The Secret to Longer Fizzing Bath Bombs [So Simple!]

So maybe you have been making your own bath bombs for a while and have seen youtube videos of bath bombs that last longer than yours. You are wondering, ‘How to I get my bath bombs to fizz for longer?’

The best way to make bath bombs last longer and increase the length of time they fizz, is to use soft soap and alcohol instead of an ingredient like coconut oil. Not only will the fizz produce more bubbles but the bath bomb should also fizz for twice as long

Read on to find the exact recipe to achieve longer-lasting fizz in bath bombs and more information about using soft soap as an alternative to oil.

Best Way to Make bath Bombs Fizz for Longer

There are several factors you can employ to make your bath bombs fizz for longer in the water. Ignore water temperature [which is a factor] for now, we will get to that a little later.

• The density of the mix
• Adding Cornstarch
• Consider Leaving out Salts [More sodium]
• Change Citric Acid/Baking Soda Ratio
• Do not use Oil
• Add SLSA

Each of these elements will affect the reaction between the citric acid and baking soda when coming into contact with the water will which trigger the fizz.

1. Density

The more compacted the mix in the mold, and the harder the finish when dried, the harder it is for the water to penetrate and break up the mix, and thus, this will prevent the bath bomb from fizzing away very quickly.

However: this can be a negative and make the exerience rather underwhelming.

2. Adding Cornstarch

Cornstarch bonds itself to the citric acid and baking soda ensuring that the water has a harder job of combining with the reactionary ingredients. This is the most common way of slowing bath bomb fizz down, and you’ll find many DIY recipes with cornstarch included.

3. Do not Use Epsom Salt

Not using Salts, or Epsom salts specifically will make a slight difference, not much though. Ultimately Salt is yet more sodium in the finished mix, but not as reactive in this form as baking soda.

I would suggest you will lose more quality in your bath bomb by leaving out the Epsom salts, than you will gain in longer-lasting fizz.

4. Switch up the Recipe Ratio

Most often you will find the Baking Soda and citric acid in a 2:1 ratio in most recipes.

If you change these ratios up and down, you will notice more and less reaction between the two ingredients.

When making your own bath bombs, it is always worth troubleshooting by experimenting with different ratios to get the final fizz finish your are looking for.

5. Avoid using Oils

Oil is another binding agent in this case and can slow the reaction down, [slightly] despite not using very much in the mix.

Removing oils from your bath bomb can be a problem, as they both provide the scent, when essential oils are used, and you will need to add carrier oils, like coconut oil, to ‘carry’ the essential oil in the mix.

If you are happy with creating fragrance-free bath bombs and just want to go with the fizz, then, go ahead, take out the oil.

As with Epsom salts, the lack of scent against how much fizzier your bath bomb will be is not a good enough trade-off for me to consider it a good option.

6. Add SLSA

This is my favorite, adding SLSA makes only a little difference in slowing down the fizz but adds a ton of bubbles.

Ultimately what we want from our Bath Bomb, is tons of fizz, tons of scent and tons of bubbles!!

What Makes the Fizz in Bath Bombs?

The ‘Fizz’ in a bath bomb is a reaction between the two main ingredients Citric Acid and Baking Soda when coming into contact with water [The hotter the better as we will see]

How long Should a bath bomb fizz for?

The length of time you will see the fizzing action in your bath bomb will depend on the size of the product, and the ingredients used in the recipe.

There are many answers to how long long bath bombs take to dissolve.

To encompass all types the time can be anything between 3 minutes for a small bath bomb up to 8 minutes for generally available larger bath bombs available in retail stores.

How do I get my Bath Bombs to fizz more?

The greater the volume of citric acid and baking soda, the more fizz you can expect to experience, especially if in the method of mixing the ingredients, you have done a thorough job.

If you add cornstarch, you may find the fizzing will last longer but at the expense of the voracity of the fizz. Try using a bath bomb recipe without cornstarch for the best fizzing results.

Avoiding cornstarch will also help with the cost of making your own bath bombs. Making them even cheaper to produce at home, or create to sell as a bath bomb business.

How to make bath bombs fizz longer.

Make them bigger and use cornstarch to slow the fizzing process down.

The cornstarch binds to both the citric acid and baking soda and reduces the reaction with the water slightly. As mentioned, you will lose some of the action but if you plan on getting in the bath whilst the fizzing takes place, it will last several minutes longer in a standard bath bomb size of around 4oz to 5oz.

Will a bath bomb fizz in cold water?

A bath bomb will fizz in cold water but the reaction in warmer water will increase the potency of the reaction between the citric acid, and baking soda.

The warmer the water the more fizz you will get, and this is purely because of a simple scientific reason.

How much energy the water has.

Water with energy? Yes.

Water contains energy, as does everything, it is thermal energy in realtion to the tempreture.

The warmer the water, the more active the individual molecules are. they move around faster, and therefore create further energy with the citric acid and baking soda combining with the H20.

This is why bath bombs fizz.

Take a look at this fun experiment with bath bombs in cold, warm, and hot water from the SteamPoweredFamily.

Why do bath bombs dissolve quicker in hot water?

Bath bombs dissolve quicker in hot water because of the thermal energy released because of the higher temptreture.

Because the reaction between the ingredients is stronger it means the fizz is more furious and the reaction happens quicker, thus dissolving the bath bomb more quickly