITED TO MAKE THESE!!!

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    • Hi Morgan! If you google the measurements, you can see the conversions ๐Ÿ™‚ And the food coloring is optional if you’re unsure about staining!

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  • Yes! Hand made bath bombs are the best. Thanks for the detailed tutorial, I hope it will get more people into enjoying bath bombs!

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  • Thanks for such a simple and easy recipe. I am definitely going to make this. I love to use home made beauty products. Recently, I have made Himalayan salt scrub which is very good. This salt is very good for the skin. you can visit iteenworld.com to know more about this salt.

    Reply

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