Oatmeal Bath Bomb Recipe

Oatmeal bath bombs are great for sensitive skin and can help soothe dry skin conditions, like eczema. Ground oats, shea butter and essential oil create a relaxing bath experience that will leave your skin soft and nourished!

Jump to:

• How to Make Oatmeal Bath Bombs
• Key Ingredients
• Equipment
• How to Make Homemade Bath Bombs
• Oatmeal Bath Bomb Recipe

This post should have been finished quite a few weeks ago. Right around early spring after all those long winter months when your skin is at its ashy itchy height. Needless to say this time we're in right now has thrown things off around here quite a bit. Turns out having three kids at home 24/7 is no joke 😉

But, hey, is there ever a wrong time for soothing, nourishing, wonderfully relaxing bath bombs? Not in my books 🙂

The ingredients for these oatmeal bath bombs were specifically chosen for their ability to soothe dry and irritated skin, caused by eczema and psoriasis. They have the same skin benefits as a traditional homemade oatmeal bath only prettier 😉 Bath bombs are a great way to add a little pezas to your bath time and kids love them.

How to Make Oatmeal Bath Bombs

Making bath bombs is a lot like baking: you measure, you sift, you combine the wet ingredients with dry ingredients separately and at the end knead them into a “dough“. 

The consistency of that „dough“ or mixture is key though if you want to get that perfectly round and smooth bath bomb. It needs to be wet enough to hold its shape when squeezed together, but not too wet otherwise it will form unsightly bumps. 

Another thing that can sometimes be tricky, especially with round bath bombs is the drying process since they tend to lose their nice ball shape when out of the mold. Oftentimes the bottom flattens. To prevent this I like to dry bath bombs in two phases: first removing one half of the mold and giving time to dry and then the other.

If you want to know more about bath bomb making, Q&A, and troubleshooting check out my post on how to make bath bombs.

Key Ingredients

Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) and Citric Acid

These two ingredients make up the bulk of the bath bomb mixture. When mixed together, baking soda and citric acid will set off a fizzing reaction when immersed in water.

Ground Oats

Ground Oats are very nourishing and moisturizing for the skin. They're well known for their ability to soothe itchy skin and inflammation thanks to a substance called avenanthramides that is solely found in oats. They can also gently cleanse the skin due to small amounts of saponins. 

Colloidal oatmeal is made of oats that have been ground and sifted to ensure a very fine particle size. Which is important if added to lotions or creams. 

For our purposes, we will simply grind the oats in a coffee grinder or food processor. Since they will dissolve in the bath water I’m not concerned about the particle size being a little less fine. If you wish to skip this step you can buy colloidal oats.

Shea Butter

Shea butter has many wonderful skin benefits. Full of moisturizing fats and skin loving vitamins. It's a relatively soft butter that absorbs into the skin at a slow speed. This makes it especially valuable for irritated skin since it will create a protective barrier on the skin for a long time. All the while nourishing and healing the skin.

Shea butter has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. And has been shown to be effective in reducing redness and irritation associated with eczema.

Chamomile and Lavender Essential Oils

Roman chamomile essential oil has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that promote healthy, smooth skin and can ease irritation and itchiness. It has been used as a natural remedy for eczema, wounds, burns and skin irritations.

Lavender essential oil has similar properties as chamomile essential oil: it can help soothe eczema and other dry skin conditions, it's anti-inflammatory and can promote skin healing. These two oils together form a dream team when it comes to soothing itchy skin.

Polysorbate 80

Polysorbate 80 is an emulsifier and solubilizer that helps disperse oil more evenly in the bath water. It also prevents oils from clinging to the side and bottom of the tub making it less slippery when exiting. Polysorbate 80 is considered safe and is often used in food items, if you wish to use a natural alternative you could try liquid sunflower lecithin (some folks report similar results with it).  

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Equipment

• large bowl
• sifter
• small glass measuring cup
• spray bottle
• bath bomb molds (I use empty Christmas ornaments)
• gloves (optional)
• bubble wrap (optional)

How to Make Homemade Bath Bombs

1. Grind rolled oats in a coffee grinder or food processor to a fine powder (skip this step if using ready-made colloidal oatmeal)

2. Sift baking soda, citric acid, ground oats and kaolin clay into a large bowl
3. Whisk
4. Melt shea butter in a glass bowl using a water bath 
5. Let cool slightly and add essential oils and polysorbate 80

6. Add wet ingredients to the dry mixture, combine

7. Test if the mixture holds its shape when squeezed, like wet sand

8. If mixture crumbles spritz evenly with witch hazel a couple of times and test again

9. place dried flower petals (or whole oats, if preferred) in one half of the mold

10. Loosely pile mixture into both halves

11. Squeeze both halves together until mold locks

12. Remove upper half of the mold and let dry for a couple of hours

13. Remove the second half and dry overnight on bubble wrap (for best results)

14. Wrap each bath bomb in plastic wrap, or store in an airtight container, like a mason jar in a dry place. For gifting place back in mold and decorate with a pretty ribbon.