Skin Issues and Bath Bombs

We have a new addition to our family.  I now have an 8 month old son and parenthood has been a wild ride!  Thankfully, my son is very healthy, but he does get diaper rash occasionally and is sensitive to perfumes and scents.  He loves bath-time and so I got the idea to create some DIY bath bombs with soothing ingredients free of scents (or at least be able to control the intensity and variety of scents).  Mom has psoriasis, and I have a young cousin with eczema for whom I'd also like to make gifts.  I also have a husband who takes a nightly soak in epsom salts for tired, sore muscles.  So, I have brainstormed some possible recipes, researched prices and ingredients, and I'm ready to start experimenting on my guinea pigs.  I purchased 10 lbs of baking soda, 5 lbs of citric acid, 5 lbs of epsom salts, and 1 lb of rice bran oil.  I got it all for just over $40.00 online and shipped for free.

I'm not sure how much product that will actually be or how many bombs I'll be able to make with that.  But, I'm taking the plunge!!!  I just hope that I have enough to perfect my recipe and still have plenty to make a bunch of the finished product(s).  And, if I have over-estimated the amount of raw materials, then I may offer some of the finished product for sale on our Etsy store.

I also want to purchase some colloidal oatmeal, but the wholesaler has a sale coming up on oatmeal so I'm holding off for now.

A lot of bath bombs contain rolled oats or oatmeal.  But we have an old house and often have plumbing issues, so I am reluctant to put something as fibrous as oatmeal down the pipes when draining the bath water.  But it is so incredibly good for skin, that it doesn't seem right to leave it out.  My cousin assures me that oats, in any form are wonderful for eczema.  So, I'm hoping that this "colloidal" oatmeal is really something different in nature than oat flour.  The price would indicate that it is quite special and I've read that it disperses into water and makes bath water milky, whereas oat flour just floats to the top.  Baby's bath tub is portable, so it could be emptied onto the lawn instead of poured down the drain.

Olive oil would be much cheaper than rice bran oil, but I wanted to upgrade from the common just a little bit.  I found a seller on eBay that offers oat oil, and if I like the way my bombs are turning out, I may upgrade again to oat oil, but the oil of oat by itself won't give you the benefits of whole grain.  From what I gather, the whole grain has many components that benefit the skin.  The oil would really only be for moisture and perhaps an antioxidant.

I've been shopping for silicone soap molds, but I'm going to use ice cube trays to experiment.  When I perfect the recipe(s), then I may get fancier with molding them into shapes.  I have also been saving fruit cup and pudding containers for a soap-making venture that Mom & I are always intending to do.  This may be a springboard into soaps.  Who knows....

I'll keep you posted on my progress.