I used to love taking relaxing salt baths when I first got married. Now, most days, bath time just involves me washing many tiny fingers, toes and heads of hair. No complaints, but definitely not as relaxing!
Benefits of Salt Baths
Salt baths are great for much more than just relaxation. Of course, a soothing salt bath is great for that too, but the benefits go well beyond just being a soothing end to a stressful day. They make a great DIY gift!
Benefits of salt baths include:
- Stress relief
- Reducing muscle aches
- Improving circulation
- Headache relief
- Speeding up wound healing (don’t use on direct open wounds)
- During illness, especially respiratory illness
- To help mineral absorption and improve sleep in children
- For acne, eczema or other skin problems
- Improving skin hydration
Skin Boosting Ingredients
Bath salts can be as simple as just using a salt or magnesium salt on its own. Options include:
- Epsom Salts– Magnesium sulfate (epsom salt) is an inexpensive way to get the benefits of magnesium in a bath.
- Magnesium Flakes– Magnesium chloride flakes are another way to add the benefits of magnesium. I especially love using epsom salts or magnesium flakes since the magnesium has many added benefits of its own.
- Dead Sea Salt– Contains 21 minerals and is great as a base for bath salts. People flock to the dead sea for the health benefits and using dead sea salt is a way to get the benefits at home. I love this pre-made moisturizing dead sea bath salt soak.
- Baking Soda– We’ve used baking soda in detox baths for years. It isn’t recommended for everyday use, but adding a little baking soda to a bath once a week or so is a great way to keep skin clear.
From there, any array of optional ingredients can be added for additional benefits:
- Essential Oils– Any essential oil that is safe for skin use can be added to a salt bath. Since oil and water don’t mix, add the oil to the salt and then add to the water.
- Spices– Sounds crazy, but many kitchen spices can be added to a bath for a soothing effect. Most common are cinnamon and ginger powder.
- Oils– Adding oils to the salts helps moisturize skin and stops the drying effect of the salt. Some people find salt on its own too drying. Mixing in a little oil (like coconut, almond, jojoba or argan) can help.
Bath Salts- Ingredients
- 2 cups epsom salts
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 1/4 cup dead sea salt (optional)
- 30 drops of lavender essential oil (Optional- use the code “WellnessMama” at this link to save 10% on the essential oils I use)
- 10 drops of peppermint essential oil
- 2 Tablespoons oil of choice (coconut, almond, jojoba, argan, etc)
Bath Salts- Instructions
- Mix all ingredients in a medium size bowl.
- Store in an air-tight jar and use 1/4 cup per bath.
Pre-Made Bath Salts
There are some great options for pre-made bath salts if you aren’t a fan of making your own. I personally like this dead sea salt based bath salt since it is moisturizing and smells great (without artificial scents or perfumes). Make sure to choose a bath salt that is perfumes, dyes and synthetic chemicals.
Other Ways to Use Salt and Magnesium:
- In soothing bath fizzies (here is my favorite recipe)
- or After-birth bath fizzies
- In natural detox bath recipes
- In homemade magnesium oil
- To make homemade magnesium body butter
Ever take a salt bath? What do you put in yours? Tell me in the comments below!
I noticed that you do not “bake” the salts to avoid the moisture. Any reason why not? I have not tried this method but am looking for a way to keep my gifts from solidifying. TIA you are lovely!
You could do that. I just break up the salts before adding.
Hello, I was just wondering if there was an expiration date for the bath salts recipe? Like if I gift it to someone is there a specific amount of time they should use it within? Thank you!
I would use within a couple of weeks.
Bath salts don’t spoil. They can get lumpy if they get damp, their perfumes or other volatile components can evaporate and leak away to become weaker, but the salts won’t go bad in the sense a wet product might.
I’m concerned with the amount of pressure building up in my glass bottle I used to store it in. Each time I open the lid it releases pressure. I’ve read other articles about exploding bath salts. Any suggestions on storing this recipe to avoid an explosion?
