Yes, you can make bath bombs. Why make bath bombs? Because they are a fun way to add a little luxe to any bath. After filling your bath tub with warm water, drop one or two easy homemade bath bombs in, and watch the magic happen. You will see the bath bombs bubbling and dissolving into your bath water like a little mini watery firework display, releasing nourishing natural oil into your bath and light natural scent into the air.
These easy homemade bath bombs are magical little additions to any bath. No wonder LUSH charges over $6 for one bath bomb. But have you looked at what’s in those LUSH bath bombs? The popular Sex Bomb has synthetic (laboratory made) fragrance, Propylene Glycol (a synthetic substance used as an antifreeze), and artificial colorants. Who wants to pay over $6 a pop to bathe in that stuff?!
You can make your own easy homemade bath bombs following this very easy recipe. Here’s a short Youtube video that I posted, and it shows you how to make easy homemade bath bombs. When you make your own bath bombs, you know exactly what’s in them. And when you are done bathing with them, your skin will feel silky smooth from the coconut oil. These easy homemade bath bombs are made with 5 natural ingredients. Because they are so gentle and soothing that I regularly use them while bathing my little 2-year-old.
Easy Homemade Bath Bombs, Using Oatmeal and Coconut Oil
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Yields: 6 bath bombs, weight about 2.75 oz each
Ingredients Used to Make Easy Homemade Bath Bombs
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- Crushed Oatmeal – 1/4 cup. I use Old Fashioned Quaker Oats. I crushed the oatmeal using a Spice and Coffee Grinder. You can also crush the oatmeal by hand and control how fine you want your crushed oatmeal.
- Baking Soda – 1 cup. I use Arm & Hammer Baking Soda.
- Citric Acid – 1/2 cup. I use Food Grade Citric Acid.
- Sea Salt – 1/2 cup. I use Trader Joe’s sea salt. You can find sea salt pretty easily in supermarkets.
- Coconut Oil – 2 tablespoons. I use Trader Joe’s Organic Virgin Coconut Oil. You can use any brands of pure Virgin Coconut Oil, like Viva Naturals Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. Make sure you are using virgin coconut oil, because it’s the best for your skin. (UPDATE: Based on feedback from a reader, you might consider using 4 tablespoons of coconut oil during winter months to increase the bath bombs’ moisturizing properties.)
- Meatball Maker or Bath Bomb Molds – I use Norpro Stainless Steel Meatball Maker (it’s almost 2 inches across). You can also use Mini Stainless Steel Meatballer (about 1.2 inches across) or bath bomb molds.
5 Natural Ingredients
Instruction on Making Easy Homemade Bath Bombs
Here’s a short Youtube video that shows you how to make your own easy homemade bath bombs.
(1) Mix oatmeal, baking soda, citric acid & sea salt together. A whisk works great. Make sure to mix well and not leave any clumps.
(2) Melt coconut oil completely in microwave or a double-boiler. It took me 10-15 seconds in the microwave.
(3) Add melted coconut oil slowly while whisking it into the dry mixture.
After adding all the melted coconut oil into the dry ingredients, the mixture will have the consistency of lightly wet sand, and will form little clumps.
(4) Finally, shape the easy homemade bath bombs using a meatball maker (shaper) or a bath bomb mold. Pack the mixture into the meatball maker or mold tightly. Wait about a minute (if you’re using a meatball maker), and wait a bit longer if you’re using a mold, before attempting to get the bath bombs out.
I use a meatball maker (shaper) here. I have used silicone molds and plastic molds, but found that I get the best and most consistent results using a meatball maker. When I used molds, I had some difficulties getting the bath bombs to stay in a ball shape. When using the meatball maker, the key is to pack the mixture into it tightly. The meatball maker I use has two holes on top of each half sphere. I scoop the mixture into the meatball maker, then pack more mixture through the two holes. This ensures that when I open it, I have a tightly packed bath bomb.
The two holes also work well when I am getting the easy homemade bath bombs out of the meatball maker. I gently push the bath bomb away from the half sphere through one hole, and open the meatball maker. Once the bath bomb is half unmolded, I cup the bath bomb with my palm, allowing the unmolded side to sit on my palm. I then repeat and push the bath bomb down and away from the meatball maker through the other hole to get the entire bath bomb out.
I usually let the easy homemade bath bombs dry for a day or two before using them. If you try to use them too soon, they might crumble in your hands. But you can still used the crumbled pieces in your bath. They will still be nourishing to your skin. They just won’t look as nice.
