Did my space heater ruin my bath bombs?

[Christinafko]

I made a batch of bath bombs 2 days ago (Sunday night) and they came out great and were drying nicely too and then today they were in a room where I had left my space heater on by accident while I was out of the house and now they are cracking! It was a smaller room so it got pretty warm and it's raining today too. Do you think the humidity and the space heater worked together or maybe just the space heater to crack my bath bombs or maybe it's just my recipe?? Ugh. They looked so good this morning too! Thanks.

Also, my recipe is

-1/2c baking soda
-1/4c epsom salt
-1/4c corn starch
-1/4c citric acid
-1/2 tbsp almond oil
-1/2 tbsp water and I mix in my liquid 'soap making' colorants with the water
-Essential oils

I mix the baking soda, epsom salt, and corn starch together with a whisk. Then I mix in the almond oil and essential oil combination into the dry ingredients with my (gloved) hands. After that I mix in the water/colorant combination with my hands also. And last I mix in the citric acid with a whisk and then my hands too. Do you think that maybe my recipe is just off? My bombs look great right after being molded and I leave them in the molds for a day also. Then I take them out and let them dry for another day or so if they need it. I've been making small batched that yield 2 large bombs while I work on my recipe. I thought this one was good, but my bombs are cracked 1-2 days later now. So does it look like my recipe is off or maybe they were cracking b/c of leaving my space heater on? Or because of the rain today or a combination of all these things?? Ugh why are bath bombs so hard?!

 

[TBandCW]

Your recipe looks good so I think it's probably the heat and humidity.

 

[icg]

Yeah, the base recipe seems fine. But maybe as the water evaporates and the heat makes the bath bombs expand a little, the cracks formed by the water expands as well? I don't use any water in mine and only use oils and some rubbing alcohol. I've had mine melt before because I added too much coconut oil so have an even balance of liquids.

 

[Christinafko]

Thanks ladies. I made some more when it wasn't raining (humidity is still around 60-some % though) Anyway, no rain and no heater lol. But I made some yesterday and they looked good and over night last night they expanded just slightly and are cracked again! UGH. Could I not be packing them tight enough or taking them out of the mold too early or something? I usually pack them gently but firmly without pressing too hard?? And leave in the molds for a few hours or more. When they do expand and crack they also turn super delicate. I touch them too hard and they just explode even if they seemed like they were drying hard before. I'm at a loss! I make soaps that are based on book characters and wanted to do bath bombs too and I promised a friend I'd have some for her characters as promotion for her new book! UGH. I'll keep googling why this might be happening but if anyone has any suggestions I'd love them lol.

Could I substitute rubbing alcohol for my water? I tried making ones with just oil before and they didn't turn out any better. They didn't dry hard and crumbled.

:headbanging:

 

[shunt2011]

The water is causing it. Also sounds like it's too wet. I use alcohol most times but only if it needs to be a bit wetter. I use Cocoa Butter to pretty much hold them

 

[Christinafko]

Should I just take the water out completely or substitute an oil or rubbing alcohol for it? I use the water to mix my colorants in which are liquid colorants and are water soluble.

 

[shunt2011]

I can't speak for the liquid colorants as I've not used them in my mix. I generally use bath bomb colorants or micas and just mix them into the dry ingredients really well. I don't use any water at all. I use cocoa butter in the mixture and if it's still a bit too dry I sprit with alcohol. You'll need to do some trial and error I think. Though you may be able to mix your colors into the alcohol. I would give that a try with a little bit.

 

[Christinafko]

Thanks everyone. I have some shea butter on hand so I'm going to try adding that in and forgoing the water, and use alcohol if needed. I have a little bit of clay I'm going to mix in this time too to see if I can get them nice and hard for shipping too. *CROSSES ALL THE FINGERS AND TOES* lol

 

[Christinafko]

Thanks for the help everyone! I took out the water and added shea butter and some clay and got some beautiful bombs now! They're dry now and out of the molds but how long do you guys feel it takes for your bombs to really harden?

 

[icg]

Thanks for the help everyone! I took out the water and added shea butter and some clay and got some beautiful bombs now! They're dry now and out of the molds but how long do you guys feel it takes for your bombs to really harden?

