Our best selling bath bomb 7 years straight!
Free bath bomb recipe for our best selling butter bath bomb. It was our top seller at FizzButter for 7 years straight.
Butter Bomb embedded with fizzy frosting and dusted with gold shimmer.
Butter Bombs vs. Bubble Bombs
First, bath bombs fall into two broad categories: moisturizing bath bombs (butter bombs) vs. bath bombs that bubble (floating bath bombs).
So, if you prefer bubbles go to our floating Bubble Bath Bomb Recipe or Bubble Bar Recipe (solid bubble bath recipe).
Who needs a butter bath bomb?
People with dry skin love moisturizing bath bombs. In fact, during a warm bath your open pores drink in the luscious butters and oils.
I developed this formula because I had cracked, alligator feet. Not anymore!
Don’t like putting on lotion after a bath? No problem! Use a moisturizing butter bomb!
Select skin nourishing butters in their purest form without preservatives or chemicals. You won’t have to read the label because you know what is in it!
Use your favorite Butter combo
From the beginning, our master formula included shea butter. If I was still manufacturing today, I would use shea. In my opinion, shea is the king of butters and the cornerstone of any butter combination.
It’s so easy to customize this master recipe with your favorite choice of luscious butters and oils.
Citric Acid – Ingredient Spotlight
Citric acid can be coarse or fine grain. In addition, grain size DOES make a difference in the finished product.
If you use a small grain citric acid, like Milliard you will get a harder bath bomb with a smoother surface. Fine grain will clump if exposed to humidity so be sure to store it in a tightly closed bag.
Citric acid can irritate the skin (MSDS sheet) so it is a good idea to wear gloves when you are making bath bombs.
Butter Bath Bomb Recipe Master
Recipe author: FizzButter Yield: 7 Jumbo or 14 small bath bombs. Prep time: 15 minutes
NOTE: INGREDIENT NAMES LINKED TO AMAZON FOR EASY PURCHASE.
T = TABLESPOON = TBSP = 15ML
t = teaspoon = tsp = 5ML
Ingredients
- 2 cups of Citric Acid
- 4 cups Baking Soda
- 1/3 cup Epsom Salt
- 2 T Shea Butter
- 2 T Grape Seed Oil
- 1/2 t Wilton Gel Colorant
- 1 T Fragrance or Essential Oil
- 1/2 T cold water
- Round Stainless Steel Molds
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STEP 1: Mix your Dry Ingredients plus Oils
- Get a medium mixing bowl.
- Mix together: Baking soda, citric acid, epsom salt, melted shea butter, grapeseed oil, color, and fragrance.
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STEP 2: Mix cold water into your dry mixture
- Put half your dry mixture into a small bowl and add 1/2 T cold water on top.
- Mix just enough to get all the water dispersed and no more. You will notice the color has darkened and distributed more evenly.
- Test your wet/dry ratio: take a handful of mix and squeeze it in your fist. When you open your hand does it hold its shape or does it fall apart like dry sand? If it holds it shape, go ahead to the next step. If it crumbles like dry sand, add a little more water and mix.
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STEP 3: Mold your Bath Bombs
- Get your Round stainless steel molds lined up. Make sure they are cool and dry. Warm molds can sometimes stick.
- Pack and unmold one before you do them all so you can verify your wet/dry ratio. Once you have mastered the feel for how much water it takes, you have mastered this recipe.
- Place unmolded bath bombs on a waxed paper. These 18 x 26 sheet pans lined with wax paper work great.
Always Use Stainless Steel or Plastic Molds
Never use aluminum when making bath bombs because it can discolor your mixture and turn it grey.
Cure your Bath Bombs like a Pro
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- Bath bombs cure best from 60-80 degrees. In fact, the cooler, the faster and better they cure.
- Do not put them in a high humidity area as it could cause pimpling on the surface of the fizzy.
- They really should not be packaged for 48 hours. Even if they look dry on the outside, there is usually still moisture in the middle.
- Never cure them or store them in direct sunlight.
Troubleshooting
Have I added too much water? If you added too much water the bomb may stick to the mold so bad that it won’t come out. You want the mix to be slightly damp, not wet. After you unmold, it should hold it’s shape and not flatten out on the bottom after a few minutes.
- Have I used enough water? If the mix is sandy and doesn’t hold together enough to mold, it is likely you need to add a little bit of water. Be careful to just add a little at a time.
- Have I undermixed my wet/dry mix? You can tell if you undermixed if you get warts on your bath bombs as they sit and cure. It usually shows up very fast. You usually cannot redo them at this point, so just let them cure and use them anyway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=MWv-_PsHZPA
Pro Tip
If you add SLSA to this master recipe, it will emulsify the butters which does two things:
- Suspends the butter so it won’t stick to the side of the tub.
- Makes the bath bomb less moisturizing.
Note: In our best selling butter bath bomb, we wanted full-on, messy butter because there is nothing like it for dry skin. If you don’t want that, simply add 1TB SLSA COARSE to this master recipe.
