Bath bomb mixture drying too fast?

[Bonanza]

Hello! New to the forum as I am desperately trying to find some answers!
Made a couple of bath bombs today but sometimes the mixture would dry out within half a minute. :???: When attempting to add more moisture it would stay crumbly so I continued spritzing until it got to the point where the whole mixture started fizzing. I've used 70% rubbing alcohol, thought the alcohol was evaporating too fast, then tried witch hazel and it dried out quickly again. There's no way for me to test indoor humidity, but the outdoors is always over 50% so I have no clue why it's drying out so fast! There's literally only enough time to fill half a round mold before the mixture dries out and can never be molded again. Has anyone had a problem like this? Should I use some oil to keep it moist? :think:
Here's my recipe for one bath bomb, which I multiply by the number I want to make at once, up to 5 maximum:
148g baking soda
74g citric acid
1 teaspoon white kaolin clay
3 ml fragrance oil
0.5 ml dye colorant diluted in witch hazel
Spritzing with 70% alcohol or witch hazel

 

[Dominique]

I've had this before! Only had it with 2 batches, and after that never again. I still don't really know what went wrong back then, but I thought it had something to do with my epsom salts. But since you don't use any 'extra' ingredients, I find it hard to tell what the exact problem is since I don't even know what went wrong with mine. Personally I'm not into spritzing alcohol with water, alcohol or witch hazel, because it's different each batch. If I were you, I would try adding some oils and look if that works for you.

 

[HappyGoNaturally]

I've never made them using clay before, but my guess is that the clay is hardening. Have you made these using a cornstarch recipe with some carrier oil?

 

[TBandCW]

I'd add a little water to your recipe.

 

[lsg]

I would add some melted cocoa butter to the recipe.

 

[Dahila]

what about adding the Cream of Tartar, ? Clay tends to crack them

 

[peach]

I would agree about the clay perhaps drying them out. Have you made them with clay before? Also, yes, I'd try adding a bit of oil to the mix, too!

 

[Dahila]

Well I have two batches of bb and they came out wonderfully When they are to dry you need to spray with 70% RA

 

[Bonanza]

Thank you for all the replies! Over the past 3 weeks of making fizzies, I no longer have the issue with the mixture drying out too fast. Turns out the A/C was making the air too cold or dry, resulting in a super fast drying mixture! I now keep the vents closed and also incorporate oils in every single bath bomb mixture to maintain moisture.
The reason I added clay was because I have heard it makes rock hard bath bombs, is this not the case?

 

[Dahila]

I heard that corn starch make them rock hard , I take some of my Corn starch and add kaolin , but not much. Of course I am not expert in it, rather the beginner