Hello again! It’s Erin stopping by from Lemons, Lavender, & Laundry. As I’m sure you are fully aware, it’s January. The end of January, specifically. This is the point where I’m kinda sick of winter. The snow is pretty. The negative temperatures, not so much. I’m ready for sunshine and flowers, but that is still months… and months… away for me. (Minnesotan here.) In order to keep warm and cozy, there are a couple options: wool sweater, hot drink, cuddly blanket, or a warm bath. If bathes are your thing, I’ve got some great DIY bath salt recipes for you.
MATERIALS:
- Epsom Salt
Baking Soda(Update: Some people reported that their bath salts were hardening with the original recipe that included baking soda. After doing some research, it seems baking soda may be the culprit. I have taken the baking soda out of the recipe to hopefully avoid this issue. However, adding a small scoop of baking soda to the bath water, along with the bath salts, would be ideal.)- *Essential Oil
- Food Coloring (Optional)- Please note: If you choose to add food coloring to the salts, less is more. Start with just 1-2 drops and work your way up to the desired color, one drop at a time. If you add too much moisture to the salts, this can cause the salts to harden over time.
*Please be aware that some essential oils are not recommended when pregnant, or for use with very young children. Please consult a health professional to address any questions or concerns.
All bath salt recipes start off the same way: Pour 2 cups of Epsom salt into a bowl. You can certainly use more or less depending on the size of your container.
Now you can experiment a little bit with fragrance and color. Here are some great ones to start with:
Relaxing Lavender Bath Salts:
By adding 10-15 drops of Lavender Essential Oil, you create a wonderful relaxing scent. I decided to add a bit of blue and red food coloring to the salts for added color. Keep mixing until evenly distributed.
“Perk Me Up” Peppermint Bath Salts:
Add 10-15 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil to the Epsom salts to create an energizing scent. This time I decided to get a little fancy and divided the mixture in half prior to adding the color. I then layered it in the container for a striped appearance.
“Clear Your Sinuses” Bath Salts:
The last combination was created for those times when you’re suffering from a cold or flu. The brand of oil I use has a combination oil containing Eucalyptus, Myrtle, Marjoram, Pine, Lavender, Cypress, Black Spruce, and Peppermint. You could also combine 3-5 drops each of Eucalyptus, Lavender, and Peppermint in lieu of the combination oil. I decided to go yellow with this one. You really need a cheery color when you’re not feeling well, right?
After you are done mixing everything together, store the salts in an airtight container. Since Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, these bath salt would make a great gift, just add a label with a little wooden scoop, and you’re good to go.
Here are some free printable labels for your bath salts:
Peppermint Bath Salts Printable
“Clear Your Sinuses” Bath Salts Printable
*These printables are formatted for Avery 5410 labels. When you arrive to the “print screen”, uncheck the “Fit to Page” box so they print correctly onto the 4×6 page.
Keep warm!
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Here are a couple more ideas for you:
These look great!! Thank you for sharing! Do you have your ‘recipes’ for your bath salts on pdf to download or printable? Thanks I can’t wait to try these!
No, sorry. Those aren’t on printables – they’re pretty simple to make up though. I hope you enjoy!
I would say 1/4 scoop would be just right, but you can always add a little more or less depending on your preference 🙂
I really like the vibrant colors of the salts and the fragrances along with them. From one Minnesotan to the other, thanks for giving me something fun to make for Christmas gifts this year!
I’d really like to make these as gifts! When coloring the salts, do you use regular food coloring, or something else?
Yes, it’s just food coloring. 😉
Won’t the food coloring color the body? Why not coloring one would use in soap making?
No, it’s such a small amount that I haven’t had that at all. The coloring is just for appearance though so you can totally leave that out if you prefer. I’m sure you could also use the coloring that you use in soap, but it’s just one more thing to buy. 🙂
Just starting to make these great items. Where is the best place to purchase the oils
There are so many places that you can purchase oils these days – just be careful that you’re getting a good quality. Health food stores generally carry a large selection or you could order on line through Amazon or essential oil companies such as DoTerra or Young Living. Hope you enjoy!
There are so many places to purchase essential oils, and like Jenn said, you’ll want to use a high quality oil. Here are the ones I use (and used for this post): http://www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com/where-to-buy-essential-oils/
Want to make these for gifts and was wondering where you got those nice bottles?
I used the bottles from the Starbucks frappichinos that you buy at the store 🙂
I am thinking of making these for my daughters as Christmas gifts and I was wondering how you got the Starbucks logo off the lids of the bottles?
If your bottle has a logo on the lid, I don’t think you can get rid of it but you could spray paint it! There are other drink bottles though that don’t have markings on the lid or you can even buy new bottles pretty inexpensively on Amazon. Or use mason jars. Lots of options!
These look great! I am making some to go with homemade lip balm. How much of the bath salts should someone use at a time? 1/4 cup?
It’s a little bit about personal preference but that’s about right!
Im making bath salts and they are rock hard the next day. PLEASE HELP
Here is my recipe for 3- Two Pound Bags:
64oz Epsom Salt
4oz Pink Himalayan Salt
4oz Dead Sea Salt
24oz Baking Soda
120 drops Essential Oil
Do you think it’s the Baking Soda? Also, should I add a Silica Packet to each bag?
Thanks for any help.
This recipe was updated quite awhile ago, removing the baking soda from the recipe because that seems to cause hardening. I would remove the baking soda from the recipe you created used because baking soda absorbs moisture (that you’re getting from the essential oils) and then starts to harden from that moisture. Hopefully that will solve the issue for you 🙂 I have added silica packets to my bath salts and it did seem to help. However, removing that baking soda will probably solve the issue for you. Good luck.
GREAT, thanks for your help. I’ll try leaving out the soda. Also, am I using too much essential oil
Thank you for the recipe. May I ask where you purchased the wooden scoops? Thank you
There are lots of options at Amazon for little wooden scoops. 🙂
Will the food coloring stain the tub?
I haven’t had any issues with it staining the tub. It’s such a small amount of food coloring in a large amount of water. You can always give it a quick wipe down afterwards if you’re concerned though.
What kind of bottles are those?
I believe these were just recycled jars from drinks. You can really use any glass containers though. If you want to purchase them, you can find similar ones at craft stores (like Michaels) or even the dollar stores. Mason jars work well too!
Where do you get the jars and tiny scoops to put the bath salts in?
The jars are actually just recycled glass drink bottles. Otherwise, you can find them on Amazon (search glass drink bottles) as well as the little wooden scoops!
How long are the bath salts good for?
They’ll last for a really long time – I’m sure upwards of a year if they’re in an airtight container and out of direct sunlight. I’ve always used mine up within a couple of months but I can’t see why they wouldn’t last longer.