Hello, I love this recipe and was going to make some as gifts but now I’m really worried about the jars exploding. Does this happen because of the baking soda? Would it be safer to omit it as I’ll be sending them through the post?
I’d love to make bath salts as gifts. I am concerned however. Do I need an emulsifier since the salts contain essential oils which will be put into water?
No, the oils combine really well with the salts and then are easily mixed into the warm bath water.
Is there a response yet from the original poster regarding the bath salts turning hard after storage as many above have stated? Is there a remedy to this? Thank you.
If your bath salts harden, simply take a fork or another utensil and “fluff” it up a bit before adding to the water.
I’m just wondering if you have to wait for this to dry before you put it in a jar as a gift? Thanks
You can transfer to smaller containers immediately.
What size of jar does this fit in…1/2 pint or pint?
Pint and a half
Although the reaction between MgSO4 and NaHCO3 produces an acid (sodium bisulfate, as used for instance in toilet cleaner), I don’t think it would create enough heat to cause an explosion, nor would it generate pressure by generating gas. However, with the base oil in there, I could see the acid causing a runaway hydrolysis reaction wherein faty actids are released. That could generate the heat.
“Ever take a salt bath?” Well, since soap is a salt, technically if you use soap you’re taking a salt bath!
How is soap a salt please? I make soap, and not a single recipe calls for any kind of salt.
In general salts are products of reactions of acids with bases/alkali. Soaps are salts of fatty acids with alkali.
If you look at the label of most commercial soaps, they’re stated in a way that makes their salt nature explicit. So for instance if an ingredient is listed as sodium tallowate, that’s telling you the positive ion (with the “-ium” ending) is sodium, which came from a base, and the negative ion (with the “-ate” ending) was from fatty acids of tallow.
If you’re making soap by kettle process, the fatty acid and glycerol (which does not form a salt but is just mixed in as part of the product) are contributed by breakdown of the glycerides (mostly triglycerides) from the fats and oils, as catalyzed by the alkali you’re adding that contribute the positive ion to the salt that is your soap.
Of course if you’re taking a bath with soap, the water doesn’t get VERY salty, because presumably you’re not trying to make the bath into a soap solution, but just use enough to wash with. With bath salts you really are making the bath salty.
MEh… way to share Katie… way to share!
Isn’t bath salt illegal?
I stored mine in a mason jar. After about 3 weeks it was hard and essential oils seemed to seep to the bottom. Any advice?
Not for sure what I did wrong. But when I opened my jar to use these they were all stuck in the jar hard. I had to use my spoon to dig them out of the jar. What did I do wrong?
Let the oils dry into the salt for 24 hours before putting it into your containers. Store away from heat I keep mine in linen closet. You can also reduce baking soda by half to help prevent exploding jars. I also add a little vit E oil.
What would you add for color, as your Pinterest picture shows?
I made this and I had the same problem and some of you I see, I put the salts in a glass bottle with a cork for a top and just one day the cork up and popped off. The glass didn’t break thank goodness. But is was quite a scare and the salts flew everywhere. But I do love this recipe it’s been a month and the oils are as fragrant as when I made it.
Hi, I am wondering what your thoughts are on using Dead Sea salt in bath salts? Perhaps substituting Dead Sea salt for Himalayan salt or Magnesium flakes?
I had the same problem with my first batch of bath salts. I live in AZ so I thought that because I tried this recipe in the middle of summer, the heat caused it all to melt in the jar and become something that I didn’t think I wanted to put in my bath water. After reading some of the comments, sounds like the same thing is happening to others. I adjusted my recipe and added half of the essential oils and the salt stays nice and loose and still has that beautiful scent, however, the second you put it in the bath water, the scent is gone 🙁 Any recommendations from others for adjustments I could make to maintain the smell of the lavender once I’ve added it to my water, or is this happening even with the full concentration of oils in the original recipe?
Did you ever figure this out? I’m having the same issues with the aroma once I add them to the bath and I’m not sure what to do about it.
I used this recipe and made a big batch of salts for gifts. When I went to test one out it was hard as a rock. What did I do wrong?