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Solid Bubble Bath Recipe

Filed Under: Soaks & Scrubs

To “chillax” means to both simultaneously chill out and relax. Sounds good to me! And the perfect chillaxin’ wind down is a great bubble bath and a book. Here is a recipe for some bubbly goodness paired with the earthiness of Patchouli, sweetness of Orange and balancing notes of Rose for a perfect bath time essential oil blend. Plus, these solid bubbling bath bars harden up pretty fast, so you can get your bath time on quickly.

Solid Bubble Bath

Recipe:

1.5 Cup Sodium Bicarbonate

1.5 Cup Cream of Tartar

1.5 Cup Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

3/4 Cup Liquid Soap Concentrate

 Patchouli Essential Oil

 10x Orange Essential Oil

Rose Absolute Oil

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ESSENTIAL OIL PREP: Blend the essential oils to create the “Chillax Blend”. Mix 3 mL Patchouli Essential Oil, 8 mL Orange 10X Essential Oil, and 1 mL Rose Absolute Essential Oil.

Blending Essential Oils

ONE: In a bowl big enough to get both hands in, mix together the Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar and SLS. Use a whisk to fully mix the ingredients together, but whisk slowly because these ingredients can (and do!) go airborne easily, tickling delicate noses and throats.

Whisking dry ingredients

NOTE: Sodium Bicarbonate and SLS can both tickle your nose, so wear a mask if you’re sensitive.

TWO: In a separate, smaller container, mix together the Liquid Soap Concentrate and Chillax Essential Oil Blend. Notice it’s a naturally dark color.

Mixing EO and Liquid Soap

THREE: Pour the Liquid Soap mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix the wet and dry ingredients initially with a spoon or spatula, then switch to your hands and knead together until the ingredients are fully incorporated.

Mixing wet and dry ingredients

FOUR: Once the ingredients are well mixed, plop the bubble bath dough onto a sheet of wax paper. Spread out the dough to desired thickness, and cut how you’d like. I went with simple squares, but try using a Heart shaped cutter or Circle cutter for added interest. There are lots of options.

Cut bubble bars

FIVE: Allow to sit and harden overnight. Use right away, or wrap in air-tight packaging for use later or as a gift.

TO USE THE SOLID BUBBLE BATH: Crumble under running bath water. If you’re not using it quickly, package the solid bubble bath bricks up in cellophane bags or wax or parchment paper. These work best when they’re slightly moist so they crumble easily under running water. If you just toss them into a bath, the result is less than astounding. Definitely crumble these under warm running water unless you want to be underwhelmed.

Final Cut bars

If you wanted to add color to this recipe, a La Bomb colorant would be great.

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103 Comments

  2. I made these tonight and the dough kept expanding at an alarming rate. I put the dough in a silicone cupcake pan and the dough ballooned out of the cavaties very quickly. I patted them back down twice before they stayed put. Is it supposed to do that or did I maybe goof something up?

    • Hi Elizabeth!

      If these bars are exposed to excess moisture, they can start to fizz prematurely. I’m wondering if that’s what’s happening here!

      If your environment is especially humid, you may want to leave these bars in front of a running fan. A dehumidifer can also help keep them from reacting too early. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  4. Hi, LOVE your products and can’t wait to use the Soap concentrate however, I have a question, I saw the video tutorial for the 2 colored roll, I made them and the bubbles were great but waiting for the bubble bars to dry took forever, I gave up and used them in the 4th day while they were still moist. I want to sell these bubble bars but will this recipe maintain some moisture or do they have to be used in a few days because they dry up quickly? If they dry up quickly can I add castor or glycerin like the video recipe? Any help would be great before placing my order, thanks!

    • Hi Calla!

      I’m sorry, I’m not sure which recipe you’re referring to. Do you mind pointing me in the right direction? Thanks!

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

    • Hi Sabrina!

      We haven’t worked with liquid SLS before, so I’m not exactly sure how it would work in this recipe! You may want to try a small test batch to see the results. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

    • Hi Mari!

      We haven’t tested this recipe with Arrowroot Powder, so I’m not exactly sure! I would recommend making a small test batch to test the results. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

    • Simply – no. Cream of tartar is an acid that is a byproduct of wine. Arrowroot powder is tapioca starch (great for keeping things together).
      If you want a substitution, try citric acid for a similar effect.

  8. Hi,
    I made the solid bubble bath yesterday. Came out wonderfully but it somewhat stuck on the freezer paper, later I realized that I forgot to use baking soda. I used mica for coloring but wonder if I can use powdered pigment or mica with oil so that I can get two colors from one batch rather than to make two batches.
    Thanks Shirley

    • Hi Shirley!

      The best colorants to use for bubble bath are our La Bomb Colorants. They’re specifically formulated for bath bombs and fizzies, and just a couple of drops will create beautiful color. 🙂

      Also, to get two colors you can split this batch in half and color each.

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

      La Bomb Colorants: https://www.brambleberry.com/Search.aspx?k=la+bomb

  9. do you have to use sls or slsa cuz ive looked on the internet and the cheapest one I can find is like £6. I cant really afford it right now so are there any alternatives? thnx

    • Hi Olivia!

      The SLS (or SLSA) is what gives this bath bars a lush lather. Without it, you are basically creating a bath bomb that would fizz in the tub, but not create any bubbles. Unfortunately there is not a great substitute for these ingredients that would give you the same result. You may find this blog post helpful, it has resources for international soapers. It may help you find these ingredients a little cheaper 🙂

      International Soaping Resources:
      http://www.soapqueen.com/bramble-berry-news/soaping-world-resources-international-soapers/

      I hope this helps 🙂

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  10. I’m so excited to try these! I’m hoping to sell these at my stall, I was wondering what the best way to package these would be? I usually leave my soaps ‘in the open’, would it be ok to present the bars in my usual wooden box or do I need to wrap them first? Thank you so much, I love your blog!

    • Hi Emma!

      It’s a bit of a personal preference, but I think these would be perfectly fine if they were left in the open. If you prefer to package them, you could place them in a soap box, or a small bag. You could even cut them into smaller pieces, and then place them in a bail jar! You have lots of options 🙂

      Here are some packaging products, I’m sure they will give you some ideas!

      Packaging: https://www.brambleberry.com/Packaging-C191.aspx

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

      • Thank you so much! I wasn’t sure if they would be ‘activated’ by leaving them in the air like bath bombs tend to do.

        Emma

        • Hi Emma!

          If the weather is not great that day, I would recommend wrapping or packaging them 🙂

          -Amanda with Bramble Berry

    • Hi Yolande!

      You could experiment with the liquid version, but I would be afraid that it would dramatically change the texture your bars would not harden up. I would recommend sticking with the powder form 🙂 If you give the liquid a try, let me know how it goes!

      -Amanda

  12. Great weblog here! Also your website loads
    up very fast! What web host are you the use of?
    Can I get your associate hyperlink for your host?
    I want my website loaded up as fast as yours lol

  13. Yesterday I made the solid bubble bars and they came our great. Do I need to add preservatives to the base before I sell them to the public? If so, Which is the correct one to use. Can I use glycerin instead of the soap concentrate?
    Thank you,
    Denise

  14. I made these yesterday, boy they make SUCH wonderful bubbles. I can’t decide how to package them though. I am afraid if I just wrap them, they will crumble to bits! I don’t sell anything, but I do want them to look pretty!

  15. Can I put these bath bars in a mold? Will they be hard to remove? Can I do a two color roll (where it looks like a cinnamon roll swirl)?

  16. Hi 🙂
    Can liquid SLS be subbed for the soap concentrate?
    I can’t wait to try this recipe!

  17. How do I use labomb colorants? Do I dilute it or use as is? And how much do I use for this recipe?

    • Hi Karen!

      You can use La Bomb colorants as is, as they are already diluted. We typically give about 1-3 drops per average bath bomb recipe to get that gorgeous hue of color. Be sure to let us know how your solid bubble bath recipe turns out and if you are able to get any pictures, you can share them with us on Bramble Berry’s Facebook page. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

      https://www.facebook.com/BrambleBerry

  18. Thank you for this recipe!
    We are a fragrance free house hold and I am wondering if this recipe suffers at all by excluding the fragrance oils. Should there be a bump up in soap concentrate or anything?
    Your input is so appreciated!

