Have you ever had a refreshing bath with bubbles or bath salts? What if you could use chemistry to create a bath-time treat that incorporated both fizzing bubbles and soothing salts? Such a combination does exist, and it's called a bath bomb.
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In one bowl mix one and one third tablespoons (tbsps.) of citric acid, two and two thirds tbsps. of baking soda and two tbsps. of cornstarch. If you are using Epsom salts, you can also add two teaspoons (tsps.) to the mix.
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In a second bowl mix one tsp. of vegetable oil, one tsp. of water and two drops of food coloring. If you want to include fragrance, also add 15 drops into the mixture. Be sure to rinse and clean the medicine dropper and measuring spoons in between measuring the different ingredients.
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Using a clean medicine dropper, add a few drops of the wet mixture to the dry ingredients in the first bowl. What happens when you add a drop of the wet mixture? You should see it fizz—this is the bath bomb reaction taking place! Because you don't want the bath bombs to react yet, quickly press down on the fizzy spot with the back of a clean spoon. This should stop the fizziness. Mix in the damp spot with the rest of the ingredients in the bowl. Repeat this process until you have added, and thoroughly mixed in, all of the wet ingredients (a few drops at a time) to the dry ingredients.
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Tip: Part of the challenge of making homemade bath bombs is adding the right amount of wet ingredients. If you live in a humid environment, you may not need to add all of the wet ingredients. If the bath bomb mixture appears to continue to puff up even after you have thoroughly mixed in some wet ingredients, then the mixture may be too wet. If this happens, start over making the bath bombs from the beginning, but this time use less water in the recipe. If you find that this first recipe works better using less water, adjust the following bath bomb recipe similarly.
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Use a clean medicine dropper to drop one drop of vegetable oil into each cup on the tray that you will be using. Then use a finger to spread the oil all around each cup's surface.
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Fill one of the tray's cups with the bath bomb mixture. Add a spoonful at a time and use the back of the spoon and/or the palm of your hand to press the mixture down into the cup continually as the mixture is added to the cup. If you are filling multiple cups, evenly divide up the mixture between them.
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In a third bowl combine one tbsp. of citric acid, two tbsps. of baking soda and three tbsps. of cornstarch. If you are using Epsom salts, add in two tsps.
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In a fourth bowl mix one tsp. of vegetable oil, two and one half tsps. of water and two drops of a different food coloring. If you want to include fragrance, also add 15 drops. Be sure to rinse and clean the medicine dropper and measuring spoons in between measuring the different ingredients.
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Use a clean medicine dropper to slowly mix the wet mixture with the dry ingredients in the third bowl, one drop at a time, as you did before, using the spoon to press down on fizzy spots and continually stir the mixture. Fill the tray's cups as similarly as possible to how you filled them for the first bath bomb recipe.
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Let the bath bombs dry. If you are using a muffin tray, dry the bombs overnight or turn off the oven (which was preheated to 170 degrees F) and let them stay in the (turned off) oven for 45 minutes with the oven door closed. If you are using a plastic ice cube tray, dry the bath bombs overnight at room temperature. Once the bath bombs have dried, carefully remove them from the cups.
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Tip: If the bath bombs are very crumbly, the recipes may not have had enough water in them. To fix this, you can remake the bath bombs but try using a little more water.
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Get ready to toss the bath bombs into a bath! Fill a tub with hot (but not scalding) bathwater. Then place the bath bombs in the tub. What happens when the bath bombs are placed in the water? Is a bath bomb made from one recipe fizzier than a bath bomb made from the other recipe? Does one take longer to dissolve than the other one? Which do you think worked best? How do you think the amount of cornstarch in the recipes is related to your results?
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Extra: In this activity you tested your bath bombs in hot bathwater, but they might behave differently in colder water. You could use a stopwatch or timer to see how long they take to dissolve in hot water and then compare it with placing them in cold water. Do the bath bombs take a different amount of time to dissolve depending on water temperature?
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Extra: Instead of citric acid, you could experiment with making bath bombs using citric acid substitutes, such as cream of tartar or lemon juice. How do bath bombs made using a citric acid substitute compare with those made using citric acid?
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Extra: In this activity you tried varying the amount of cornstarch but you could try making bath bombs without any cornstarch. If bath bombs are made that don't have cornstarch, how do they compare with those made with cornstarch? Are they very different?
BodyNurse is a bath bomb manufacturer specializing in the research, development and production of bath products such as natural bath bombs, Shower Steamers, bath salts, handmade soaps, hand soap effervescent tablets and bath gift sets.
We are located in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, with convenient transportation. All our bath products meet international quality standards and are greatly appreciated in a variety of different markets around the world. The factory covers an area of 100 square meters and has more than 200 employees. The factory has passed the Sedex audit of GMPC, ISO22716 and SGS, well-equipped facilities and strict quality control throughout all stages of production, enable us to increase production capacity.
Our production capacity is in the leading position in China. Our monthly output reaches 2 million bath bombs, 3 million tons of bath salts and 100,000 sets of bath gifts. In addition, our excellent design team who are good at developing and designing fashion products will provide you with customized logos and beautiful packaging. MOQ warmly welcome ODM and OEM.
Due to our diverse products and thoughtful customer service, we have gained a global sales network covering the United States, Germany and Southeast Asia. If you are interested in any of our products or would like to discuss custom orders, please do not hesitate to contact us. We only focus on the research and manufacture of bath products for more than 20 years and will continue to do better. Warmly welcome your visit.
