by Lauren Mccarthy

Created on: August 22, 2009

There are essentially 3 main ingredients to a bath bomb. Baking soda, citric acid and a little water in a spray bottle will create a successfully fizzy enjoyable bath experience. Other additions and variations are optional however can add to the quality and benefits of your bath bomb.

The most basic recipe I have found has the following ingredients:

2 cups baking soda

1 cup citric acid

Spray bottle with tap water

A couple of other variations to consider:

1 cup baking soda

cup citric acid

cup corn starch

2 tablespoons sunflower or almond oil or similar, nut oils work well

3/4 tablespoon water or a combination of water and glycerine, or herb or flower water and glycerine

1/2 to 2 teaspoons essential oils depending on the strength of the oil, if in doubt use less and increase next time if you think that would be better

teaspoon Vitamin E oil

teaspoon borax - an emulsifier

vegetable or other natural colorant (food colouring works, make sure there is no added sugar though

OR

1 cup baking soda

cup citric acid

cup epsom salts

2 tablespoons grape seed, sunflower or almond oil

tablespoon mix of water and liquid glycerin

teaspoon essential oil

Methods can vary slightly but the process is pretty standard and requires few tools and little effort. Best results will come when your dry ingredients are finely ground. A sieve, kitchen whiz/grounder (specifically for this purpose) or pestle and mortar can all be helpful tools.

Wet ingredients are mixed together and rubbed through the dry ingredients to ensure all components are evenly distributed. Then the moulding process can begin. Start with just a couple of spritzes of water and see if your mixture will hold together when squeezed in your hands. If not add another spritz of water one at a time until it does.

Almost anything can be used as a mould. Often empty plastic containers lying around in the kitchen are useful, as well as packaging for kid's toys, other bathroom products the list goes on. Anything that resembles a mould in a shape you like will usually work fine. I like to use cookie cutters, there is a huge range of shapes available, they are cheap to buy and easy to clean up afterwards. Of course you can always hand mould them too for that extra creative personal touch.

I'd suggest starting by just making one mould to make sure your mixture if of the right consistency. If that one successfully comes out of the mould in one piece, then

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