I love bath bombs (so much!), but I don’t love sitting in a bath of heavy fragrances and foaming agents. So I wanted to create a natural, homemade bath bomb – something that is simple to make, that works and of course, is made from whole food ingredients.
These are so fun to make, and make really great gifts. I learned a few tips to make your bath bomb a big fizzy success. I’ll share those below…
But first let’s talk about the colors!! Because one of the best parts about bath bombs are those bright colors that fill the tub. I’m going to show you how to use whole foods to make beautiful, bright, colors – that’s good for your skin too.
Whole Food Natural Colors:
Freeze dried fruit is going to be your new best friend! It’s fruit that has been dried in a special way, frozen then vacuumed, removing all the water. You get this crisp dry fruit, that is so fragrant and flavorful and bright!!
Because it has no water, you can blend it and it becomes this super pigmented dust – that you can use as a bath bomb color dye.
(ps: try it for coloring/flavoring cake icing too!)
You can find freeze-dried fruit in the supermarket, it comes in strawberry, blueberry, banana, mango… do a fruity, colorful mix.
Natural bath bomb supplies:
- Base Ingredients: Baking soda, citric acid, cornstarch, ground oats, or clay. I read that using epsom salt can cause the bathbomb to fizz prematurely. So I don’t add it.
- Color: Freeze dried fruit, blended into a powder
- Special Ingredient: Buttermilk powder. This is a pro-tip that I picked up – buttermilk will give your bath bomb a bubbly fizz!
- Rubbing Alcohol in a spray bottle: Try to get 90% rubbing alcohol – the less water the better! If you smell the rubbing alcohol in your bath bomb, don’t worry! It will dissipate, leaving just the scent of the oils and fruit powders…
- Mold: You can buy a bath bomb mold, but I used an old Tupperware container. I’ve seen people use silicon molds, cupcake molds…
- Essential Oil: For fragrance and therapeutic benefits – I chose Kid Safe Oils by Plant Therapy so that my little ones can enjoy them too.
Bath Bomb Steps:
Making bath bombs is exactly like baking. The steps are simple, but there is a science to it – and it wants to be precise.
Too wet, and it will fizz. Too dry and it will crumble. Oh, and the amount of humidity in the air will always make a difference… not scared off?
Good! Once you have all your ingredient mixed well in a bowl – spritz the dry ingredients with rubbing alcohol… mixing with your hands as you go.
… just until it can start to hold its shape. Not a spritz more than that!
Now grab your bath bomb mold… aka this Tupperware container – and sprinkle in your details…. the bottom becomes the top, so make it pretty 🙂
And sprinkle in some of the fruit powder…
Then start to pack it. As you pack – say to yourself “pack it right, not tight.”
If it’s too tight, it won’t fizz as nicely. I found the best way to pack it is to overstuff it, slide off the excess, overstuff it again and slide off the excess…
Lightly tapping until it feels nice and full…
flip it over and your bath bomb will slide out – looking all beautiful and begging for a bath!
But, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I know. But, it needs a day to dry out.
Isn’t that pretty!! The purple color is from freeze-dried blueberries and it makes the tub a deep dark blue.
In all, I made three flavor bath bombs – which one would you choose?
- Mango + Cacao Butter + orange essential oil
- Blueberries + Rose Petals + lavender essential oil
- Strawberries + Rose Petals + lime essential oil
- 1 cup baking soda
- 1/2 cup citric acid
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup freeze dried fruit
- 1 tbsp buttermilk powder
- 1 tsp oil
- 20 drops essential oil
- rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle
- In a large bowl, mix the baking soda, cornstarch, citric acid, buttermilk powder
- mix until well combines, no hard lumps
- add the essential oil to the carrier oil
- pour over the dry ingredients and mix well. The oil will form clumps of powder, try to work them out to evenly distribute.
- In a blender, blend the dehydrated fruit with a tablespoon of the bath bomb powder mix. Pour into a separate bowl
- Spritz the bath bomb powder mix with rubbing alcohol, mixing quickly with your hand as you go. You don’t want it to start fizzing.
- Continue just until the powder can hold its shape. Don’t over spray it, you don’t want it getting very wet. Do the same for the fruit powder, just a tiny bit to help stick
- To form your bath bombs: Pack the mold with the bath bomb mix.
You can add dried herbs, Sprinke in the fruit powders on top, in stripes or throughout. - Take the bath bomb out of the mold, and set it to dry. Ideally in a low-humid environment. Dry for 12-24 hours.
