How much cream of tartar

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

I swear I looked and looked through countless old posts... for those of you that use cream of tartar in your bath bombs, how much do you use compared to baking soda, citric acid and corn starch? I want it for its hardening properties. Seems like a good way to avoid excess breakage and crumbling.

I did see a lot of people comment on the expense of it. Amazon has it for $8 something a pound for a 2 pound container with free shipping. Or a different seller has it for $7 something a pound when you buy 10 pounds (that's after you include their shipping fee).

On a different note: ideas on how to "glue" a decoration to the outside of a bath bomb? I'm thinking this is NOT a job for my trusty E6000!!

 

[lsg]

You can find the answer to your question here: https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/FAQ/Tub-Fizzies-Bath-Soaks.aspx

Just scroll down "Is there anything else that can be added to make bath fizzies perform better?"

 

[cmzaha]

It looks like the Cream of Tartar is used to replace a portion of the citric acid to prolong fizzing, but in my opinion is much to expensive. I use some kaolin in mine the few times I make bath bombs which is very seldon.

 

[Dahila]

for a thousand grams of powders (all baking and citric, and slsa) I use two tbsp of COT. COT does not add to fizzing but to hardness and smoothness Carolyn :smile:

 

[lsg]

I believe COT is also suppose to prolong the bubbles, if you are using a surfactant in the bath bombs.

 

[Dahila]

oooo that's good then Cmzaha and ISG thank you

 

[cmzaha]

for a thousand grams of powders (all baking and citric, and slsa) I use two tbsp of COT. COT does not add to fizzing but to hardness and smoothness Carolyn :smile:

Taken From WSP: Cream of Tartar is sometimes used to make the fizzing action last longer. If you would like to use cream of tartar, try adding 1/2 to 1/3 the amount of citric acid used in the recipe. https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/FAQ/Tub-Fizzies-Bath-Soaks.aspx

 

[NOLAGal]

I believe COT is also suppose to prolong the bubbles, if you are using a surfactant in the bath bombs.

From my research that is what I learned and what I have tried using. So far it has worked out great.

I used cream of tartar and polysorbate 80 in my last experimental bath bomb batch and it produced a nice foam, not exactly "bubble" but like what you would get from a foam soap when it dispensed onto your hand.

I had no idea about the ratio so just took a guess and used 1/8 cup of cream of tartar in a batch that had 1 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of citric acid. Reading another post here about ratios it looks like I was pretty close, with about 25% of the amount of citric acid.

As far as cost, it's not that expensive if you can buy in a larger quantity. I purchased from here:
https://www.myspicesage.com/cream-of-tartar-p-100.html

$3.75 an ounce is crazy but if you plan on making a lot you can get your cost down quick by volume. Even at 10 pounds you would be getting a pound for what 2 ounces cost you. I figured it costs me almost the same as my citric acid. Which is one of the more expensive ingredients but not that bad. Worth it if you want to add "bubbles" to your bath bombs instead of just fizz.

BTW, my bath bombs were hard too. Not sure if it was from the cream of tartar or other factors that I changed but it very well could have been because of it. I also noticed no change in the fizz so don't think it affects that one way or the other.

Hope that helps.

 

[lsg]

Thanks for the update. It is always good to hear about first-hand experience.

 

[Luviesmom]

For me, that is a lot of of cream of tartar from WSP. Expensive. I do use it but not half amount of citric. Maybe 1/8 . For me helps with bomb smoothness. To each their own. I also use slsa and polysorbate 80.