Botanicals in Bath Salts

[Aline]

I see people selling bath salts with rose petals, dried lavender, calendula etc in them so I got a nasty shock when I made some bath salts at Christmas and the botanicals went brown/black and discolored the bath salts too This happened within a week BTW.

I used epsom salts, sea salt and baking powder and I am wondering if it might be the baking powder or epsom salts that caused the reaction.

Anyone else experienced this?

 

[hmlove1218]

I made bath salts with Dead Sea salt for Christmas and I noticed that after the package was opened that the salts started clumping together and turned brown. They had lavender buds in them. The only thing I can think that happened was the salts started reacting with the moisture in the air and pulled the color from the flowers. Before they were opened, the salts were white and the buds stayed purple. I stored them in my bathroom, so I think that was what caused the majority of the humidity.

 

[Aline]

I stored mine in an airtight jar so I don't think it was the humidity....

 

[HerbalEarthling]

Having a slight brain fart here but what salt attracts moisture, one that you shouldn't put into bath bombs? Was that an ingredient?

 

[Aline]

I don't know what salt you are referring to but I did put Epsom salts in it..

 

[SoapStephanie]

Did you try drying the bath salts separately first, and then mix in the petals?

 

[Saponista]

It's possibly the EO's touching the botanicals causing the damage. Some people use tapioca starch to mix the scent into first, then mix the salts and botanicals in. This may be enough to reduce the contact with the botanicals enough to stop discolouration.

 

[lsg]

I would think that botanicals would stop up the bathtub drain.

 

[lillybella]

According to CraftMonkey:
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2012/11/newbie-tuesday-creating-christmas_25.html

do not use Dead Sea salts! It will turn into a clumpy ball of wet and sopping salts in the bag. Dead Sea salts are humectants, meaning they draw water from the atmosphere to the salts. It's a good thing for our skin, a bad thing for a product. If you use 1/4 cup Dead Sea Salts with 1/4 cup Epsom salts, you will end up with a soppy mess. Try using 1 tablespoon: That's a really nice amount. And DO NOT use Dead Sea salts when you're making fizzy bath salts. They will draw water to the bag and this will set off the fizz and you'll end up with a bag of really hard rocks!

 

[Aline]

I did not use dead sea salts. I think I am going to experiment with botanicals in each ingredient to see if it is any one of them - if not then I will know if was the EOs/FOs. I will post my results

 

[SoapStephanie]

I think lillybella intended to post in that other topic I just bumped, haha.

Like I said, try drying it separately first, and then mixing it together. That's how I do it, never had a problems.

 

[Aline]

Nothing is wet in my mix.....

????

 

[SomethingGoodAustin]

Wish I'd read Crafty Monkey's blog on DSS before my recent bath bomb fiasco! Posted about it here:
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=50553

DSS will definitely mess up a batch of bath salts, and it's frustrating that so few soap blogs and seller formularies acknowledge it. Until I posted my tale of woe above and finally received a response (thanks again SoapStephanie!), I had never read anything discussing or even suggesting this tendency--in fact, I've seen the opposite, with several formularies recommending DSS at a very high percentage, even the entire amount.

 

[SomethingGoodAustin]

I did not use dead sea salts. I think I am going to experiment with botanicals in each ingredient to see if it is any one of them - if not then I will know if was the EOs/FOs. I will post my results

Aline, I've read recommendations against using EOs/FOs in bath salts with botanicals due to the possibility of the botanicals becoming soggy and even moldy. I had that happen with my last batch of bath teas--but then again, I also added the now-notorious dead sea salts, so that probably didn't help.

As Saponista and SoapStephanie suggest, I would try either mixing the oils with either tapioca starch or dendritic salt and allowing extra time to dry before mixing all together.

 

[SomethingGoodAustin]

I would think that botanicals would stop up the bathtub drain.

They can--I include a muslin tea bag with my bath teas to avoid any drain issues.

 

[lsg]

What a good idea!