That’s it! So will you be giving this recipe a try and make your very own easy homemade bath bombs? Your skin will thank you after you bathe in all natural ingredients. I have made quite a few batches of these easy homemade bath bombs and am happy to answer any questions you might have. I would love to hear about your creations. If you like this recipe, please share it and pin it!
Can’t get enough of easy homemade bath bombs?! Give another DIY bath bomb recipe a try. Enjoy!
this looks great. I will be giving it ago. thank you so much for sharing this 🙂
The Pinterest description says how to make bath bombs without citric acid. However; your directions include citric acid. That’s confusing. ???
You need to scroll long way down in the post to find the one without the citric acid 😉.
I was looking for the same. Confusing.
Love this
Thanks for sharing
do you have to use sea salt or can you just use ordinary salt??
I had grainy oat remnants in the tub 🙁 do I need to strain or use quick oats?
Mmmmm…unfortunately, oatmeal does not dissolve completely in water. Because of this, it’s not unusual to find pieces of oats in the tub. One option is to crush the oats to a very fine powder, but even if you do that, you might still find some pieces of the oats in the tub. Using quick oats is another option, but I don’t think it will dissolve completely in water either. If you prefer not to have pieces of oats in your tub, you can consider using a finely woven cotton fabric to wrap your bath bomb (or place your bath bomb inside a small fabric pouch) before dropping it into your bath. That should help with keeping the oat pieces from getting to the bottom of the tub. Hope the above helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Fabulous recipie! Thanks.
Mine didn’t crumble but I did have a little problem. I used hard plastic easter eggs, the kind you hide stuff in at Easter, and couldn’t get the two halves to stick together.
Any suggestions to fix this? Also, can they be ‘re-batched’
I’m so happy you like my bath bomb recipe! When filling your plastic Easter eggs, be sure to tightly press the bath bomb mixture into each half, then put more mixture on top before closing the 2 halves. You need to tightly pack the mixture into the molds. After you close the Easter eggs, let them sit for a few minutes before opening them. If that still doesn’t work in keep the bath bombs intact, then add a few spritz of water or witch hazel into the mixture. It might be too dry. Rebatching does work as long as the mixture doesn’t get too dry. Keep me posted on how it goes please!
I see many recipes using cornstarch. What is the purpose for adding it? Is it a binder?
Great question, Linda. Cornstarch can make the bath bombs lighter, making them more likely to float. Also, cornstarch can make the bath bombs dry quicker and harder. This is helpful for people making bath bombs in humid areas. I hope you’ll give this oatmeal bath bomb recipe a try, and please feel free to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cornstarch to this recipe. Keep me posted please!
I want to make these, but wondering if I can add polysorbate 80 which helps disperse the oil in the water keeping it from pooling on top. Doe you know if this is okay for sensitive skin? Also, how well does the oatmeal dissolve, is it like Aveno oatmeal bath? I have pink Himalayan salt I want to use to try for all its amazing benefits and give them a natural light pink color; any opinions or experience using you can share? I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hi Angela, I haven’t had any problems with the oil pooling on top of my bath. I don’t think you need polysorbate 80. There are some side effects associated with this compound, so it might be best not to use it for someone with sensitive skin. Be sure to crush the oatmeal as fine as possible if you want to avoid finding little oatmeal bits on the bottom of your bathtub. Pink Himalayan salt is a great addition to this bath bomb recipe. It’ll give your bath bombs pink sparkles. 🙂 It won’t color your bath though. Please keep me posted on how it goes when you make these all natural bath bombs.
what is the importance of citric acid? and why do people choose not to use it? Im new to this…
Great questions! Usually bath bombs have citric acid and baking soda. They are the ingredients that make the bath bombs fizzy when added to a warm bath. Some people are allergic to citric acid and want to use a bath bomb made without citric acid. Please let me know if you have any more questions. Hope you’ll give this recipe a try.
Your pin says without citric acid, but your recipe calls for citric acid. Why would the ingredients call for citric acid if the pin says recipe doesn’t call for citric acid?
Mmmm….interesting. I suspect someone (other than me) pin my recipe onto Pinterest and incorrectly said that this recipe doesn’t use citric acid. If you don’t want to use citric acid to make bath bombs, check out my bath bombs without citric acid recipe. Hope you’ll like it.
This recipe looks really nice!!
Have you found a way to pack them without them crumbling? I want to give some as gifts and need to figure out a way to transport them.
I find that spraying a little water to the bath bomb mixture before molding will make harder bath bombs. Also, be sure to let them dry completely before packaging them. I like to wrap them in wrapping paper, and tie it with a ribbon. Some people use plastic shrink wrap. Let me know how it goes! I’m sure your friends and family would love to have these bath bombs as gifts.
