Attention all bath bomb makers - I've discovered the holy grail to making the perfect bath bomb mix! It's thick wet ingredients! Using thick wet ingredients has many advantages: It acts like a buffer, eliminating premature reactions. The mix stays wet/workable for much longer. You don’t have to be exact with liquid measurements/amounts. Matter of fact, you can add extra wet ingredients (about 5-10 milliliters/standard recipe). All of these advantages contribute to creating a perfect final bath bomb and makes the bath bomb making process easier.
**This isn't a magic solution for bath bombs, but it sure does help - A LOT! It cuts down on premature reactions, cracks, etc (all the negative stuff), but it doesn't always 100% guarantee perfect bath bombs in every situation. Weather/humidity still needs to be considered. And, you still need to try to keep wet and dry ratios balanced as much as possible. Think of this as a crutch; it helps you walk & keeps you from falling, BUT you still need to put in effort and do the work.**
Thick liquids, like carrier/fragrance oil or polysorbate 80, don’t cause reactions in the mix. While thin liquids, like water or coco betaine, do. So, it makes sense to only use thick wet ingredients.
Lately, whenever using fluid wet ingredients, the mix reacts, causing the bombs to puff up and develop cracks in the middle. Yet whenever I use the same amount of wet ingredients with minor adjustments to the amounts (to thicken liquid), I get perfect mix, which = perfect bath bombs.
The liquid thickens when you mix an emulsifier, like polysorbate 20/80 and hydrogenated castor oil peg 40, with other liquids. Polysorbate 20 doesn't thicken well like others.
Many factors can influence the thickening process. Keep in mind:
You have to add an emulsifier & water (try same amount of each)
In some cases, adding coco betaine will thicken it.
Use a combination of fragrance, carrier oil, water, and an emulsifier.
Thickening isn't always instant; wait several minutes.
The thickening process is finicky; some fragrances refuse to thicken (no matter how much emulsifier you add) and even different liquid colorants can have an effect. Liquid colorant doesn’t thicken like regular water.
NOTES: If your mixture isn't thick enough, add more emulsifier & water. Any thickness is better than adding thin, fluid wet ingredients. The thicker, the better (the blob is the best).
The best mix feels light, fluffy, & sort of like barely moist sand. You can squeeze it and It should just be able to hold together.
A GOOD RECIPE TO START
1 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup citric acid, 1/4 cup corn starch, 1 teaspoon (SLSa) Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (makes bombs last longer). + 9 milliliters fragrance, 3 milliliters polysorbate 80, 3 milliliters carrier oil, 3 milliliters water.
The wet ingredients come together and thicken, but they also play individual roles: fragrance adds scent; polysorbate 80 emulsifies water/oil and allows mix to stay wet longer; carrier oil adds moisture and allows mix to stay wet longer; and water makes the bomb hard.
**To try a thick version of wet ingredients, tweak ingredients & amounts to make the liquid thick but keep it the same total amount of liquid that you normally use**
DIRECTIONS: Sieve dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients separately. Add your blob, then thoroughly mix, knead, and rub mixture. Add mix to mold, then sprinkle a bit of salt on the sides. Add more mix, filling to the top. Lightly pack it down. Add loose mix on top. Repeat for other side. Smoosh the 2 molds together. Tap with a spoon to release the bomb. Dry bombs 24 hours.
A perfect bath bomb looks/feels like this: the surface is smooth & tight (it's not powdery), the shape is round, there are no cracks/bumps/warts, & most importantly, it's rock hard.
You don’t have to have thick wet ingredients to make great bath bombs - it just makes it easier. If your recipe is working fine, keep doing it. I hope this information helps you on your bath bomb making journey!
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ITEMS USED IN VIDEO
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FRAGRANCE OILS - Naturesoil.com?ref=doralincoln
CHAPTERS
0:00 - Introduction
1:23 - Thick Ingredients Are Best
2:53 - The Best Thickening Ingredient
3:04 - How to Thicken Wet Ingredients
4:40 - Varying Degrees of Thickness
5:00 - Recipe
7:53 - Final Word
9 июл 2024
