How to make your own rainbow bath bombs at home

These bath bombs are homemade and will add a colourful touch to your next bath. Photo: Ginette Haußmann/dpa

Having a hot bath is always relaxing but you can take it a level further by chucking in a bath bomb and watching it fizz and roll around.

Bath bombs are also surprisingly easy to make at home, giving you a world of bubbles at your fingertips.

All you need is baking soda, citric acid, vegetable oil and cornflour, says Jessica Schlag, a specialist who has made hundreds of bath balls at home. She loves using coconut oil as it smells so good.

Meanwhile if you want to create brightly coloured bath bombs, get some food colouring too.

Make your own

First, mix the baking soda and cornflour in a large bowl. For three large bath balls, take 200g of bicarbonate of soda and 60g of cornflour.

Next, add the oil. If you’re using coconut oil, you’ll need to melt it first. Put 40g in a saucepan over a very low heat, then pour the liquid oil into the powder mixture.

Now it’s time for the food colouring. “Use about six drops,” says Schlag.

She also suggests adding a teaspoon of water to the mixture, to make the balls more stable.

The tricky part is adding the citric acid. Take 120g and add it to the bowl with the other ingredients. Mix them gently but not too fast or it will all start bubbling in the bowl which is a bit too soon.

Next, put on your rubber gloves and knead the mixture together. Ideally, by the end, “the mix should feel like wet sand,” says Schlag.

If your mixture is too crumbly, you may need a bit more oil, while if it’s too wet, add some baking soda.

Now, if you can press the mixture together without it falling apart, it’s time to shape it, by pressing it together very firmy.

If you have special plastic moulds, then fill them so much that a little bit sticks out beyond the halves when you press them firmly together.

Place the bath balls in the fridge and let them firm up for around six hours. You can also dry them at room temperature which takes about two to three days, according to Schlag.

Don’t let the bath bombs come into contact with water until it’s bath time. In the meantime, you can store them in jars or tins, Schlag says. – dpa