I didn’t have the best luck. I didn’t have a meatball maker so I used another mold. Only a few actually held up. I’m going to try again because I really want this to be successful
Oh, I’m sorry. What kind of mold are you using? You might want to invest in a meatball maker, because it’s only a few dollars and it makes great bath bombs.
If you use another type of mold, make sure it’s a hard mold, pack bath bomb mixture tightly, and tap the mold to release the bath bombs. Hope your next try will work out better!
Can you tell me how many bombs do this recipe make?
Great question. If you use the meat ball maker (meat ball tongs), this oatmeal bath bomb recipe makes about 6 bath bombs, weight about 2.75 oz each.
Love making your bath bombs! My kids wanted me to make some that float. Do you ever add cornstarch or any other ingredient to this recipe to make them float. Thanks!
Kids love bath bombs. My little one always wants me to make them too. If you want to add cornstarch to this recipe, then substitute 50% of crushed oatmeal with cornstarch. Hope you’ll give this recipe a try. Keep me posted please.
Hi,
Can you not put the salt in the recipe or can it be replaced by something else? My son scratches himself often and gets little cuts over his skin (even if I cut his nails really short…) I was trying to make something to sooth his skin, since he likes to play in water I though these looked good (with the oatmeal and coconut oil), I’m just worried that the salt will sting him…
You can certainly make this oatmeal bath bomb without using any salt. There are 2 ingredients that you absolutely need to make any bath bomb: citric acid, and baking soda. If you don’t use salt, then use 3 tablespoons, rather than 4 tablespoons, of coconut oil. Hope you give this oatmeal bath bomb recipe a try.
Also, you might want to give this colloidal oatmeal bath recipe a try. It’s great for itchy skin.
I need advise. This is my first time to try to make bath bombs. I don’t have the thongs. I bought the stainless spears. I can’t get them to release and they are expanding like crazy. I followed the recipe, but are they too wet? How do I get them out of the mold?
Thanks for reaching out! I like the meatball tongs because each half has a hole that I can use to gently push the bath bombs out. Stainless spheres should work too. Be sure to pack the spheres as tightly as possible, then tap the spheres with your fingers or a spoon to get the bath bombs out. I explain this process in this bath bomb post.
Also, make sure to follow my recipe exactly. If you do, your bath bombs shouldn’t expand because the recipe uses oil, not water. If your bath bombs expands that means there’s too much liquid (too wet). I recommend not using any water at all, but only oil. Hope your next try will work out. Please keep me posted!
Just FYI, an Etsy vendor is using bloggers’ images, including yours, to sell her products. She was using one of mine too and actually told me that it belonged to her when I asked her to take it down – hah!
Oh! That’s not right. Thanks for the heads up, Jen.
Love it! I’m thinking of making it, how’s the smell? Just getting an idea, I know you didn’t put any essential oil in it. Thanks, can’t wait to hear from you.
Even without any essential oil, these bath bombs smell amazing because of the coconut oil. The oatmeal bath bombs smell like creamy coconut. Hope you give this bath bomb recipe a try!
I used an ice tray for a mold. When I removed the bath bombs from the ice tray and went to pick them up, they crumbled/fell apart. What did I do wrong? I left them in the mold for 24 hours.
Thanks for reaching out! The soft silicone ice tray doesn’t work well. The hard, rigid kind should work, but you must pack as much oatmeal bath bomb mixture as you can into the hard ice tray. Use your thumbs to press and push the mixture into the tray. The tighter and more densely you pack the mixture into the tray, the easier it’ll be when you try to take the oatmeal bath bombs out.
After waiting at least a day, turn the ice tray up side down, and tap the ice tray with your fingers or a spoon. Your vibration should loosen the oatmeal bath bombs, and made them slide off the tray. After tapping, you can also try lifting the upside down ice tray up about 2-3 inches, and drop it on a flat surface. That should help in getting the oatmeal bath bombs out of the ice tray too. Let me know how it goes the next time!
Was it a silicone tray?
Too dry, spray some witch hazel, mix, then pack tightly.
Good tips!
How do you store and package them? I have a small business and would like to sell them after making them. Also, what is the shelf life?
I package these oatmeal coconut oil bath bombs by wrapping each of them in colorful tissue paper, and tying a ribbon on top of it. The shelf life for these bath bombs is around 4 to 6 months. If you plan to mail these bath bombs to your customers, I recommend that you spray water to the bath bomb mixture before molding them. Water will make the bath bombs harder. It’s also a good idea to allow the bath bombs to dry completely before you packaging and sending them to your customers. Hope your customers will love these nourishing bath bombs as much as I do! Please reach out if you have more questions.
