Bath Bomb Recipes?

[Lenimae]

Howdy soapers!!

I'm REALLY wanting to make some rockin bath bombs but don't have any slsa... cannot seem to find it locally... TOTAL BUMMER!! Can anybody pass on a few totally awesome bath bomb recipes that don't involve using slsa? I'm also wondering if it's possible to make bubble bars without this stuff or is there by any chance a substitute for it??

Thanks!!

 

[Hazel]

You don't need slsa to make bath bombs although it is a fun additive. All you need is baking soda and citric acid. Just use 2 parts baking soda mixed with 1 part citric acid and spritz with witch hazel or rubbing alcohol. A basic bomb! You can also use a little bit of oil to help hold them together.

That being said, I use kaolin clay in some recipes to help make them harder. (The one time I used French green clay, it turned gray in the bombs. I was actually happy with the color since I was doing Halloween bombs.) When I don't use clay, I add salts like dendritic, sea or Epsom. I experimented with Dead Sea Salts one time. I used some oil to make it extra luxurious. Mistake! The DDS caused the color and FO to morph and the oil seeped out of the bombs by the next day. I made a note to myself to never do that again. :roll: I kept one of the bombs just to see what would happen to it over time. It developed a pitted surface. I think if I ever use DDS again I wouldn't color it or use oil. Also, I've never had any luck with adding cornstarch. The bombs kept falling apart.

Please don't be offended because I mean this in the nicest way but I do want to mention that it's impolite to ask for recipes. Many members put a lot of time, effort and money into developing recipes. You'll get more assistance if you say what you want to create and ask where you can find information. A lot of the members are very generous and love to help people. You also might be pleasantly surprised because someone might post a recipe.

Now my recipes aren't anything special so I'll post percentages and you can have a starting point. The percentages I use are close to what I've listed below. You also don't have to use as much clay as I added to the recipe. I tend to use more right now because I got a great deal on a large bag of white kaolin clay. :wink: Also, pink clay is pretty in bombs.

50% baking soda
25% citric acid
25% salts (dendritic, sea or Epsom)

60% baking soda
30% citric acid
10% clay

However, this is just what I use for bombs. I know other people have slightly different recipes. Someone mentioned she never uses any oil or spritzes to hold her bombs together.

There have been quite a few discussions about bath bombs. You'll find lots of info if you look through the Bath & Body Forum. You might want to look through the Photo Gallery, too. I've seen some lovely looking bath bombs posted there. The pictures might give you some ideas about coloring and adding botanicals. Plus recently someome posted some great photos of cupcake bombs but I'm not sure if that was in the Photo Gallery. It might have been in the B & B section. But I know I just saw it within the last week or so.

I've never made bubble bars so I don't know if there is a substitute for slsa. You could check out agriffin's blog. She's made bubble bars.

http://www.lovinsoap.com/

 

[Lenimae]

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for the tips, advice and your golden recipes Hazel!

I thought about the fact that asking for recipes may be expressing a bit of discourtesy... I actually intended on reassuring you all that I'm not meaning to sound demanding or insensitive to all of your hard work in any way but it was getting late... I was tired & growing a bit frustrated with unsuccessful searches for important info! :?

I'm quite aware that everyone puts in a lot of hours and a good portion of their of heart & soul trying to master recipes to make them their very own so I'm EXTREMELY grateful for any precious recipes generously passed down! I have taken no offense & will watch my wording a little better next time!

Thank you THANK YOU once again! You've been a great help to me a few times now Hazel... you're an absolute GEM!! :wink:

 

[Hazel]

You're very welcome. You didn't sound demanding or insensitive. You sounded excited and enthusiastic which is why I posted such a long reply. I'm glad I didn't upset you. It's hard sometimes to determine the intent of what is meant when you only see words on a monitor. You don't have any visual or vocal cues to tell when someone is teasing or being mean or nice. Also, sarcasm doesn't come across very well, either.

My bomb recipes aren't golden and it's not like I put a lot of work into them. I just made notes of how much of each ingredient I used and how they held up. Then my testers (nieces) would report back to me on how well they fizzed and how long they fizzed in the tub. Actually, their mother told me. Their feedback was more on the lines of either "it didn't fizz long enough" or "it fizzed a long, long time".

Anyway, the bombs I make are kind of basic with only one additive. Plus you don't have to be really accurate with weighing the ingredients because they'll still fizz well in water. Sometimes I'm a little heavy handed with one ingredient or the other. Sometimes I use oil with them and sometimes I don't. Depends on how ambitious I'm feeling. I do prefer using oil because I found I can use more detailed molds. My nieces love them which is what is important. I only use an ounce or two of oil because I generally don't make a lot of bomb mixture at one time. The oil is usually just enough to get the mix to stick together. I forgot to mention you can also use butters instead of oil and I use FOs at approximately 2% of the batch weight.

So far, I've found FDC liquid dyes work the best for me if I want more color than a clay would provide. I generally squirt several drops on the salt, stir it in and then add it to the mix. The dye leaves the salt darker and bleeds into the mix which makes the bombs a pastel with speckles. I like this look with the bombs with salt so I really haven't experimented with anything else. Brambleberry has some colorants for bombs which are brighter if you wanted a more vivid color. Also, you might want to check out soapqueen.com for info on bath bombs/fizzies. You'll find a lot of info there about making cupcake and other differently shaped bombs. I add the FO to the oil for the clay bombs, stir it together a bit and then slowly add it to the mix. It seems to cut down on fizzing. The other bombs I just mix the FO into some of the salt which is why I like dendritic salt. It absorbs and holds more fragrance.

I like making fun shaped bombs. The pic below is one of the Halloween bombs I did with French green clay. I had hoped for a green rat but it turned gray. Of course, the gray color worked and my niece was thrilled with it. I was thrilled I was able to get the rat out without breaking it into pieces and I thought it was definitely a different type of bomb. (Please excuse the messy counter. I had several projects I was working on and didn't clear the counter to take pics.)



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I can't think of anything else to add. Just ask if you need clarification on anything.

 

[Ravens Craig Apothecary]

On the subject of bath bombs... I am failing miserably trying to make shower steamers. The recipes call for 1.5c bsoda, 2tbs+1tsp water, add eo's and set overnight. Total powdery crumble. I mean fluffy powder. The other one calls for 1c corn starh 2-5 tbs water and eo's, set overnight. Again, disintegrating powder fail. I make bath bombs that are wonderful but friends want shower melts and I thought it wasteful to have nice clays, almond oils and citric acid to just go down the drain. Where can I find out about this in this forum?

 

[shunt2011]

On the subject of bath bombs... I am failing miserably trying to make shower steamers. The recipes call for 1.5c bsoda, 2tbs+1tsp water, add eo's and set overnight. Total powdery crumble. I mean fluffy powder. The other one calls for 1c corn starh 2-5 tbs water and eo's, set overnight. Again, disintegrating powder fail. I make bath bombs that are wonderful but friends want shower melts and I thought it wasteful to have nice clays, almond oils and citric acid to just go down the drain. Where can I find out about this in this forum?

This post is 6 years old. The OP hasn't been here. Please start a new thread and don't pull up old threads as you're not likely to get much of a response to old ones. Welcome to the forum!

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/smf-culture-and-tone.56833/

#7