- As long as it doesn’t get wet, it will last for a long time! I would try to use it up within the next month, so that it’s fresh and fizzy!
Tips to getting your bath bombs right
How to get big foam, naturally: Most bath bombs are made with SLS to get that big foamy action. But buttermilk gives you a similar effect! If you don’t have it – it’s okay to leave it out, but it’s really more fun when you do!
How to get it from sinking: When you add too much oil to the recipe, it makes the bath bomb heavy and slow. Keep it light, by adding just a drop of oil ( we do need the oil to add in the essential oils safely) And don’t overpack it, or press too hard.
How to get the right ingredients ratio: The golden-ration is: 2 parts baking soda, 1 part citric acid, 1/2 part modulator – it can be clay or cornstarch.
How to stop it from fizzing up: When you make your bath bomb, don’t do it on a very humid day, or on a rainy day. The humidity in the air will affect the recipe. Also when you wet the ingredient to shape your bath bomb, try to use alcohol that is 90% proof.
22 responses to “How to make bath bombs from fruit”
Thank you so much for being transparent and sharing your tips and ideas. We naturals appreciate you!
Hi Kima! Thank you so much!! That’s such a lovely thing to say 🙂
I love this recipe! They turned out beautifully! I have a question. Were there any fruit powder particals floating in the water when using the bath bombs, or did the powders fully dissolve in the water? I’m very picky with my baths and I prefer not having anything float in the water. I thought I should check before I try using fruit powders.
Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe!
Hi Laurie! Yes, you will see a littl tiny bit of the fruity powder in the water – it doesn’t dissolve, but also it doesn’t make a mess or stain or anything like that. But, if you don’t like particles in your bath water – You can place the bath bomb in one of those little muslin bags and then put it in the water 🙂
Love this recipe – my daughter is making it with her friends on her birthday instead of buying them from Lush. Just one question – any suggested alternatives to the buttermilk powder? Those of us who are allergic to dairy might get a reaction? Also, would this mean they become vegan – which would be a great point of difference?
Thank you
Bren
I am wanting to make all natural bath bombs like strawberry lemonade and grapefruit so I have a few questions. First how long and strong will the bombs scent last. Second what would you suggest for the lemonade smell and grapefruit. Thank You
I am wanting to make natural bath bombs like strawberry lemonade and grapfruit and others but read that the oils are fake and harmful so I wanted to ask a few questions about this recipe. First wii you be able to actually smell the fruit enough and how long will the scent last as I am shipping some as gifts.Second what would you recommend for the lemonade and grapefruit? Thank You
I use pure essential oils. You can look up wholesalers online and you’ll find some that get their oils from the country of origin and process them beneficially and ethically. Lemon and Grapefruit essential oils are excellent and would smell amazing.
hi,
wanted to make this vegan! what could i replace with the buttermilk ?? something non expensive too thanks
I omitted the buttermilk powder since I’m vegan and I used epsom salts instead. It worked very well but the bath bomb doesn’t foam up at all.
Thanks for such a beautiful recipe! Could you please advise any ubstitute for rubbing alcohol and cornstarch?
Never seen bath bombs made with fruit before! What a great idea!
Very nice recipe, but I was wondering if there was anything I could substitute for the rubbing alcohol.
I used witch hazel in mine, it worked well.
These recipes sound great! How many bath bombs will this recipe make? Thanks!
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Quick question on this. Did the fruit leave tub stains or stain skin? I know blueberries and strawberries often stain. Thanks!
Hi – no, the fruit doesn’t stain at all. But also, it doesn’t dissolve in the water, so you’ll see the fruity powder in the water. It’s not a large amount per bath bomb – and doesn’t make a mess ( I don’t like a messy bath 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! It worked amazing as a base. I traded out cornstarch for arrowroot powder and witch hazel for the alcohol, omitted buttermilk to keep it vegan, and added in magnesium, epsom and himalayan salts after powdering them and these were AMAZING. Best ones I’ve made yet. Thank you!
I saw someone else omitted the buttermilk to keep it vegan, however they said it didn’t fizz up at all. Did you get the same result? Thanks
Thank you for sharing the tutorial! It’s a great DIY gift idea
Hi great idea! I made my own batch and colored them using crushed up dehydrated strawberry. However when they dried, the color only remained on one half. Any ideas?