Warty Bath bombs

[kidsngarden]

I've been making successful bath bombs for years, but for me "successful" is about 70%, lol! I'm trying to figure out causes for some of my "bombed bombs"

I've had a couple of batches that have been warty, really warty and the oil has released and completely soaked through the paper underneath. Very weird! I actually kinda like the look of the little bumps on the bombs, but the oil releasing is bothersome.

I used the following recipe:

2 cups Baking soda

1 cup citric

1 cup corn starch

5 TB liquid oils (usually combo of sunflower and castor)

heaping shot of water with the liquid colorant in it (that's like 2 TB - I know some people cringe at this, but it works for me!)

1.5 TB FO

I was wondering if maybe I had mismeasured the oils and put too much in? Help woudl be great.

[JanetsCandles]

Wow. I usually don't use the liquid oils, and my FO amount is much lower than yours is. I use Cocoa Butter in mine, about 3 oz. But I measure all of my stuff by weight, and not by volume. Also, I don't end up using water, or witch hazel. Don't need to. I'm wondering if your water is too much and making the oil not bind with it. The warty appearance can be from the water reacting to the citric acid as well.

[TallTayl]

The warty surface is the reaction of the citric and bicarb made possible by the liquid (water, witch hazel, etc) in the mix plus humidity in the area you're making/curing them.

I'd drop the water.

Do you have something to help emulsify the oils? Bath bombs that use oils/butters leave oil slicks in tubs.

[kidsngarden]

Wow. I usually don't use the liquid oils, and my FO amount is much lower than yours is. I use Cocoa Butter in mine, about 3 oz. But I measure all of my stuff by weight, and not by volume. Also, I don't end up using water, or witch hazel. Don't need to. I'm wondering if your water is too much and making the oil not bind with it. The warty appearance can be from the water reacting to the citric acid as well.

I do weigh my powders but I was posting the volume cause it was easier, lol. It's 1# 3.3 oz baking soda, 8.4 oz citric and 4.9 oz cornstarch. would you use 3 oz Cocoa butter for that? how much FO are you using?

What I don't get if it's the water is I used the same formulation for all my bombs. Most are just fine. Like on Wednesday I made five different fragranced batches and only one ended up warty and bleeding out.

[kidsngarden]

The warty surface is the reaction of the citric and bicarb made possible by the liquid (water, witch hazel, etc) in the mix plus humidity in the area you're making/curing them.

I'd drop the water.

Do you have something to help emulsify the oils? Bath bombs that use oils/butters leave oil slicks in tubs.

I don't emulsify anything. I just put all the liquid ingredients in a measuring cup and pour them in my powders in a kitchenaid mixer. I could use my stick blender to emulsify the oils first. That might really help actually. Yes, the tub is a little oily after (and I warn people of that too). How could I make a bomb without oil or butter? how would it hold together?

[KrazeKelly]

This the recipe I use. It makes four 8 oz bombs for me. I had nothing but trouble with any recipe that included water or witch hazel. This one comes out perfect everytime.

7.4 oz citric acid

17.3 oz. baking soda

1.6 oz. SLSA

1.4 Cream of Tartar OR Cornstarch (I have tried both and either works)

3 oz epsom salt

3.2 oz Deodorized cocoa butter

3 tsp FO

[JanetsCandles]

I use a very similar to Kelly's that she just posted up there. (Got it from her in the first place). Ratios are the same, but I will occasionally sub clay for the corn starch and a different kind of salt for the epsom salt. Depends on what I'm doing with it. I use a powder colorant for the bombs, usually micas. Depending on the type of FO and how strong it is, I use between 0.5 Tbsp (1.5 tsp) and 1 Tbsp (3 tsp). The butter works fine for hardening it all. Also the SLSA works to help disperse the oils in the tub.

[quietgirl2004]

Sounds like a good recipe! Does the cocoa butter make the bathtub real oily too?

[CareBear]

cocoa butter gives me back acne.

[kidsngarden]

hmmm, I'm not sure I want to ad slsa...I will just have to play around with my recipe more I guess. I have tried using little or no water and they just don't stick together well.

Thanks for the advice!

Edited October 18, 2012 by kidsngarden

[quietgirl2004]

I love slsa in them but then I like bubbles.

[JanetsCandles]

cocoa butter gives me back acne.

I also use shea butter in replacement of the cocoa butter on occasion. They work just as well, just crumble easier. But as long as your packaging is decent and you aren't planning to hold up an end of a display table with them, there isn't a problem. I imagine any of the butters will work the same way. There may be a couple that make it too loose, though. I don't know for sure.

[kidsngarden]

Mine are ROCK hard most of the time even without using butters. I think it's the water I'd hate to say....

[kidsngarden]

still trying to trouble shoot this. I have taken my recipe to the very basics...1 pound of BS, .5 pound of citric, water and liquid colorant to make 1 tsp. and .5 TB FO. If I used no water they did not hold together.

No fizzing, but they are sticky. it's weird! They stick to the paper they are on they are still maleable 12 hours later, like a very stiff crumbly playdough. they are staying together, not warty. But they are flattening a little on one side. The only thing I can think is that maybe my citric has taken on some moisture? I buy it 50 pounds at time and store it in zip loc bags inside in my soaping closet. It's about 6 months old. BUT by my calculations from a few years ago, 1 cups of citric is equal to .5 lb - and it's still that way. You would think that it would take less volume to make the same weight if it had absorbed moisture.

It is a puzzlement! But now at least my bombs have LESS oil. No one has complained about my bombs yet, but who knows? Maybe I've lost customers because they were too oily. I liked the oil myself.