Bath bombs are genuinely one of the easiest bath products you can make. Are they worth it? Our answer will always be yes; you get the product you want, plus the satisfaction of completing a creative project. But how do the numbers work out? Let’s take a look.
Buying bath bombs
The inventor of the bath bomb was one Mo Constantine, now co-founder of Lush. So if you buy a Lush bath bomb, you’re going to pay around $6.00 for one 3.5 oz bath bomb. Larger bombs are more expensive; Their 7 oz bath bombs cost around $9.00.
Can you get cheaper bath bombs? Absolutely. At Target, you’ll spend around $5.00 for a 4 oz bath bomb. These prices also vary by size and by brand.
So can you save money by making your own bath bombs? Let’s look at the numbers, ingredient by ingredient.
The cost of making bath bombs
Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is an essential ingredient for bath bombs. It reacts with the citric acid to make your bath bomb fizz. We sell sodium bicarbonate for $2.99 per pound, which ends up being around $0.19 per ounce. This is an extremely common ingredient that’s easy to find.
Citric acid reacts with the alkaline sodium bicarbonate to produce that fizzing reaction, so it’s really vital to making a bath bomb. Citric acid is also commonly used in canning food, so it’s pretty easy to find, if not quite as common as baking soda. We sell citric acid at $6.99 per pound, which comes out to around $0.44 per ounce.
Witch hazel is an unsung hero of DIY bath bombs. You don’t want to use water to make your bath bomb mixture moist and moldable, because it will start that fizzing reaction right away. Witch hazel is alcohol based. You usually only need a small amount of witch hazel, which means that the one pound size, priced at $6.99, will let you make tons of bath bombs.
Oils and butters are not technically required for bath bombs, but they can definitely make your bath bomb experience more luxurious. They make the water feel silky soft and help moisturize your skin. Different oils and butters have different qualities and different prices, but coconut oil is a very popular oil in self-care products. We sell a pound of coconut oil for $5.99.
Fragrance
Why would you have a bath bomb without fragrance? Fragrance turns a bath bomb into a soothing aromatheraputic experience, and gives you a way to customize your very own DIY bath bomb creations. You have two basic options for fragrance: Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils. For a trial size, our fragrance oils run around $3.99. Prices for essential oils vary widely, but one of our most popular essential oils is our Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil, which sells for around $3.99 for a trial size.
Remember, with fragrance, you get what you pay for.. Our fragrances are tested and vetted by us, and are phthalate free.
Color is part of what makes bath bombs so fun. Even if you don’t use enough color to color your bathwater, just looking at colorful bath bombs can be enticing, a part of the bath bomb experience. Color also has an impact on mood.
Micas are one of our most versatile colorants and work great in bath bombs. The price varies by color, but you’ll usually pay around $4.00 for 1 oz of mica, and a little goes a long way.
Polysorbate 80 is a water soluble emulsifier that helps your oils blend into your bath water. This not only helps prevent staining or a tub ring, but it can also prevent the oils from your bath bomb from coating the floor of your tub, making it slippery. 1 oz of polysorbate 80 costs $2.99.
Making your own bath bombs
Now we’ll go ahead and put all this information together.
A basic recipe for bath bombs is 1 part citric acid to 2 parts baking soda. For everything else, let’s take a look at a basic recipe for bath bombs:
- 32 oz baking soda - $5.98
- 16 oz citric acid - 6.99
- 2 oz oil - $0.75
- 0.6 oz Polysorbate 80 - $1.79
- 1 oz fragrance oil - $3.30
- Witch hazel - $6.99
- Colorant - $3.99
This recipe is based on the recipe for our Lilac and Rosehip Bath Bomb Project. Whole unit pricing is used for the witch hazel and colorant, because you use so little of them that it’s difficult to calculate a unit price, and because the amount used per project varies.
Added up, the total cost of these ingredients is $29.79. This recipe makes 10-12 3.8 ounce bath bombs. So on the low side, these homemade bath bombs cost $2.48 each, or on the high side, $2.98.
Adding bath bomb molds
Do you need bath bomb molds? Technically, no. Your bath bomb mixture can be compressed and molded by hand. Molds offer more consistency in size and shape, and definitely give you more options for shapes.
Our 3.8 oz spherical bath bomb molds cost $8.49 for 10 molds, or $0.85 each. So if we add the cost of molds to our estimate, it comes out to $3.33 - $3.83.
What that means is that you can make your own bath bombs for a price that is equal to or less than the price of buying bath bombs from a store. Not only that, but your own bath bombs are likely to be higher quality than some of the less expensive store-bought bombs, and tailored to your preferences. How great is that?
DIY bath bomb kits
Another great way to make your own bath bombs is to use one of our DIY bath bomb kits. There are a few options:
Natural Bath Bomb Kit: $43.99 for around 15 all natural bath bombs, or around $2.93 per bath bomb.
Rose Gold Bath Bomb Kit: $27.99 for around 7 bath bombs, or around $4.00 each.
Galaxy Bath Bomb Kit: $43.99 for about 13 bath bombs, or $3.38 each.
Raspberry Donut Bath Bomb Kit: $54.99 for 16 bath bombs, or $3.44 each.
You can also try our Bath Bomb Beginner Creator Box, which comes with the supplies to make around 30 bath bombs (with tons of different creative options) for $94.99, or $3.17 each.
Ready to make your own bath bombs?
So, are you ready to save some money? Bath bombs are super easy to make, so making your own custom bath bombs isn’t a big investment in time or effort. All you need to know is what ingredients you need (or want), how much to use, and how to mix them together.
We have a ton of bath bomb recipes for you to take a look at. So many that you’re definitely going to find one you like. Check out all of our bath bomb projects and get creative.
