Bath Bombs will not dry in molds?

[KMommy]

The following is the recipe that I have been following. Minus the Citric Acid

1 cup baking soda

1 cup epsom salts

1/4 cup cornstarch

Mix those with a wisk. Might be good idea to sift it too. I didn't color mine, but I might color this part, or color the epsom salts.

Drizzle and mix well with:

2.5 tablespoons turkey red oil (sulfonated castor oil)

2 tablespoons FO

Add:

1/2 cup citric acid

1 cup sodium lauryl sulfoacetate

Pack tightly into molds. Unmold carefully and let dry 24 hours. Can use a meatballer, a plastic ornament that comes apart, tea light containers, a metal 1/4 cup measuring cup....

I posted a question concerning my bath bombs expanding like dough and that I live in an area with high humidity. I was told that I could leave out the Citric Acid. I followed the recipe above and omitted the Citric Acid. I added more Baking Soda and used only 1 Tablespoon Turkey Red Oil and 1 Tablespoon of FO. I used the plastic ornaments as a mold. After 24 hours they were still soft and crumbly. I tried a second batch and doubled all of the recipe but leaving the Turkey Oil at 1 Tablespoon and leaving out the Citric Acid. They still will not get hard! I never would have thought bath bombs were so difficul. I am about ready to pull out my hair:p ! Any suggestions?

[Sherie]

Gosh, I so simpathize with you KMommy! I had the same problem. I started adding my citric acid back in and now they are rock hard. Don't pull your hair out and don't give up. I'm passing that along because I got a lot of encouragement from successful bombers here on the board.

[Melly]

hmm.... you may want to down the amount of salt that you are using, that is ALOT of salt, most recipies only use around 1/3 to 1/2 a cup at most. Salt attracts moisture which could definatly prevent drying.

[RobinInOR]

They're very difficult surprising isn't it. They're easy for me because I live in a pretty dry climate - I've had softer bubble bombs, but I've never had any start to grow, knock on wood. But I live in a pretty dry area - even when it's raining I don't have any problems, and I only sell them locally, so I don't know how they'd travel to a high humid area.

The trick is to tame the citric acid/baking soda reaction if you use citric acid. Any amount of water will start to set it off. That's why some people use alcohol or witch hazel to spritz them to get them to harden, or bake them, or any of the million other variations.

And if you vary the recipe, then you've got to experiment on what actually makes them hold together. When I did bubble bombs w/o citric, and with honey, they held together, but weren't rock hard.

[KMommy]

Thanks everyone! I can bake them? I never would have thought of that. Anyone know what temp. and for how long?

[Melly]

175 or so for 30 minutes to an hour. turn the oven off and leave them in over night.

[blandfarm]

Here is the recipe that i use. I found it at candle cauldron website. (want to make sure due credit is given to author)

I reduced the sunflower oil to 2 Tbsp. because one of my customers stated it was too oily for her skin. I dont seive it, i mix my dry ingredients in a food processor. (when i gently sieved it, the corn starch went airborne. the result was I became instantly grey-headed and a mess on my table).

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Bath Bombs

Dry Ingredients: 1 C baking soda, 1/2 C citric acid, 1/2 C corn starch. Sieve dry ingredients til you get smooth.

Wet Ingredients: 2 1/2 T oil (I like sunflower or soybean oil), 3/4 T water, 2 tsp body safe fragrance oil, body safe coloring, 1/4 tsp borax. Combine wet and borax in a jar and shake. Drizzle onto dry ingredients and blend. I get right in and mix with my hands using disposible gloves. Pack tightly into molds and slide out. Dry overnight and package.

I use the pull apart clear plastic ball molds (from Michaels) for mine. A hint on filling is to fill as full as you can get (packing as tight as you can). I then tap on the back lightly with the end of a table knife and this seems to loosen the bomb and make it come out easier. Once inawhile I break one while unmolding, but I simply repack and start over.

I have tried a lot of bath bomb recipes and this is my favorite.

JanL