Tea bags for the bath?

[Birdie Wife]

My lovely hubbie, who doesn't have to encourage my latest hobbies but does anyway, has an idea that I should make some things like tea bags for the bath, with maybe home-made soap flakes for a bit of lather, herbs/flowers, EOs and milk/or similar for a Cleopatra-like experience.

1. Is this even possible??
2. If so, how would I go about it without ingredients clumping?
3. I've seen a few random recipes for similarish things - what purpose does salt, baking soda or citric acid have in a bath soak/bath bomb?

 

[Genny]

I'd leave out the soap since it won't add any lather in a tea bag unless you're rubbing it.

Baking soda and citric acid produce fizzing, which would be pointless in a tea bag. You could add just baking soda if you wanted, it does help soften the water. Salts also soften the water. Salt and baking soda also help disperse the scent of the eo or fo through the water.

You could do a combination of powdered milk, sea salts (not dead sea salts, they sweat too much), baking soda, some herbs or flowers (like chamomile, rose, lemongrass, lavender, rosemary, etc). I normally don't recommend full herbs/flowers in bath products because they can cause drain clogging, but if it's in a tea bag, then they'll be good

If you add eo or fo, then first mix it with the sea salts and baking soda, let it dry completely, then add it to the other ingredients. Otherwise the moisture from the oils could cause the herbs to mold.

 

[Cally]

I'd leave out the soap since it won't add any lather in a tea bag unless you're rubbing it.

I actually think that sounds like a nifty idea, like a one use soap bag. Depending on what kind of bag you are using you'd maybe have to make sure nothing is hard or sharp enough to rip the bag before the bath/wash is done? Either way I think it sounds kind of neat and it wouldn't be too hard to make just enough to test it out. If anyone does happen to I would love to hear the results.

 

[JackiK]

Hey, guys! Long time, no post. Life got busy.

I jumped on the bath tea wagon a while back, but learned some lessons I don't mind sharing. First, do research on the herbs you want and what they're useful for. Second, enhance them with essential oils. You can mix herbs that have like properties for a nice blend. Place 2-3 tablespoons in a small organza bag. Let hang off tub spout or drop directly into the water. I swear, I've never slept better since using these. I thought it was a fluke at first, but there's definitely something to it.

The bags can also be hung in a closet, placed in a panty drawer, slipped into your pillow cover, stuffed into shoes. There's a million uses for them.

Keep me posted!

Jacki

 

[davenota]

The details produced are very interesting. I used to make these use in different manners , I agree with you as we all are mostly living in the cities where the levels of pollution is very high. So, mixing of some materials such as chlorine is a must. Coming to the case of the water from the well it is better than the tap water.

 

[paillo]

if you're using salts, first mix your essential oils into a little dendritic salt, then add your other salts. dendritic salt is extremely fine grained and allows for far greater absorption of your essential oils. you won't get clumping and your essential oils will definitely have more staying powder. you also won't get oily residue on your bag. you don't need more than about 10 percent dendritic for your total salts.

 

[lsg]

If you want to soap shavings in a bag, why not just sew wash cloths up to make a bag, put a drawstring around the top and call it a soap saver or something else.

 

[melstan775]

I've used muslin bags with soap shavings and oatmeal in them to be like an exfoliator bag. smells good, feels soft but rough enough and lathery enough to exfoliate and wash at the same time

 

[Momonga]

How about using real tea for a base? It smells delish, and can be enhanced with EO ot FO to handle the greater volume of diffusion. And caffiene is supposed to be good for detoxing and fighting celulite (not that I have celulite... ). I was looking at a green tea FO because I would like the scent in my soaps.

I used to LOOOOOVE Lush bath melts with chamomile flowers and Genny is right - gunky mess in my drains. But if you find a good tea bag and find a dependable way to seal it, you should be able to keep it all contained. I've seen some pretty big fillable tea bags, but they had an open top.

 

[Birdie Wife]

How about using real tea for a base? It smells delish, and can be enhanced with EO ot FO to handle the greater volume of diffusion. And caffiene is supposed to be good for detoxing and fighting celulite (not that I have celulite... ). I was looking at a green tea FO because I would like the scent in my soaps.

Ooooh green tea soak sounds lovley... and you've given me another good idea, how about a pyramidal bag for extra circulation of ingredients? Off to google... :razz: