Mmmmmm…… A hot bath with soothing salt and delicate fragrance sounds really good right now. So here’s an easy and fool-proof method for making bath salts.
Dendritic Salt has a greater surface area than other salts which means the fragrance (or essential) oils and color stick better and with more OOMPH! Many crafters add Dendritic Salt to their Sea Salt formulations for the non-clumping capabilities. But this isn’t just any bath salt recipe…this is a baked bath salt recipe. We’re baking in the colorant and fragrance oil leaving a smooth, dry and clump free texture. People are going to ask you how you got such a nice consistency with such a fine salt. Shhhh…it’s our little secret!
Ingredients
3.5 ounces Baking Soda
3 lbs Dendritic Salt
30 drops Impatien Pink LabColor
30 drops Green Apple LabColor
.7 ounces Jasmine Dreams Fragrance Oil
.7 ounces Violet Fragrance Oil
11-12 4 oz jars
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ONE: Combine the Dendritic Salt with the Baking Soda and mix vigorously with a whisk or spoon until there are no more clumps. Then separate evenly into two mixing containers.
TWO: Add .7 ounces of Violet Fragrance Oil and 30 drops of diluted Impatien Pink LabColor and mix well. Make sure there are no clumps. I found that a whisk works the best.
Tip: Learn how to dilute your LabColors here.
Mix in all these clumps.
THREE: Cover a baking sheet with foil and spread the salt mixture out on the baking sheet. Bake the salt between 225 and 250 degrees for 15 minutes total, stirring the mixture every 5 minutes. DO NOT leave the salt unattended. It will burn if the temperature is too hot or you don’t stir every 5 minutes.
FOUR: Repeat steps 2 and 3 using Jasmine Dreams Fragrance Oil and Green Apple Labcolor (same usage rates as above).
FIVE: Let the salt cool and fill up your jars in any way you desire.
TIP: I put a piece of foil in the jar to scoop the vertical layers. Don’t ask how I managed to get the cool zig-zag design. I tried several more times to no avail.
The purple colored salt on the far right is 30 drops of Purple Passion diluted LabColor. Experiment with other fun colors!
Usage Directions: Add entire 4 oz jar of salt mixture to a hot bath and let dissolve. Then jump in and enjoy!
sorry she taught me 🙂
I have been making bath salts for 7 years and always baked mine,because the heat gets rid of any thing bad that could be in the salt,this is what my grandmother thought me 🙂
Hi Haukur!
We like baking our salts because we found that baking them leaves a very smooth, dry and clump free texture.
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Thanks again for your great ideas – will have to try this baking method – I make bath products here in the UK – I make my bath potions and put them in one bath size cello bags and pack 6 in a fancy box – that way you just pour the contents of a cello bag into your bath and leave the others sealed in there bags for the next time you need them.
Mae
That is such a creative idea, I love it!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
How do you use the mica as a colorant? Do you mix it with alcohol to make it wet so it will blend? Also, can you use food coloring to color the salts instead?
Thanks!
When mixing in mica as a colorant, you mix it well with the fragrance oil of your choice and it coats very well. You can always use food coloring to color the salts if you’d like!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I want to try this baking method, but I use natural essential oils in my products. Will baking cause the essential oils to evaporate quickly? Will this alter the smell? or should I just try adding the oils after the salts cool? ( I won’t be adding any colorant just the essential oils.)
You can add the oils after the salt cools but the oils end up being a little more … oily that way (which is fine!) rather than a more dry – to – the – touch salt. Some of the heartier essential oils will 100% last through a baking. Some of the weaker ones, the more delicate ones (think citruses and anything that is super pricey!) won’t so it’s a bit of a balancing act to find the ones that will do really well (Mints, Patchouli, Clary Sage etc…) and ones that will waft off (Orange EO, Lime etc…).
As for containment, if I don’t have any jars would putting the salts in vacuum-seal food bags do the trick of keeping moisture out?
