A long soak in a warm bath is one of my favorite ways to relax and unwind. I make a regular bath even better by using homemade bath salts. My basic unscented diy bath salts recipe calls for simple pantry ingredients: epsom salt and baking soda. Adding essential oils is a nice and easy way to put scent into your bath salts, but it’s totally optional.
Taking an epsom salt bath is highly beneficial for your body! In water, epsom salt breaks down into the minerals magnesium and sulfate. Our bodies can easily absorb these minerals when we soak in an epsom salt bath, which replenishes our magnesium and sulfate levels. In a nutshell, epsom salt baths can make us feel better. Epsom salt baths are also an excellent home remedy for aches, pains, arthritis, insomnia, psoriasis, sunburn pain and redness, sore muscles, fibromyalgia and tired, swollen feet.
Click to download and print my free printable Lavender Bath Salts Round Labels
Epsom salt is available at just about any retailer including: drug stores, grocery stores and even dollar stores. I buy it in the large resealable bags. I also buy the large resealable bags of baking soda (look on the laundry aisle.) I take a lot of epsom salt and baking soda baths, good thing the basic ingredients are relatively inexpensive.
You can easily add a few drops of essential oils to your diy bath salts for aromatherapy benefits. Lavender essential oil is one of the most popular oils to use for bath salts because of its calming effect. I am also sharing a few of my other favorite essential oil combinations for bath salts (see below.)
I usually make a large batch of the Basic DIY bath salts recipe (below) with just the epsom salt and baking soda. Then I can run a bath and add a couple drops of whatever essential oils I want to use directly to the water along with the bath salts.
Bath salts are fun to make for yourself and to give friends and family for homemade gifts. Recently, I whipped up a batch of lavender bath salts and added a few drops of purple food coloring. The food coloring tints the bath water a slight lavender color. Don’t worry, it will not dye your skin or bathtub lavender! (At least, I have never had either of those things happen to me and I use this all the time.)
Lavender DIY Bath Salts
Basic DIY Bath Salts Recipe
- 1 cup epsom salt
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- optional essential oils: 20 drops of essential oil(s) *be sure to use skin-friendly essential oils to avoid irritation
- optional food coloring: about 3-5 drops add a light tint to salts
Directions:
Combine epsom salts and baking soda in a small bowl. Stir until well mixed.
If adding essential oils: Gently stir in essential oils to the salt mixture. If adding food coloring: Carefully add about 5 drops of coloring to the salt mixture and stir until salts are completely colored. *add more drops if a darker color is desired, and fewer drops for a lighter tint
I am sharing the Lavender Bath Salts label tags shown in the above photo. It’s free for you to download and print as many as you need for your project! Click on Lavender Bath Salts Round Labels. Print them on cardstock and use a circle punch (2 inch size) to cut them out.
Aromatherapy Bath Salts Essential Oil Combinations:
- For Clear sinuses/Cold and allergy relief, try: 10 drops Eucalpytus + 10 drops Peppermint
- For Relaxation, try: 10 drops Lavender + 10 drops Bergamot
- For Clarity and Energy, try: 10 drops Rosemary + 10 drops Lemon
- For a Pick-me-up, try: 20 drops Grapefruit
Don’t have any essential oils on hand? Check your pantry for vanilla! Add a few drops of vanilla to your bath salts to make a soothing VANILLA BATH SALTS blend.
How do you use epsom salt? What are your favorite essential oil blends for bath salts? Share your ideas with us in the comments below.
If you love to make DIY homemade cleaners with essential oils, check out one of my favorite recipes: Rosemary Essential Oil All Purpose Cleaner. I love the way it leaves behind a nice, clean scent that doesn’t smell like disinfectant. Another very popular homemade cleaner here at Mom Always Finds Out is this Lemon Lavender Mopping Solution. It works wonders on just about every kind of floor surface!
Barbara Montag says
Thanks for the post.
I’m going to do this soon!
Janice says
I really appreciate your bath salt recipe :^). I will be making it for my husband who really enjoys his baths. The one thing that I will leave out (you did state it is optional) is the food coloring. For purely educational reasons here, I just want to point out that foid coloring is a toxin. Children are especially vulnerable. Sometimes we just don’t think about these suggestions and pass them along unknowingly to others. Your recipe is all natural and to add a toxin to it, just doesn’t make sense, in my opinion. There are a lot of great DIY recipes out there but ppl fail to do their homework and make suggestions to use unhealthy ingredients. Just food for thought :^). Please forgive any typos as I am not able to go back and correct.
Nicole says
Hi Janice,
Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughtful and educational comment. I understand your concerns about using food coloring, and appreciate your pointing it out here in case others may have similar concerns so they can go out and do their research.
Luckily, adding color to the bath salts is not necessary. They look nice even in their all-natural snowy white color. I hope your husband enjoys a nice, relaxing bath. You are a sweet wife to make the bath salts for him. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. Take care! –Nicole
Jennifer says
Very good point…I thought about that too. 😉 If color is a luxury you’d love to add, there are natural, non-toxic colors available made with vegetable dyes. Try Whole Foods, or a good internet search will surely turn up a good resource.