I love this recipe! My skin felt fabulous after using a bomb. My only issue is finding cool molds to make different shapes.
Glad to know you like this recipe! If you want to get creative, try using the Nordic Ware Platinum Backyard Bugs mold. It makes the cutest bath bombs.
Do you ever use essential oils for scent?
Absolutely! Here is another recipe for bath bombs. In this post, I provide some suggestions on using essential oil to add natural scent to bath bombs.
I used essential oils along with the coconut oil and they turned out fine.
Great tip! Thanks!
What essential oil is good with oatmeal? Dying to make this.
I would go with lavender essential oil. I love the combo of coconut oil and lavender essential oil. Other floral scent, like ylang ylang essential oil, or germanium essential oil also works well. Check out my other bath bomb recipe that has more essential oil suggestions.
What does the oatmeal do to your skin? Why did you use it as the main ingredient? Thank you for your advance answer! It would be a help for me since I will use it for our project. 🙂
Great question! Oatmeal is a well-known skin care ingredient. Oatmeal can be used on all skin types, including sensitive skin. Because of oatmeal’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, it is also used to treat skin problems, such as sunburns, eczema and poison ivy. This recipe uses oatmeal as one of its main ingredients. Because of the oatmeal and other natural ingredients, the recipe makes easy homemade bath bombs that are gentle enough for babies and toddlers, who have super sensitive skin. Please reach out if you have any more questions. Good luck with your project!
My daughter is allergic to coconut so I don’t want to use that in the bath bombs for my grandson. Would it work with cacao butter?? Or do you have any other advise for an oil/butter to use. I’ve got lots of other oils at home if it doesn’t have to be something that is hard at room temperature. Or maybe mango or shea butter would be better since they are not as hard as cocoa butter??
Yes! Cacao butter will work as a substitute for this oatmeal bath bomb recipe. Be sure you melt the cacao butter first before adding it to the dry ingredients. Mango and shea butter will work as well. In fact, other oil, even liquid oil, such as olive oil, will work. Personally I’d go with Cacao butter, because it makes the bath bombs smell like chocolate! 🙂
Thank you Silvia for all your quick replies! I do have some cacao that will smell of chocolate and it really smells like something you want to eat. You give your measurements in table spoons, it’s not that easy to measure cacao butter since it’s rock hard. Will it be too much it I use 2 table spoons of melted cacao butter?
The bath bomb hearts are so pretty! Which one is easier to use the meatballer or the heart ornament?
You’re right. Cacao butter can be tough to work with and measure because it usually comes in a big block that you need to break apart. Cacao is super hard, so it’s like trying to break ice. You can also consider using raw cacao butter pellets or raw cacao butter squares. They are already in small pieces, and should make measuring easier. Or like you suggested, melt the cacao butter first, then use 2 tablespoons of melted cacao butter. That’d work too. I personally like to use the meatballer to shape bath bombs. The 2 holes that the meatballer has make packing and releasing the bath bombs easier. Please keep me posted on how your bath bombs turn out!
What is the purpose of the Citric Acid? Can it be left out? I would love to make some for family members that are allergic to citric acid. Thanks!
Thank you for reaching out! In general, to make fizzy bath bombs, you need both baking soda and citric acid. When you put both ingredients in your bath, they react and fizz. You can substitute citric acid with 1/4 cup of cream of tartar, or 1/4 cup of lemon juice (use a spray bottle to slowly add lemon juice to the dry ingredients). They work in place of citric acid, but might not create as much fizz. Let me know how it goes using either of these substitutes!
Where did you get your meatball tongs and how big are they?
Thank you for reaching out! I updated the post to include info on where to purchase meatball tongs or bath bomb molds. I use Norpro Stainless Steel Meat Baller, which is almost 2 inches across. You can also try Mini Stainless Steel Meatballer or bath bomb molds to shape your bath bombs. Let me know how it goes, and if you have any more questions!
Can you use epsom salt instead? Also, if they keep crumbling what should I do?
Thank you for reaching out! Yep, epsom salt can be used as a substitute for sea salt. I’ve done it and the bath bombs turned out fine. To prevent crumbling, make sure you pack the mold / meatball tong tightly, and try to keep the bath bombs in the mold for a good minute or so before unmolding. Also, you can try spraying either distilled water or witch hazel into the mixture before molding. The moisture should help keep all the ingredients together. Let me know how your second batch goes. Don’t give up! These bath bombs are amazing and can transform any bath.