Totally! Anything air tight will work.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
I love making bath salts, and will definitely try this new idea! I too have had trouble getting everything mixed together well with no clumps…so this is what I came up with and it works great for me…First, I premix my bath salt “base” (Sea salt, dendritic salt, epson salt & baking soda) in a big tub until they are well-blended. Then I measure out about 4 cups at a time into a medium-sized plastic container with a very tight fitting lid (like Tupperware)…and I add my colorant, fragrance oils and any herbs or additives…then I put the lid on and shake the dickens out of it. It mixes all the ingredients evenly, and I get a small workout as well..lol. This way, I can mix up whatever size batches I choose, and it is easy to clean up afterwards!
That’s a great idea, thanks! I was thinking about using a KitchenAid stand mixer, but was worried that the scents would stick around (to become unwanted flavors in our delicious chocolate chip cookies!). Haven’t really had that trouble before, but I’d rather prevent it than have to deal with it. 😉
*pulls out the huge Ziploc containers her mom was saving for a rainy day*
@ Michele This is a fabulous idea and a great way to easily mix up your scents in individual batches. Thank you so much for sharing! We always love learning new techniques and tricks =)
Courtney from Bramble Berry
@canfieldfive The mixer sounds like it would work but I’m on the same page of leaving my cooking and soaping hardware separate. Soapy cookies don’t sound too good.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
My salts looked nothing like the photo even right out the bag. Very soft to start with. Not at all saltly looing. Is this the way it is suppost to be?
Hi Mary,
Not sure what you mean by soft? The Dendritic salt is very much like regular table salt and once you get the fragrance and color mixed in and baked the consistency is pretty much the same as when you started. If you think you got the wrong product please send us an email at [email protected] and we will get you taken care of!
Amber
I think I was looking at the thread photo and not so much the photo for this project. Could someone suggest a way to seal the bottles for they will not be to easily opened.
Bramble Berry doesn’t sell them but I’m sure there are jars that you can buy that come with lids that lock on. You could also shrink wrap the bottle in plastic.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
I made up a batch of this and it really smells and feels great. I ordered the jars you had listed. What would be the best way to seal these for they cant be opened to easy. I was thinking a small piece of clear tape or white stickers. I used about 1 oz and it still worked in my tub.
Hi there,
Would the “La Bomb” colours be ok?
Thanks,
Janine
The La Bomb colorants will definitely work. They might just be a little more difficult to mix in since the dyes are suspended in glycerin. You’ll probably just have to roll up your sleeves and mix for a little bit longer.
-Courtney from Bramble Berry
Hi,
My question is, How do you think adding powdered Goats milk would work? I love to add it to my bath salts but have never baked them before. How much would you use?
Love you site!
Janine
You can use a little bit of powered goatsmilk in this recipe but it will have a short shelf life of about a month. Remember that salt attracts moisture and will start to reconstitute the milk, which may end up smelling sour after a couple of weeks.
Milk doesn’t react well to heat either so I would stay away from baking it.
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Thank you!
I’m new to this, but if you wanted to make it fizzy too would you just add citric acid to the mix? And if so how much and would it be safe to bake it w/ it in it?-Thanks!
It’s the combination of citric acid and baking soda that makes the fizzing reaction. Usually 1 part citric acid to 2 parts baking soda. Since there’s not much baking soda in this recipe I would just start from scratch and make a bath fizzy….you could always add a little salt to the mix too.
Also, baking the mixture would probably make the citric acid react (making it not fizzy when it hits the tub).
Here’s a great place to start making bath fizzies http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/bath-fizzies/soap-queen-tv-bath-fizzy-fun-2/
Courtney from Bramble Berry
I would just double the fragrance oil as well- you could even round it up to 1.5 ounces for the entire batch. If you want it to smell really strong, try 2 ounces total for the double batch recipe. I hope you like the recipe and good luck!
