Homemade Bath Bomb Recipe (Great DIY Gift!)

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Beauty » Homemade Bath Bomb Recipe (Great DIY Gift!)

There’s something incredibly relaxing about a warm bath, and this homemade bath bomb recipe makes it even better! There are thousands of bath bomb options available, but it’s easy to make your own with natural ingredients. Kids and adults alike love them and they make a great gift.

While they can cost up to $9 each to buy, you can make a whole batch for just a few dollars!

DIY Bath Bomb Recipe

When I was younger, I loved bath bombs. I’ve avoided them as I’ve gotten older though because store-bought versions often use artificial ingredients, dyes, and fragrances. For a while, I just used bath salts in my bath water when I wanted to unwind, but I missed having a bath bomb.

These homemade bath fizzies are a great solution! They’re made with nourishing sea salt or Epsom salts, alkalizing baking soda, and fizzing citric acid with a nourishing oil base. I’ll add different essential oils or even dried herbs depending on my mood. Peppermint, eucalyptus, or lavender essential oils are a few ideas.

If you need a gift idea for an Easter basket, Mother’s Day, Christmas, or even a birthday, then DIY bath bombs are a great option.

How to Make a Natural Bath Bomb Recipe

Bath bombs only take seconds to make, so it’s important to have the ingredients on hand and measured before you start. Once the water hits the citric acid they start to fizz and you’ll need to work fast. Most of the ingredients are pantry staples in many homes, but make sure you have these on hand:

Baking Soda

The backbone of this recipe is alkalizing baking soda. It complements the acidic citric acid and helps with the fizzing reaction. It’s a frequent ingredient in my detox baths and can even help soothe sunburn.

Citric Acid

You might not have citric acid sitting on your pantry shelf, but you’ll need it for this recipe. Citric acid is what gives us the fizzing reaction that makes bath bombs feel like bathing in champagne.

Corn Starch or Arrowroot

Corn starch provides the silky feel that we all love from bath bombs. I usually use organic cornstarch in this recipe (and my natural deodorant). Arrowroot also works but doesn’t provide quite as silky of a finished product.

Liquid Ingredients

These are all very versatile and you can pick any combination you have on hand. You’ll need some kind of:

  • Oil: Pick a simple oil like olive oil, almond oil, or coconut oil. If you’re feeling fancy use sea buckthorn, argan, or apricot oil. You could also create your own blend with several different oils.
  • Salt: Stick to basic sea salt or kick it up a notch with Epsom salt or your favorite salt for this bath bomb recipe.
  • Liquid: Basic water will work, but I also love using organic witch hazel for some extra skin-soothing. Some people find that the bath bombs stick together better with witch hazel.

Scents and Colors

There are so many options here. Use your favorite essential oils, add dried herbs and flowers, or make them scent-free. Some options include:

  • Lavender and Vanilla or Rose and Ylang-Ylang… or just use your imagination!
  • Kids love the fizzy action of bath bombs! I’m pretty cautious with essential oils around young kids so I use kid-safe blends when making them as gifts for my kids.
  • You can even add some natural food coloring to change the color.

The Best Essential Oils for Bath Bombs

While there are a lot of different oils that smell good, not every essential oil is the best option here. Some essential oils are more irritating to… ahem… sensitive tissues. Oils like cinnamon, clove, ginger, and lemongrass are more prone to irritating skin.

The recipe below uses a .5% dilution of essential oils (that’s 1/2 percent, NOT 5 percent), which shouldn’t cause problems for most people. And of course, if you tend to be more sensitive, then dried herbs are a gentler option. Here are some gentle, skin-friendly essential oils that also smell great!

Herbs for Bath Bombs

If you want to add some skin-soothing herbs or dried flowers here are some options. Keep in mind that if the pieces are too large, the bath bombs won’t hold together, so I wouldn’t mix in whole leaves or flowers. These herbs are generally safe, especially in such low amounts, but do your research to see which ones will work for you.

