About
When you DIY versus buy, you can make your bath bombs fizzier, bubblier and as explosive as you wish—simply play with ingredient proportions. As an added treat, these make skin feel super soft.
Directions
1 In a large bowl, add baking soda, Epsom salt, citric acid and cornstarch. Whisk vigorously.
2 In a second bowl, mix olive oil, water, essential oil and food coloring. There’s always a chance food coloring can get in the hair, especially if you have blondies like Goldie. Don’t worry, it washes out—but you may want to use shower caps or steer clear of darker colors.
3 Add the liquid mix from the second bowl to the first bowl, drizzling in just a little at a time. Now’s your chance to add more food coloring or more water. You’ll know when to stop if you use your hands and what you’ve got feels a bit like ‘sandy-beach’ consistency and begins to stick to itself.
4 Now fill both sides of your round mold with the sandy substance, without it heaping over the sides. When you press the two halves together, they will officially create whole balls.
5 Let dry for a few hours, remove the molds, and get your babes ready to bathe like mad scientists!
The Sci Behind the DIY
Bath bombs are snazzier than soap because they combine fizzing bubbles and soothing salts that are used to treat sore muscles. That makes this hack fun for your kids and potentially relaxing for you once they go to bed. Bath bombs ‘explode’ in water because of a chemical reaction taking place between ingredients. Baking soda and citric acid are like peanut butter and jelly: better together. Combines, they create all kinds of wildly fizzy bubbles filled with carbon dioxide gas. Changing the ratio of these two ingredients will ultimately change the fizz factor and up the ante on bath time. Part of the fun is making a whole bunch of bombs and experimenting to see which ones cannonball and which ones belly flop, all the while yelling ‘geronimooooo!’
Leave a comment