Bath Bomb Ingredient Questions

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bathbomb

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Super common thread time, wanna ask about what goes into my bath bombs and what I want to avoid. Currently this is what goes in.

Baking Soda
Citric Acid
Epsom Salts
SLSA
Mica
Coconut Oil
Fragrance / Essential Oils
PS80

They haven't been turning out too well, too wet. But I have been reading and want to address some things and need opinions. I read a few places that Epsom salts like to draw in moisture and cause premature reactions. I.E. Stick or 'warting'. I also saw that coconut oil is a bit heavy, especially for bath bombs, I want to swap that for almond which appears to be much lighter. SLSA also seems to not be added a ton, what do you think about it? I like the foaming but if it's going to be a pain I would be okay with not using it. I also want to use Kaolin Clay to make them sturdy. I am not a fan of corn starch. What are your opinions on all of this? This is my proposed new recipe.


Baking Soda
Citric Acid
POSSIBLY SLSA
Mica
Almond Oil
Mica
Fragrance n stuff
PS80
 
Can you add percentages to your recipe? The difference between 1% and 10% is huge and will make a difference for each ingredient.

As a list of ingredients it looks close to what I use but details are needed if you need help troubleshooting
 
I use an edited version of Dean Wilson's. Other than what I have below, he usually adds 100 grams of epsom salts and 15 grams of rubbing alcohol. Since I want to take out the salts I removed the extra 15 grams of rubbing alcohol liquid.

600 grams ( 21.16 oz ) - Baking Soda
300 grams ( 10.58 oz ) - Citric Acid
20 grams ( 0.70 oz ) - Kaolin Clay
30 grams ( 1.05 oz ) - SLSA
1 tsp of Mica Powder

5 grams ( 0.17oz) - Polysorbate-80
10 grams ( 0.35 oz ) - Almond Oil
15 grams ( 0.52 oz ) - Fragrance Oil
 
I've had 0 adverse reactions with epsom salts, but I do keep them at pretty low percentages. Kaolin clay is definitely something you can add. One tbsp or so per bath bomb would be enough. My problem with kaolin clay is that my mini bath bombs got so hard that it won't melt in the water, but larger sizes were fine. I've never used SLSA but I've found bath bombs are pretty much fine without it and it can lower the price tag a ton. I've heard of people avoiding almond oils because they were allergic. You can maybe test the two oils and see which one is indeed lighter.
 
Last edited:
icg said:
I've had 0 adverse reactions with epsom salts, but I do keep them at pretty low percentages. Kaolin clay is definitely something you can add. One tbsp or so per bath bomb would be enough. My problem with kaolin clay is that my mini bath bombs got so hard that it won't melt in the water, but larger sizes were fine. I've used SLSA but I've found bath bombs are pretty much fine without it and it can lower the price tag a ton. I've heard of people avoiding almond oils because they were allergic. You can maybe test the two oils and see which one is indeed lighter.
Click to expand...

Is there a light oil that you do recommend that is pretty universal? I like the bubbles of SLSA but I also hear a lot of negative things, especially with people's skin. Also do you grind your epsom salts down? I have these big ol crystals and it honestly bums me out because I like my baht bombs to look smooth, as a personal opinion the big clear crystals look meh to me.
 
bathbomb said:
Is there a light oil that you do recommend that is pretty universal? I like the bubbles of SLSA but I also hear a lot of negative things, especially with people's skin. Also do you grind your epsom salts down? I have these big ol crystals and it honestly bums me out because I like my baht bombs to look smooth, as a personal opinion the big clear crystals look meh to me.
Click to expand...

Oh whoops, typo, I mean "I never used SLSA". I've tried bath bombs with it though, and there was barely any difference. I buy my epsom salts extra fine. There are places online, saltworks to name one, that sell different epsom salt sizes. They are great for epsom baths too. I'm pretty sure almond and coconut oils are pretty common oils but I've seen many use olive, avocado, and butters as well.
 
I grind my epsom salts down as fine as I can get them. Beware--this can tear up blenders. :headbanging:

Mostly I make them for my son, so I can't leave the salts out, as he is seriously addicted to a hot bath soak with a big bad bath bomb after a 14 hour work day. Can't blame the kid. I'm also happy to feed his addiction.

That being said, I add a little SLSA in mine, not much, kaolin clay works wonders in it, some cornstarch (watch your amounts, you don't need as much as one might think) and a little cream of tartar. I also use sweet almond oil or the lightest oil I happen to have on hand.

I use a spritzer of roughly 75% witch hazel and the rest the 90% isopropyl alcohol. Mine were expanding sometimes while drying and once I had that bright idea, they quit that mess. Hope this helps a little. Play with your amounts to get them right for you.....I'm a full believer that climate and where you live makes a difference.
 
TwystedPryncess said:
I grind my epsom salts down as fine as I can get them. Beware--this can tear up blenders. :headbanging:

Mostly I make them for my son, so I can't leave the salts out, as he is seriously addicted to a hot bath soak with a big bad bath bomb after a 14 hour work day. Can't blame the kid. I'm also happy to feed his addiction.

