With the LUSH trend around, many wonder how to make diy lush bombs with cream of tartar. The good news is that it is indeed very easy to make bath bombs using cream of tartar. The feeling of getting into a nice, warm, bath is one of the best things one can think of. And what's better than a lavander or rose scented bath? All of us are now concerned with the health issues surrounding many bath products. That is probably why lush bath bombs are so popular. However, LUSH products tend to be quite expensive. The good new is that, being totally natural, LUSH bath bombs with cream of tartar can be easily homemade. So today, at OneHowTo we will learn how to make bath bombs with cream of tartar, i.e. diy LUSH bath bombs with cream of tartar.
What does cream of tartar do in bath bombs?
Before you learn how to make bath bombs with cream of tartar, you should know something about this product. Cream of tartar is the result of the fermentation of wine inside barrels. It is basically a wine sediment containing tartaric acid that is then ground, washed, dried, and sold as cream of tartar. But what does cream of tartar do in bath bombs? Cream of tartar, mixed with baking soda, create carbon dioxide gas, which creates the fizz in the water when you drop the bath bomb in it.
Why are we making bath bombs using cream of tartar? Cream of tartar is quite essential if you want to make homemade bath bombs because of the reasons we stated, and you will see it when we will give you the recipe of how to make bath bombs with cream of tartar.
Is there a cream of tartar substitute in bath bombs? If, for whatever reason, you want to make bath bombs without cream of tartar, you could substitute cream of tartar with double amount of citric acid, but not with cornstarch (see below).
Cream of tartar vs cornstarch in bath bombs
Many people wonder how to make bath bombs without cream of tartar, perhaps because cream of tartar tends to be expensive (better buying online). However, if your are thinking of using cornstarch instead of cream of tartar in our recipe of how to make bath bombs with cream of tartar, you should know the cons of cream of tartar vs cornstarch. Cornstarch is good at giving bath bombs a soft texture, and is quite moisturising. However, it can feed yeast infection, so really cream of tartar vs cornstarch we would go for cream of tartar. If you want to make bath bombs without cream of tartar, opt for double amount of citric acid.
Now let's move on to the actual recipe of how to make bath bombs with cream of tartar.
How to make bath bombs with cream of tartar - diy lush bath bombs with cream of tartar recipe
Here is what you need to make bath bombs with cream of tartar.
Equipment:
- 2 mixing metal or glass bowls
- bath bomb molds
- hand whisk
- spray bottle
Ingredients:
- 1 cup baking soda
- 1/4 cup cream of tartar or half a cup of citric acid
- 10 drops essential oil (lavander, rose, jasmin, lemon, whatever really)
- 2 tablespoons oil (olive, coconut, almond are OK)
- 3 to 5 tablespoons of water
- food coloring (optional)
Some explanations about the equipment and ingredients needed to make bath bombs with cream of tartar:
bowl: shouldn't be plastic as otherwise it will absorb the smell of essential oil
citric acid: use it instead of cream of tartar if you want to make bath bombs without cream of tartar. Double the amount.
bath bomb molds: be creative, Christmas tree balls, biscuits molds, a halved tennis ball, really, anything the size of a bath bomb will do
essential oil: you can make your own essential oils for your diy lush bath bombs with cream of tartar. It will be cheaper.
food coloring: this is just if you want your diy bath bombs with cream of tartar to color your bath water. You can also mix the colors.
What you should not use: borax, as it is harmful to human health, is not used to make lush bath bombs nor in our recipe of how to make bath bombs with cream of tartar.
Now that you have everything, we can see how to make bath bombs using cream of tartar.
Here is what you need to do to make your diy lush bath bombs with cream of tartar.
- Mix baking soda and cream of tartar (or citric acid if you are making bath bombs without cream of tartar) in your bowl
- Mix the essential oil, the other oil (coconut, olive or almond) and the optional food coloring in your other bowl
- Mix the contents of the 2 bowls together VERY quickly and vigorously with a hand whisk. You will need to whisk for at least 5 minutes as the 2 mixtures should be totally homogeneous together
- Place your water in a spray bottle and spray a tiny bit on your mixture. It should really just be a little bit to help the bath bombs come together. As soon as they keep the shape if you squeeze the mixture in your hands, do not add more water. If you add too much water, the bath bomb won't frizz
- Put the bath bombs mixture in the molds, overfilling them and then pressing quite hard with your hand or with the 2 halves of the mold
- Remove your bath bombs with cream of tartar from the molds by tapping the outside of the mold with a spoon
- Let the bath bombs dry for a couple of days in a dry place
Here you go! You have bath bombs with cream of tartar! You can wrap them and give them as an unusual Christmas present.
It is probable that the diy lush bath bombs with cream of tartar won't come out nice the first time you make them. Common reasons are:
- if the mixture crumbles you might have not compressed it enough inside the mold, or you need to add some more water or, better, oil
- if the texture is weird, there are probably clumps in the mixture as you have not mixed it properly
- if the bath bomb does not frizz in water, reduce the amount of water or oil you used, and increase the cream of tartar content
Now that you know how to make bath bombs with cream of tartar, you can give your loved ones the perfect present: diy lush bath bombs!
If you want to read similar articles to How to Make Bath Bombs with Cream of Tartar, we recommend you visit our Beauty & Personal Care category.