  19. Hi, I was wondering if you could swap out cream of tartar for citric acid and vise versa for bath fizzies and bubble bar recipes? Thank You:)

    • Hi Amanda!

      The solid bubble bath bar recipe is actually one that Anne-Marie worked with over a year until she got the ratios and the ingredients exactly perfect to create a solid bubble bar. Citric Acid is actually what make the bath fizzies, well, fizz, so that is one ingredient that you are going to want to keep in your recipe. If you want to play around with the ingredients, I would suggest making small test batches of what you want to do to see if it works for you!

      For more inspiration on bath fizzies, truffles and solid bubble bath bars, here is a link you can check out:

      http://www.soapqueen.com/category/bath-and-body-tutorials/bath-fizzies/

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  20. If I wanted to sub out that scent for just 1 scent (and not mix anything). How much would I use? 🙂
    Thank you!!!!

  22. Yeah promote SLS aka palm oil…… its not getting grown in your forests is it.

    Protect Thailands forests, protect the urangutangs stop promotion of sodium laureth sulphate

    • Hi Melissa!

      You can make this particular recipe without the SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) but it you aren’t going get as big and fluffy of bubbles without it.

      We definitely do appreciate bringing up your concern about Palm Oil and here is a great post by Anne-Marie that she wrote last year that goes into detail about some of the sustainability issues.

      On Palm Oil: http://www.soapqueen.com/business/on-palm-oil/

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  23. And the bubble bars looked really nice this morning, if a bit fragile. Can’t wait to test them on the kids!

  24. Just to get this straight, for bubble bath, do you mean 5 parts liquid soap concentrate and 1 part water? Or the other way around?

  25. Made this with my daughter tonight, although I’m a bit skeptical since it seems more frothy than doughy.

    The most important thing though, is that because I bought this as a kit I now have an entire jug of liquid soap concentrate and no real instructions on what to do with the rest of it.

  27. I was wondering if using micas or oxides colors would work for this? Would the color bleed in the water?

    • Hi Ann!

      If you wanted to add color to this recipe, I would suggest using the LaBomb colorants as they are made for bath fizzy-type recipes. You can find all the fun different colors here:

      Bath Bomb Dyes:
      https://www.brambleberry.com/Bath-Bomb-Dyes-C50.aspx

      Anytime you do use a color in your bath fizzy or solid bubble bath recipes, it will change the color of your water. But, that can be a lot of fun, whether you are an adult or a kid! =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

      • Thanks for the suggestion of the La Bomb colors, but what if you didn’t want the dyes? Can you use Micas and oxides to color these? Are there any health issues (lip and eye safe required?) to using them in a bath? Any suggestion on amounts? The pigments make amazing colors and the micas make swirly ribbons in the water (I’ve done a little dabbling…). But I can’t find anything online about safety and amounts. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

        Thanks,
        Rita

        • Hi Rita!

          You do not need to worry about using lip or eye safe micas in your bath bombs, largely because it is a wash off product rather than a leave on product like lotion or lipstick.

          There is not a specific usage rate when it comes to using micas in bath bombs, but there is a tendency to over color them…you need a very small amount! I would recommend adding a teeny tiny bit at a time until you reach a color that you like.

          I hope this helps Rita 🙂

          -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  28. I can’t wait to try this recipe! And I have a question about the liquid soap concentrate. I make my own liquid soap. Is it possible for me to partially dilute my own paste?
    And is there any thing that can be added for moisturization and make this recipe double-duty?
    TIA

    • Good morning!

      You can use your own liquid soap concentrate in this recipe, but it might not be as bubbly and foamy as the Liquid Soap Concentrate that Bramble berry sells. If you do try it out, make sure to make a small test batch and see if it works for you.

      You could try adding a bit of Cocoa Butter to this recipe for a bit of skin-loving goodness like we did in this bath fizzy recipe:

      Tiger Stripe Bath Bombs: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tigerstripebathbombs/

      I hope this helps! Keep us updated on your progress and let us know how yours turns out. =)
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  29. I made the bubble bars and they turned out great. Although I did have a hard time working with it. I rolled it out and used a cookie cutter to make shapes. I found that it was drying out and becoming crumbly really fast. I used alcohol to re moisten the mixture but it was a bit difficult. Is there anyway to keep it moistened enough to work with or do I just need to move quite a bit faster? The overall result was amazing the chillax fragrance was perfect!! I could use it in every bath!!! I know it will be a great item to sell!!

