Let's talk about relaxation. In particular, about home relaxation and on a budget.
Here's my ultimate formula for a simple yet effective home SPA: warm water + bath bombs + candles + relaxing music. Sounds good?
Luckily, with these easy-peasy homemade bath bombs, you'll be able to give yourself some well deserved SPA time at home and in no time.

Don't you just love getting soaked in a warm bath filled with relaxing and comforting flavors?
I'm sure you do.
And if you're a mom, taking a bath is probably one of the easiest and the most available treatments that you can afford without getting out of the house.
It is especially true for those snowy and cold days when you want to bring some extra warmth into your life.
Before I compiled this post, I've been browsing the Internet for good and affordable diy bath bombs recipes.
Unfortunately, most of the recipes required some kind of investment, like plastic molds or special type of salt.
Since I'm trying to live frugally, I wanted a recipe that is basic, requires no or little money and as effective as the other fancy bath bombs recipes.
And today, I'll gladly share with you my homemade bath bombs recipe that even a child can make. After you take a bath with these fizzy treats, you'll feel relaxed and at ease.
Before we begin, there are a couple notes that I want to add.
- Make sure that the food coloring you'll be using is non water based. It's important. Otherwise, the bath bomb mixture will start to fizz before you even pack it into the molds and all your efforts will be for nothing. Powdered dye is a best choice.
- As I said, the process is really easy, but it's important to keep your eye on the amount of liquid you're adding. If you add too much, the mixture will start to fizz and you'll have to toss it. That's what actually happened to my very first take on bath bombs.
To be on the safe side, add one teaspoon of a liquid at a time, whisk it and immediately check if you can form a nice clump. The mixture should resemble a damp sand.
If you feel like the mixture is still too dry, add ½ teaspoon of more liquid and check again.
I used red and blue food coloring to make my diy bath bombs more vibrant.
So, after I mixed all the dry ingredients, I split the mixture in half and distributed the food colors among 2 bowls.
As you've noticed, for these homemade bath bombs, I used a muffin tin, which worked out perfectly.
This is regular muffin tin, so for the amount of the ingredients specified in the recipe, I filled them only half way.
If you have a mini-muffin tin, you can pack the cavities with a mixture to the top. However, since mini-muffin tin has twice as more cavities than a regular muffin tin, you will only use 12 cavities for the bath bombs.
Make sure to pack the mixture very tightly into your mold. It's important! You want your bath bombs to keep it together.
If you want to add some extra decorations to the bath bombs, it's so easy to do so.
Before distributing the mixture among the muffin tin cavities, sprinkle some dried lavender buds on the bottom of each cavity and then pack the mixture.
Dried rose petals are also a great choice for decorations.
As I said, this is an affordable and easy bath bomb recipe.
That being said, the only ingredient that you might be missing is a citric acid. Although many people have it in their pantry, this is not something we use on a regular basis.
You can buy citric acid in a grocery store or online. I bought mine in a bulk spice section in Whole Foods.
For the essential oil, I chose lavender oil. It's been known to relieve stress, calm your mind and body. You can choose whatever oil you like.
As you can see, the process of making homemade bath bombs is really easy and if you have kids, it will be so much fun to engage them in this activity as well.
Recipe
Homemade Bath Bombs
Equipment
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1 cup baking soda
- ½ cup citric acid
- ½ cup corn starch
- 1 teaspoon essential oil of your choice
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2-3 drops food coloring optional
- 4 teaspoon freshly brewed green tea
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine baking soda, corn starch and citric acid.
- Add coconut oil and whisk the mixture thoroughly to break any clumps.
- In a separate small bowl, combine, green tea, essential oil and a food coloring.
- Start adding wet ingredients to your dry ingredients ½ - 1 teaspoon at a time. Work with your fingers to mix and blend the mixture.
- When the mixture starts to clump together when you squeeze it with your fingers, stop adding the liquid. You might need to add less than 4 teaspoons of liquid. Make sure not to add too much at once.
- Fill half way of each tin with bath bombs mixture. It should make about 11 bath bombs.
- If you use mini-muffin tin, you can fill the cavities to the top.
- Press hard to pack the mixture as tight as possible.
- Allow the bath bombs to set in the tray for at least 4 hours before inverting them. For optimal results, leave the bombs to dry overnight.
- Lay out a soft towel and carefully turn the muffin tin onto it. You might want to lightly tap on the tray to release all bath bombs.
- Your bombs are ready for use! Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure that the food coloring you'll be using is non water based. It's important. Otherwise, the bath bomb mixture will start to fizz before you even pack it into the molds and all your efforts will be for nothing. Powdered dye is a best choice.
- It's important to keep your eye on the amount of liquid you're adding. If you add too much, the mixture will start to fizz and you'll have to toss it. That's what actually happened to my very first take on bath bombs.
- If you want to add some extra decorations to the bath bombs, it's so easy to do so. Before distributing the mixture among the muffin tin cavities, sprinkle some dried lavender buds on the bottom of each cavity and then pack the mixture. Dried rose petals are also a great choice for decorations.
- If you have a mini-muffin tin, you can pack the cavities with a mixture to the top. However, since mini-muffin tin has twice as more cavities than a regular muffin tin, you will only use 12 cavities for the bath bombs.
K says
These are so good! I've used other recipes and they haven't been as successful. Also, I use a silicone mini-muffin tin which works really well. Thank you!
Iryna says
K, thank you so much for your comment and a 5-star rating! I'm happy these bath bombs were a success.
Meagan says
Could I use a different oil instead of coconut? Like jojoba or almond oil?
Iryna says
Meagan, sorry for a late response! I haven't tried this recipe with other oils so I can't really say if it would work.
Kelly C says
Excited to try this! Have you tried to make them without green tea? Wondering if I can use another tea or just water because I don’t have any green tea! Thanks!!
Iryna says
Hi Kelly! Yes, you can definitely make them without green tea. Water is fine.
kali says
this is awesome!!! Can't wait to try them!!
Xx
Kali
http://www.lovelaughexplore.com
Debra @ Bowl Me Over says
Love bath bombs and the lavender sounds perfect!
Michelle | A Dish of Daily Life says
I'm not very good about relaxing but I need to do it more! I'd definitely like to try try this! Pinning!
Iryna says
Thanks Michelle!
I hear you. When you're a mom, it's so difficult to find some time for yourself. But it's definitely something we should try doing more often.
Cristina Mandeville says
If I haven't done so, I would love to invite you over at Blogger Spotlight Link and Pin-it Party! It runs every Thursdays, 7pm PST until Tuesdays, 7pm. We pin all the entries and you will be seen on five blogs. Hope to see you there!
Kim says
I just started using EOs and this is a great recipe to add to my collection and they look divine!!!
Iryna says
For sure! This is a very easy recipe with minimal ingredient. You'll like it.:)