Tutorial Tuesday - Bath Bombs

B made some bath bombs at his childminder's house a few months ago. He loved them so much that I thought I'd find out how to make some. Since then we've made several batches - some for family and friends, some for his teacher at pre-school, but most for him - yes, I have a nearly five-year-old who loves his baths and bath products! I've been promising the recipe I use to a couple of friends for the last month or so, and thought that if I actually wrote it up as a tutorial then I'd actually get the recipe to them before Christmas - so, Nicky and Jo, this Tutorial Tuesday is for you!

A couple of quick notes before we start - there are many bath bombs recipes available on the internet. This is an adaption of about four or so that I came across. I've changed the proportions of bicarbonate of soda and citric acid to get the best "fizz" and experimented with the amount of essential oils. The first set we made had far too much oil and the smell was a bit over-powering! There are many many different essential oils available. Some have a more powerful aroma than others, so you may wish to do your own experimenting. There are many recommended combinations of oils, and each oil is said to have it's own effect on the body. I've used lavender (relaxing), bergamot (uplifting) and cedarwood (calming and balancing) in equal amounts.

Special moulds can be bought for making bath bombs, but B and I have used what we've had around the house. I bought some cheap silicon cup cake moulds and they have been ideal. We've even used ice cube moulds and cup cake trays. Just make sure that your bath bombs are completely dried out before you try to remove them from the moulds. It took much longer than the few hours most websites suggested for our bath bombs to dry completely, and I now leave them overnight to be on the safe side. I suppose it partly depends on how humid your climate is! Once you have started to add moisture (either oils or water) to the mix you will need to work quickly.

Anyway, the recipe!
You will need:

• 300g bicarbonate of soda
• 100g citric acid
• colouring if you wish to use it - food or soap colouring are ideal, and remember that a little goes a long long way!
• 2.5ml each of lavender, bergamot and cedarwood essential oils
• clean water in a bottle with a fine spray attachment (I use a thoroughly cleaned old spray cleaner bottle)
• moulds
• large mixing bowl and spoon
• measuring scales
• seive

I think I need to get his hair cut before school starts!

Seive the bicarb and citric acid and mix them together in the bowl. I would definitely recommend sieving the dry ingredients to make the mixing easier.

Add the essential oils and mix quickly and thoroughly. If you want your bath bombs to be coloured, add the colouring a little at a time at this point, again mixing quickly and thoroughly. Please do remember that a little will go a long way!

Spray a very small amount of water into the mixture and keep stirring the mixture. B usually sprays while I mix and an extra pair of hands is useful at this point to make sure that the mixture is stirred constantly! You only need to add a few sprays of water, enough to make sure that the mixture holds together when you squeeze it in your hands. You will need far less water than you realise - we added a bit too much the first time and the bombs continued to grow after we put them in the moulds!

You will now need to work quickly to put the bath bomb mixture into the waiting moulds. We sometimes add small paper flowers that you can buy cheaply in a bunch from craft shops to the top of ours.

Wait until the bath bombs are completely dried out and firm and carefully remove them from the moulds!