# Bath Bombs - No Citric Acid?



## GreenScene (Mar 10, 2011)

Anyone have a good recipe for bath bombs without citric acid? My sweet little daughter wants to make some, but living in south Louisiana, I have never had much luck with them because of the humidity. She's got her heart set on it, but I don't want to buy citric acid just for her experiment!


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## krissy (Mar 10, 2011)

mel, try using an oil instead of using a liquid to make everything stick. i am in Georgia and it gets sooo humid here, but using only oil works for me.


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## GreenScene (Mar 10, 2011)

Do you skip the citric acid, as well? I've never tried making them outside of the typical citric acid, baking soda, witch hazel combo. I was just looking at a recipe that called for baking soda, witch hazel, and lemon juice (I guess as a citric acid substitute?), but I'm not sure how that'd work.


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## krissy (Mar 10, 2011)

i have never heard of doing it with lemon juice. i don't know how that would work.

i use citric acid because it makes the fizz happen, lol


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## soapbuddy (Mar 10, 2011)

Lemon juice also has water. I would think that would make the bath bombs fizz prematurely.


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## Genny (Mar 11, 2011)

Lemon juice without citric acid does not make them fizz.  I saw that somewhere when I was first starting out, so I tried it.  Does not work.

I don't know of any other way to make them fizz without citric acid.


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## Tabitha (Mar 11, 2011)

It is the citric acid that fizzes. No citric acid, no fizz. You can make bath cookies, or bath melts, or a powdered foaming bath soak, but not a 'fizzing' bath bomb w/o citric acid.


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## SudsyKat (Mar 11, 2011)

Yes, I second what Tabitha said. I'm very new to bath bombs, but I've been reading up on the chemistry of them and it's the citric acid/baking soda combo that makes them fizz. I also second what Krissy said (I'm not very original today) - have you tried using just oils and no water? Good luck!!


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## GreenScene (Mar 13, 2011)

Well, I happened to find citric acid locally for $3.95/lb. at a local brewery supply store, so it looks like I'll practice the bath bombs again and then let Thing 1 give it a whirl. I've never had a lot of luck with them myself. I'm pretty sure it's the humidity. But I don't mind her playing around with it when the citric acid is that cheap. Last time I did them, I had to pay as much for shipping as I did for the citric acid itself. I hate that! Anyway, I told her we'd look at the forecast and do some this week if the humidity isn't too outrageous. Of course, in south Louisiana, that may never happen... We have a dehumidifier this time around, though, so that may make a difference. I hope so!


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## GreenScene (Mar 13, 2011)

I should say that I hesitated to try these again because I am really trying to buy locally whenever possible, and until yesterday, the cheapest I could find citric acid was $17.95/lb. Ack! I don't THINK so!


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## Tabitha (Mar 13, 2011)

You could do fizzy bath salts. Don't add any oil/water/witch hazel/liquid of any type. It would be all powdered. fairy dust, fizzy powder, etc. It would all fizz when it hit the water but some people prefer that to the bombs and you would have no humidity problems.


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## Tabitha (Mar 13, 2011)

There are lots of fizzy bath salt recipes out there.

The basic is:

Ingredients:

    2 parts baking soda
    2 parts salt
    1 part citric acid
    1 part cornstarch

Instructions:

    Color & scent 2 parts salt. Mix other dry powders with the scented salts and package.


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## GreenScene (Mar 14, 2011)

You know - I hadn't thought of that, but it's a great idea, especially for my daughter. She's a sucker of fairies. Some "pixie dust" would be right up her alley. Thanks!


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## Catmehndi (Mar 15, 2011)

You may want to add some micas for the color: some glitter and would add to the fairy theme! :wink:


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## swtlilkitn (Mar 15, 2011)

*In Oregon where it is wet all the time ....*

we used to make them and as we unmolded them put them immediately into a food dehydrator and when they dried we then shrink wrapped them to keep em nice and dry 

just my 2 cents on the subject

warmly
Kelly


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## chowsr (Mar 15, 2011)

*Bath bomb recipe*

I have the opposite problem. The weather is so dry the bath bombs don't stick. My favorite recipe is

¼ cup melted cocoa butter, 1/3 cup baking soda, ¼ cup citric acid, 1 tbsp corn starch essential oil

A more traditional recipe I use is:
Dry ingredients: ¾ cup Baking Soda, 1/3 cup citric acid, 2 tsp Epsom salts
Wet Ingredients: 1 tbsp grape seed oil, essential oil, 1 tsp of water in a spray bottle 

Since I am a chemist I feel I should post the chemical reactions  It's a simple acid/base formula. When any acid and base combine they form water and a salt. In this case the release of carbon dioxide is the bonus that leads to fizzing!

3NaHCO3 + C6H8O7 -----> H2O +        CO2 +           Na3C6H5O7
Base              acid             water   carbon dioxide         salt 

c


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## FairyLabs (Dec 4, 2014)

*Citric Acid*

Hi GreenScene,

Believe it or not, I just found out this morning that the Vitamin Shoppe carries citric acid! I, too, have been searching high and low for the stuff. If you your local Vitamin Shoppe does not carry it, or you do not have one near you, you can order it at www.vitaminshoppe.com

It is fairly inexpensive... and the perfect amount to experiment with.
Hope this helps!


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## BekahAnne (Dec 21, 2014)

What I saw experimenting I found citric acid in the canning section at Walmart. It was in a seasoning bottle. And had a green lid  I think it was 3.88 and I got six bath bombs out if it


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