That being said, I add a little SLSA in mine, not much, kaolin clay works wonders in it, some cornstarch (watch your amounts, you don't need as much as one might think) and a little cream of tartar. I also use sweet almond oil or the lightest oil I happen to have on hand.

I use a spritzer of roughly 75% witch hazel and the rest the 90% isopropyl alcohol. Mine were expanding sometimes while drying and once I had that bright idea, they quit that mess. Hope this helps a little. Play with your amounts to get them right for you.....I'm a full believer that climate and where you live makes a difference.
Click to expand...

Hm can I put Epsom Salts in just a regular old blender to get a fine powder? It doesn't have much use, maybe I can exploit it.
 
I'm going to sneak into this discussion and ask if bentonite clay can be used instead of kaolin? I have a big bag of bentonite sitting around, wondering if I can put it to use in a bath bomb. :)
 
toxikon said:
I'm going to sneak into this discussion and ask if bentonite clay can be used instead of kaolin? I have a big bag of bentonite sitting around, wondering if I can put it to use in a bath bomb. :)
Click to expand...

I used to use bentonite clay, but switched to kaolin for 2 reasons.

1. It made the colors a bit gray and drab.

2. Its lead levels are "considered toxic" and there are people who avoid even touching it. Personally, I feel like this is unreasonable as you don't even drink the bath water and soil, tap water, and even air in many places have considerable amounts of lead. I just didn't want to deal with the drama.
 
I save my slsa for bubble bath. My bath bomb buyers don't want bubbles in their bath bombs. Just a observation: last year I couldn't make bath bombs fast enough, now it's the bubble bath that's selling like crazy! Is it just me?
 
Benonite is not good in BB, I would go with 1.5 tbsp of SLSa , I am born with atopic dermatitis and a lot of allergies and can not take the regular bath, My skin reacts to chlorine, I can take bath with Bath bomb and my skin feels so good. Slsa is acutally pretty good , SLS is not good, but slsa is good for me and my girls both have eczema. Epsom salts wil attract moisture, I do not use them, I use Apricot kernel oil it is pretty light and cheap too. I had used Almond too but stopped, so many people are sensitive to almonds.
Witch hazel and 70% RA
 
Personally, I do not add any cooking oil to my BB, They tend to sink IMO. I only use an oil I buy, that if you are interested, I can post a link. Poly80 is needed only if you use colors that can stain your tub. If you want lots of colors, less weight, and more fizzy action you can skip it and use lakes. Micas can stain your tub.

Epson salt use very little, or only as decoration in your bomb, and if you want bubbles, and not use SLSA, you can use SCI, or cocoate.

Just my 2 cents.

What are you trying to achieve with your BB? Skin softness, fizzy action, lots of color in your bath tub? Depending on what you want to achieve you can tweak your bombs. The better they are for the skin, the more they will sink, and the more fun is when they float and spew colors IMO.

I have some videos of mine on my flicker page :mrgreen:
 
Nothing wrong with the ingredients. You can skip the epsom salt. I also use olive oil+coconut oil. and witch hazel. You can still use SLSA.

Baking Soda
Citric Acid
Epsom Salts
SLSA
Mica
Coconut Oil
Fragrance / Essential Oils
PS80
 
bathbomb said:
Hm can I put Epsom Salts in just a regular old blender to get a fine powder? It doesn't have much use, maybe I can exploit it.
Click to expand...

What it does to mine is causes leaks. You may not have an issue. I used a regular blender, not forseeing any issue, grounded up a few pounds of salts to a powder, and then went to blend something later that had liquid in it and it leaked the liquid. So when I say it 'tears up blenders', I should have stated how it tears up blenders. It made leaks. So the motor still works fine, and I ended up using that blender just for grinding the salts and getting another blender for every thing else blending.
 
The Efficacious Gentleman said:
The poly80 is not just for colours - any emulsifier will help the oils and bath water to "lotionise" somewhat, stopping the oil just floating in the water/sticking to the tub when emptied
Click to expand...

I understand, but I personally do not see any other benefit than attract the oils and colors. JMO.

Are you saying that without it there is no benefit of the oils in the water? Because they sell bath oil out there here in the US.
 
I think there are emulsifiers in bath oils as it can also be a liability issue. The emulsifier will help the oil drain with the water instead of having oil slicks left in the tub. You could put all the warning labels you want on it but that one idiot will get a good lawyer.
 
SunRiseArts said:
I understand, but I personally do not see any other benefit than attract the oils and colors. JMO.

Are you saying that without it there is no benefit of the oils in the water? Because they sell bath oil out there here in the US.
Click to expand...



In your post before you only stated colours as a benefit for an emulsifier which is why I posted.

But, for example, we bathed our wee baby in water with some oil BUT the midwife suggested a touch of salt to help the oil to disperse more evenly
 

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