Homemade Bath Bomb Recipe Equipment

These are easy enough to make but for a fancier and more uniform product, it helps to also have:

DIY Bath Bomb Tutorial

Making a homemade bath bomb recipe is a great project for kids to help with. Some DIY beauty recipes (especially homemade soap) require precise measuring and handling harsh chemicals like lye, so they aren’t great to make with children around. These bath bombs are the opposite and make for a fun project to do with kids. They’re simple to make with kid-safe ingredients and are completely versatile. Let the kids think of ways to mix up the scents, colors, and other fun customizations.

Bath bombs are a great way to relax in the tub after a long day of dealing with kids, cooking, and all the other activities that motherhood entails. If you’ve never tried them, I highly encourage it. It’s one of my favorite things to do at the end of the day.

bath bombs recipe
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3.80 from 44 votes

DIY Bath Bomb Recipe

This easy bath bomb recipe features simple, nourishing ingredients for a relaxing bath. Great for kids and adults alike!
Prep Time5 minutes
Active Time5 minutes
Drying time2 days
Total Time2 days 10 minutes
Yield: 23 ounces
Author: Katie Wells

Materials

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (baking soda, citric acid, corn startch, and sea salt) and stir well.
  • In a small bowl combine the carrier oil, vanilla extract, essential oils, and natural dye if using.
  • Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and work it together with your hands until its crumbly.
  • Add in the dried flowers or herbs if using.
  • Spritz the witch hazel or water onto the bath bomb mixture, mixing well with your hands to combine. Do this just until the mixture holds together when squeezed without crumbling. It should feel like wet sand. You may need to add slightly more witch hazel if it hasn't achieved this consistency yet.
  • Firmly press the bath bomb mixture into silicone molds, muffin tins, ice cube trays, or bath bomb molds.
  • Gently turn the molds over onto a flat surface to remove the bath bombs and allow to dry for 48 hours, or until hardened.

Notes

  • Storage: Keep the bath bombs in an airtight container away from moisture.
  • Shelf Life: About 6 months. 

Non-Toxic Pre-Made Bath Bombs

I finally found some natural bath bombs that use a similar recipe to mine. These are gorgeous and use only natural ingredients. They’re also much bigger than most bath bombs and last longer in a bath. I’ve been sending them as gifts lately and my friends are loving them too!

Bath Bomb Troubleshooting

Although this recipe is easy and doesn’t have a ton of ingredients, they can be a little tricky to make sometimes. The key is to add the right amount of liquid and work quickly when molding.

  • Bath bomb sticks to mold: You may have used too much liquid or didn’t remove them from the mold quickly enough.
  • Bath bombs fall apart: Either too much or too little liquid or they may have been left in the mold too long.
  • Bath bombs cracking when dry: too much moisture in the mix or humidity in the air.
  • Bath bombs sink in the tub: too much moisture or humidity or they haven’t dried long enough.
  • Bath bombs don’t fizz enough: They might not have had enough time to harden, or they weren’t wrapped before storage and they had a reaction with the air.

More Natural Bath Recipes

Ever made your own bath bombs? Do you have any favorite scents or herbs you’d add to these? Share below!

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

278 responses to “Homemade Bath Bomb Recipe (Great DIY Gift!)”

  1. Crystal Avatar
    Crystal

    The first list of ingredients includes cornstarch or arrowroot powder. In the recipe portion of the blog, neither is listed. Is it needed?

  2. Gina B Avatar

    I assume the Cornstarch/arrowroot is added with dry ingredients but I don’t see it listed on actual recipe just in the prologue? Would like to know how much please?

  3. Linda Avatar

    Hi There,How many bath bombs do these make please,and also I have just started making my own,and my daughter is the tester lol. It is possible to increase the Epson Salts and decrease the carrier oil. My daughter thought the bath afterwards was a bit slippery.Thank you Linda

    1. Katie Wells Avatar

      I did have any issues with them when we were on septic… but maybe check with a plumber if you’re worried?

  4. Delinda Bodrero Avatar
    Delinda Bodrero

    I read on another DIY site that you should not use citric acid in bath bombs for kids. Is that true? what would you recommend to use instead for children?