They look amazing! Mine take around 2-5 days to dry but I can use it right away.

 

[Christinafko]

I think I need more liquid in these bombs. The green and white ones had a little less oils than the other batches b/c they were my first batch trying it without water and they're kinda crumbly now. They are all also still pretty soft, not really hardening (despite a little bit of clay and some cornstarch). I think it might be because I only added oil to these? (almond and melted shea) Could spritzing the mixture with witch hazel help to keep them from being crumbly and also help harden them?

 

[icg]

I think I need more liquid in these bombs. The green and white ones had a little less oils than the other batches b/c they were my first batch trying it without water and they're kinda crumbly now. They are all also still pretty soft, not really hardening (despite a little bit of clay and some cornstarch). I think it might be because I only added oil to these? (almond and melted shea) Could spritzing the mixture with witch hazel help to keep them from being crumbly and also help harden them?

You should wait at least 3 days to see if it gets harder. I only add oil or polysorbate 80, and occasionally a bit of rubbing alcohol. Haven't had problems. When they don't mold properly or I think it's gonna break, I add a bit more oil. Did you melt your shea butter before adding it? My experience with clay is that it takes some time to fully harden, especially if the bath bomb is big.

 

[Christinafko]

Yeah I melted the shea butter before adding. I dunno what I did, because some of them are looking like they are drying nicer now and some just poof exploded at the slightest touch, but they were from the same batch/mixture. I just tried a new batch that's less dry, I put my oils in it and then spritzed with witch hazel until I got a good consistency. I guess we'll see in a couple days! Also, they are bigger bombs too. I usually let them sit in the molds for several hours to overnight and then take the top mold off and let them sit for a couple hours then rotate them, do you think doing that could be affecting the bombs negatively?

I'm determined to figure this out! lol (Thanks for all the input/help!)

 

[icg]

Yeah I melted the shea butter before adding. I dunno what I did, because some of them are looking like they are drying nicer now and some just poof exploded at the slightest touch, but they were from the same batch/mixture. I just tried a new batch that's less dry, I put my oils in it and then spritzed with witch hazel until I got a good consistency. I guess we'll see in a couple days! Also, they are bigger bombs too. I usually let them sit in the molds for several hours to overnight and then take the top mold off and let them sit for a couple hours then rotate them, do you think doing that could be affecting the bombs negatively?

I'm determined to figure this out! lol (Thanks for all the input/help!)

I don't keep them in my molds because I only have like 5. I just pop them out, set it on a paper towel, and wait. Adding a lot of liquids and should help them bind together well. I've seen some recipes with a very dry mixture but perfect molding, doesn't work for me here. Not sure but I use 7-8% liquid in my bath bombs because they break if too dry. Yeah, it took me a month to perfect my recipe, my first good bath bomb 2 weeks after starting. Difficult but I guess worth it

 

[Christinafko]

I think I'm gonna try a batch with mooore oil and see what happens. I get a mixture that looks good before molding, I can squeeze it into a mound in my hand but it's also not too wet, but then they are drying soooo dry now that I took the water out (even though I replaced it with shea butter). They're literally drying and the slightest touch like trying to get them out of the mold will either break them in half or just make them poof explode into a mound of sand. I dunno, maybe it's the humidity and heat here. I might try without emailing salt or way less at least too. Wish me luck! Lol

 

[icg]

I think I'm gonna try a batch with mooore oil and see what happens. I get a mixture that looks good before molding, I can squeeze it into a mound in my hand but it's also not too wet, but then they are drying soooo dry now that I took the water out (even though I replaced it with shea butter). They're literally drying and the slightest touch like trying to get them out of the mold will either break them in half or just make them poof explode into a mound of sand. I dunno, maybe it's the humidity and heat here. I might try without emailing salt or way less at least too. Wish me luck! Lol

Ya, good luck, think the amount of liquid in your recipe may be causing it

 

[Christinafko]

Thanks for all the help! I reduced the cornstarch and epsom salt in my recipe and doubled my almond oil and shea butter and my bombs are looking great! The ones I made this morning are already hardening nicely and are stable, unlike my previous too-dry batches lol. I'm also keeping silica packets with my bombs on the real humid days here too


These are th bombs I promised my friend for her book release to do a giveaway with!