    • Good morning, Belle La Vie! I’d love to help you troubleshoot what happened. When you were making this recipe, did you substitute or change anything in the recipe? We did find that we had enough time to work with them and shape them with our hands before they began to harden.

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  30. I just made some solid bubble bath with your recipe, but substituted natural liquid castile for the liquid soap concentrate. The bars came out a beautiful bright pink and the “dough” was so easy to work with. However, I used it in a bath last night to test the bubbles and I was not impressed. The bath water turned a lovely shade of gurlie pink 🙂 and it smelled great but the bubbles were gone before the bath was half filled. The bubbles I did get were kind of small and foamy. I crumbled it under the running water…how can I get bigger, more long lasting bubbles? My SLS is about a year old, does it maybe need to be replaced with fresher sls? Anything else I could try? I had so much fun making them! Thank you for the recipe!!

    • Hi Brianne!

      That sounds super frustrating that you didn’t get all the bubbles that you wanted. I looked at your changes and it seems like you didn’t get as many bubbles because you switched out the Liquid Soap Concentrate for the Natural Liquid Castile Soap. The Liquid Soap Concentrate Base will give much more lather and bubbles then the Natural Liquid Castile Soap will, so next time you try this recipe out, I’d keep everything the same and the bubbles should stay. I did check on the SLS and it doesn’t actually have a expiration date, so you can still use it. I’m so happy to hear that you had so much fun making it, we did too. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

          • Hi Becky! I had to report back on my newest batch of solid bubble bars. I followed the recipe to the letter and my bars turned out great! I colored them with lilac la bomb, scented with lavender eo and put lavender buds on top. The water turned cold before my mountains of bubbles went away. 🙂 Thanks so much for your help!

  31. Buenas tardes,en el ultimo momento adicionamos una cucharada de arcilla en polvo,en el momento de des moldar los jabones se fracturaron, que pudo haber pasado,por favor deme una luz, gracias.

    • Buenos días, Narda!

      ¿Fue esta receta que agregó que la arcilla? Clay tiende a ser súper absorbente y en realidad puede causar grietas y separación en las recetas. La próxima vez que intente esta receta, me quedaría con la arcilla y ver cómo resulta para usted. Espero que esto ayude. =)

      -Becky con Bramble Berry

      Good morning, Narda!

      Was it this recipe that you added the clay to? Clay tends to be super absorbent and can actually cause cracks and separation in recipes. The next time you try this recipe, I’d take out the clay and see how it turns out for you. I hope this helps. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

    • Thanks for the question, Jessica! If you put the Citric Acid in place of the Cream of Tartar in this recipe, it is going to act much more like a bath fizzy instead of a solid bubble bath bar. If you were to do it, I’d make super small batch to see if you like how it works for you.
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  33. I was wondering if there might be a substitute for the liquid soap concentrate? I was thinking maybe vegetable glycerin might work. I am not sure if the liquid soap concentrate provides most of the bubbly action (I know the SLS does too) or if it is mostly used as a binder for all of the dry ingredients. Thank you in advance.

  34. If we wanted to make a two-color roll, at which stage would we divide and add colorants? How do you add colorants? Knead them in?

    • Hi Sarah!

      It depends on what kind of colorant you are using. If it is a La Bomb (or liquid colorant), you would mix it in after you have combined the wet and dry ingredients. If it is a powder, we suggest adding it in the dry phase of this project. I hope this helps! 🙂
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

      PS – I divide after the wet/dry ingredients are mixed together but before adding colorants.

  35. This looks great, can the liquid soap concentrate be subbed with something like Castile liquid soap?

    • You will love it! I just had such a fun time with the bubbles in the bath and I think it is perfect for anyone (kid or adult) who enjoys a good bath. =) When you do end up making it, let us know what you think.

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  40. Love these, but is there a way to make them using something besides SLS for the bubbles? So many of my customers are avoiding SLS like the plague.

    • You can use the same amount as the original recipe – 12 mls – and yes, another fragrance would work great in here. =)

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