  5. Leonie Avatar
    Leonie

    Hi, so Ive made these, will give them a go in tomorrow’s bath. Just checking they’re safe for babies/toddlers after reading about that lady in the comments about her burning ‘lady parts’ ; ) Im sure it will be all good! x

  6. Larissa Avatar

    Made this recipe with vinegar instead of citric acid, it wasn’t very fizzy. I guess the vinegar reacted with the baking soda before I put the mixture into the molds.
    This recipe also has too much liquid so the bath bombs will take longer to harden and will crumble
    when you take them out of the molds.
    didn’t have any problems with expanding, although I didn’t use witch hazel.

    Still love this recipe though, works great.

  7. Sarah Avatar

    I made these and used one last night. Everything was great about it (fizzy, smelled amazing, the oil felt wonderfully moisturizing as I toweled off…)
    I went to bed and woke up a few hours later with a horrible achy/burning vaginal pain I’ve never before experienced. I’ve never used citric acid before so I wonder if I reacted to it.
    Can you please offer any input or idea you may have? I gave some as gifts (including to my daughter in law who is pregnant with my grandson). Should I tell the recipients not to use them??? I did follow the recipe precisely, using water instead of witch hazel.
    Thank you!!! ?

    1. Katie Wells Avatar

      I’ve never had anyone experience that before after using them so I’m not sure… Did you have any other symptoms or reactions?

      1. Kristin Avatar
        Kristin

        My guess would be choice of essential oil? Some are irritants. I’ve gotten some good rashes with certain essential oils in the bath.

  8. Heather Avatar

    I ordered the Gaea bath bombs that you recommended from Amazon. I just received them today and disappointed to see PEG and Parfum as an ingredient. Did they reformulate since this post? Do you have another suggestion?

  9. Jenn Avatar

    The method as described is the reason people’s bombs are reacting prematurely. You should mix in your oils into your baking soda, then add all your other dry ingredients and mix well. Then add some witch hazel to a spray bottle and spritz a few spritzes into the dry and mix together. Do this repeatedly until the mix just holds its form. You should be able to press it into your mold and remove it right away after tapping lightly on the mold with a spoon. You don’t need to grease your molds.

  10. Rachel Avatar

    I also had the problem many people described of these exploding out of the molds and being kind of disastrous!

    The link provided for clean bath bombs goes to a space heater…has anyone found a clean bath bomb available for purchase?

    1. Jojo Avatar

      I was wondering the same thing as I could only find 3.4 oz of citric acid,
      so I was wondering how many half would make

      1. Jamie Larrison Avatar

        The recipe makes 23 ounces, so half would be about 11.5 ounces. How many bath bombs it makes depends on the size of your molds. So you would just divide the total amount (11.5 ounces) by the cavity size of your molds.

  11. Raven Avatar

    How long do these bath bombs last? Is it 6 months like the ones you buy in the store or does it go bad a little sooner

  12. Melissa Dwyer Avatar
    Melissa Dwyer

    Hi,
    I will be looking at making some bath bombs but first I have a question. Following these measurements, how many bath bomb moulds should I expect to fill? (rough estimate) Just so I can be prepared and not have lots of left over mixture that has to be discarded.
    Thankyou 🙂

    1. Kathleen Richards Avatar
      Kathleen Richards

      If you have left overs, you can use it as foot soak crumbles! Just store in a baggie in the freezer or refrigerator.

  13. Agata Avatar

    If the pre-made bath bombs Katie suggested are unavailable on AMZN, here’s another option from Life Around 2 Angels – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MFGN8S5/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=wellnessmama-20&linkId=1f8780c1ebcf8bb36aee0f3f61836817&language=en_US
    I got these as present last year and fell in love. They don’t stain the tub, smell amazing, leave my skin soft and contain non-toxic ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Magnesium Sulfate Grapeseed Oil, Olive Oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Vitamin E, Touch of Fragrance, FDA Approved Colorants,Flower Petals, Glitters, Aqua

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