Butter Bath Bomb with pink epsom salt on the white area. Use your imagination Submit your reviewButter Bath BombAverage rating: 3 reviewsCasySep 26, 2018I love this bath bomb!!! I have very dry skin and this makes me so soft.
MarlaSep 22, 2018This has been my favorite bath bomb for years when it was sold at fizzbutter.
XiSep 10, 2018Best bath bomb i ever used.
Have any bath bomb making questions?
Use the comment button below and I will answer all questions.
Cannot wait to try this- thank you very much for sharing 🙂
Can you use polysorbarnt 80 to keep the color from staining the tub? If so how much or just substitute for water?
Great question! It is far better to use SLSA to prevent staining because it won’t make your bath bombs crack. A big reason is that it is a dry ingredient.
Hi There, If you did want to add SLSA how much would you add?
It depends on the results that you want.
If you would like to disperse the color and have less butter stick to tub, do one or two tablespoons.
If you want bath bombs that make bubbles: 1) reduce the butter and 2) use up to 1/2 cup of SLSA.
(You could also use our butter-free LUSH floating bath bomb recipe http://howtobathbombs.com/wp/2018/08/22/make-a-bath-bomb-float-like-lush/ )
When it says 1/2 T cold water. Is that for all of the mixture itself or just for each half of the mixture that was separated?
GREAT QUESTION. It means the mixture that was separated. Thanks for helping me clarify this ambiguity. I will update the text.
at instructions #4 of your lush floating bath bomb recipe, you stated to separate 1/3 of the dry ingredients and set the rest aside. so, are the listed wet ingredients just enough for a third of the dry ingredients or do we separate those as well ?
You separate those as well.
Hello, is this the same recipe you used for your business ? Thank you
Yes, it is 100% exactly that recipe. All of the recipes on this site are the exact master recipes from FizzButter.
Hi, thanks for sharing your advice and expertise!! Can you tell me if you know if any moulds that look long and rounded, much like the size of a candy bar?
Hi, this one is going to be harder to find. But, there are chocolate molds like this that may work for you.
Hi,
Thank you & appreciate for sharing your experience, it’s very helpful.
Later, do u have mix them all together with 50% dry mix added with cold water with balance 50% of oil mixed powder prior to molding?
I think I understand your question. The oil is always mixed in with the powder in the first step, before you start working on molding at all. The water step starts once you have your powder base all ready with the butters and oils already melted together and then mixed into the powders. Once that happens, you are ready to begin with the water.
I believe my bath bombs are too oily. My tub is draining slowly after using it. My recipe calls for coconut oil. Do you think this is a good oil to use?
Coconut oil can be thick when cold so it may be an issue.
Hi,
Thank you for sharing your knowledge on bath bombs.
I is it okay to not add any SLSA or Polysorbate 80 in the formula, and replace these with Sodium Cocoyl Isothionate? Have you experimented with this by any chance? would it help to avoid staining the bath tub?
I appreciate you time!
That’s a really good question, but I don’t have any experience with Sodium Cocoyl Isothionate.
Hello,
Would it be ok to substitute the grape seed oil with sweet almond oil and how would this effect the recipe ?
Thank you so much
Sweet almond oil is a fine substitution here for grape seed oil. You can use any mixture of your favorite oils. It’s very flexible and forgiving.
Hi! Your site and tips here are so helpful. Thank you for sharing them.
Question– Do you have a particular recommendation for a substitute for the shea butter for people with allergies to nut products? I’ve never used mango butter for anything, but that keeps popping up in my searches. I just wanted to know if you had a second- or third-choice favorite. Thank you!
Any butter that is moisturizing to the skin would work great! Also, try to go with a low melt temperature so it will melt nicely in the tub. This is the most fun! Enjoy
My bath bombs keep cracking, I am wondering what I am doing wrong. Any suggestions would be great.
It’s probably too much water. Are they flattening outa bit on the bottom while they cure?
Hello, will it be useful to grind the granulated citric acid, so that it is more finite? greetings from Chile 🙂
Unless it is very chunky, I wouldn’t go to that effort.
What do I do if I add too much water? Is it salvageable? I tried adding more baking soda with no success. They won’t get out of the molds. 🙁 this was $80 in materials.
Once you add too much water, you probably cannot do anything. Try to be conservative with the water because you can always add more but you can’t undo it if you add too much water.
Thank you for sharing! This works fantastically. I’ve tried for so long to create a bath bomb that worked and made skin feel luxurious and rich.
So glad you enjoyed them!
Am I able to add Kaolin Clay to this recipe? If so, how much could I add without tweaking too much?
I wouldn’t add more than a few tablespoons. You should experiment with results and look out for the bombs being less fizzy, and less hard.
Hi, I’m really excited to try this recipe with the SLSA, but I only have fine, not coarse. Are you able to explain why only coarse is recommended?
Thanks!
For two reasons:
1) The fine powder gets on everything. When you measure it, what looks like a smoke cloud billows off of it.
2) Due to the extra surface area on the SLSA, the bonds get super tight and the product can turn out hard as a rock and difficult to break apart. You won’t be able to break it apart as easily as the regular recipe.
Bottom line, if you want a harder product and do not care about the mess, you may like it.