Thanks for this great recipe, by the way. 🌸
Nicole says
Hi Jennifer, thank you for your suggestions about the natural coloring made with food dyes. I will have to give them a try one of these times when I make bath salts and bath bombs. —Nicole
Martha Castro says
I’ve made my own bath soak for a long time. I found that with Epsom salts and baking soda they can clump and get hard so I add as little cornstarch. Solves the problem nicely. Also cornstarch and essential oil makes a talc free bath/dusting powder which works well and is totally safe.
Kristel Gibbs says
Thank you for the recipe but i tried making this and went to add it to my bath but the baking soda just didn’t disolve. It made little white balls in the bath water… help! What am i doing wrong??
Nicole says
Hi Kristel, I’m sorry to hear your bath bombs aren’t fizzing properly. It can sometimes take trial and error to find a recipe that is just right the right amounts. I don’t know for sure what could be the cause of the baking soda not dissolving all the way, it is a simple fix of getting the ratio of baking soda to other ingredients just right. I think even the amount of humidity in my home can affect the making of bath bombs. Here is a bath bomb troubleshooting question and answer I found online at SoapQueen.com that may help you figure out what to do next time you try making your bath bombs:
Question: Why is my bath bomb not fizzing very much?
If your bath bomb is not fizzing in the tub as much as you’d like, you may try increasing the amount of citric acid in your recipe. You can start with a mix of 2 parts baking soda to 1.5 parts citric acid. In addition, if you use cornstarch in your recipe, you may try decreasing the amount or eliminating it all together. Fizzing can also decrease if a large amount of oil is used. If your bath bomb comes in contact with moisture from the air or from a damp environment, the fizzing reaction can decrease.
I hope that helps. I am sure with a few tweaks you can get it to work the way you want. Good luck!
Cathie says
Thanks for the recipe. I’m going to make this with my grandkids.
Just a note, I know you do the ads but the strip at the side blocks out words and it’s a bit of a pain trying to scroll to see the words missing. Is there anyway it could be put at the bottom?
Nicole says
Hi Cathie, Thank you so much for letting me know that the ads are blocking words. It doesn’t do that on my computer screen, so I appreciate your letting me know what your screen view looks like. I will email my ad server person and ask them if there is something they can do to fix that or remove the ad altogether. I’d rather have you be able to read my blog post than an ad! I’m sure you would, too. 🙂 I am sorry for the inconvenience. Have fun making the bath salts with your grandkids! –Nicole
Donna @ Modern on Monticello says
I have made bath salts before but never with baking soda to add some fizz. I agree that a good long soak in the tub is just good for mind and body. Thanks for sharing. #HomeMattersParty
Emily @DomesticDeadline.com says
I love the combinations you recommend! I need to try this, of course, I need to have a tub that holds water, so it might be after our bathroom remodel, lol. #HomeMattersParty
Nicole says
It will definitely be a well-deserved soak in the tub after you do a bathroom remodel. 🙂
Lorelai @ Life With Lorelai says
We use a lot of Epsom salts for baths, it really helps with aches and pains. And lavender is one of my favorites, so relaxing and soothing — plus it smells heavenly! Thanks for sharing with me and the #HomeMattersParty 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
Lori says
How much do you use in bath? The store bought one called for 2 cups,lol
Nicole says
Hi Lori, I use about a cup of salts per bath. I know using the two cups as recommended on the bag would probably be most ideal, but I like to make my bath salts last longer. If my muscles are achy or I just feel like a super nice bath, I do splurge and use a full two cups. 🙂 Honestly, can’t tell if it makes a difference. LOL
sahana says
I have never tried to make bath salts. This looks like an interesting recipe. I should try sometime. #HomeMatters
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Doris says
thanks or sharing. I love bath salts and to give as gifts. I especially love Doterra essential oils.
Amy says
Can I use vanilla extract?
Nicole says
Yes, although in large quantities I have noticed it can tint the color of the bath bombs. I have more recently started using Vanilla perfume oil (just a few drops) in my bath bombs. It costs a few dollars per bottle on Amazon, but goes a long way and adds a stronger vanilla scent. Hope that helps! -Nicole
Flávia says
Hi. I have a question. Why do you use baking soda? Thanks
Nicole says
Hi! There are several benefits to adding baking soda to bath salts. A couple of the main reasons I do it is because baking soda can help soothe skin, and also baking soda can help make the water feel “softer.” Thanks for your question, hope that helps give you an answer. -Nicole
Kristen says
Thank you for this simple recipe. I made some today, can’t wait to try it out.
Vickie says
Thank you for this recipe ~ my granddaughter (5 year old ~ with help) just made this. We made a double batch, added lavender flowers in it and put it in a Power ADE bottle. She is so excited and cannot wait to give it to her Mother for Mother’s Day tomorrow.
Nicole says
Hi Vickie,
Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me know. I’m so glad you and your granddaughter were able to make this together. I hope that her mom (and you!) had a wonderful Mother’s Day. –Nicole