-Courtney from BB
As always, thanks so much for your help. I have one more question – If I were to double the recipe above and make the whole batch of salts in ONE color and ONE fragrance (and I like a LOT of fragrance), what it the amount of fragrance I should use?
Since the fragrance calculator on the Bramble Berry web site is not gear toward bath salts, I was just wondering what the fragrance measurement would be (in oz) for a double batch of salts in ONE fragrance. I can’t calculate that myself since I don’t really know what the recommended ‘high end maximum’ fragrance use is for bath salts.
I’m looking forward to trying these!
Thanks!
Another question:
Are those jars pictured above the largest jars you sell for bath salts? It doesn’t seem like that jar would hold enough to get very many baths out of it . . . (?)
That’s the biggest jar (with twist on lid) that we currently sell. For our recipe above, the entire jar goes into the tub.
Courtney from BB
Someone gave me the following bath salt recipe that I wanted to try.
3 cups Epsom salt
2 cups sea salt
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup of dendritic salt
1/2 ounce of essential or fragrance oil
Color
Then I saw your blog and wondered if I could incorporate your recipe into this one since I don’t already have enough dendritic salts on hand (yet) to make your blog recipe.
I plan to order enough dendritic salt soon to try your recipe as written above, but in the meantime, do you think I could bake this recipe I already have and get good results?
Did I understand the above questions correctly . . . that even with your baked recipe of mainly dendritic salts, these salts could still soap up moisture from the air and clump in the future?
If so, I was planning on putting both my bath salts recipes in little plastic bags with twist ties. Do you think that would be a bad idea because it might not keep moisture out well enough?
Thanks!
Yes, you can definitely mix and match salts to create your own recipe and bake them up with no problems. By mixing and matching you’ll be able to come up with a one of a kind recipe!
If enough moisture is exposed to the salts after they’re baked, yes, the salt could eventually clump up. Plastic bags will last a while but moisture could eventually sneak in there (which is why we’re recommending an air tight container).
Courtney from BB
I noticed that you used the the high pH Lab Colors, and wondered if I could use the Lab Colors designed for M&P instead? I don’t make cold process soap (yet!), and so I’d like to be able to use the Lab Colors for several different products.
Yes, you can use any of our LabColors for this project. You’ll only need to pay attention to the pH level if you’re making CP. Good luck with the project!
-Courtney from BB
I don’t use bath salts, but I love this recipe! Just might have to give it a try. 🙂
Baking them just drives out whatever moisture there is currently, right? I mean, I can’t think how it would do anything to the structure of the salt that would make it any less likely to suck up moisture from the air and clump up next month, if the chosen packaging isn’t quite airtight enough?
I had serious trouble with our Dead Sea bath salts turning into “bath rocks” during the humid times of the year here in Kansas, and the only thing I’ve come up with to make that not happen is to blend in a little oil. That appears to coat them well enough to last just fine through fluctuating weather/temperature. Packaging in screw-top containers now rather than bags no doubt helps, too, of course.
Maybe I’ll play around with baking them as well. Can’t hurt!
Amy, I had the same thing happen! We’re in Houston, and it just doesn’t get much more humid!
It was embarrassing because I had them for sale
and hope customers used them in a timely manner!
Anne-Marie said it didn’t hurt the fragrance which was my concern, you know how unstable and flighty essential oils can be…..
Air tight packaging is key if you don’t want the salt to suck up any more moisture especially if you live in a humid climate. But yes, baking the salt immediately dries up the current moisture in the salts leaving a lovely and smooth texture.
-Courtney with Bramble Berry
I’ve tried making bath salts before, but every time the color has faded completely after a month. Can you only use Lab Colors, only certain liquid colorants, or is there a trick to getting the color to stay in your salts?
LabColors have always worked great for us. We’ve also used micas with no troubles either. What colorants have you used in the past?
I’ve used a couple of the Soapylove Jewelry Box Colorants and also several Life of the Party colorants that I got from my local craft store. I have not yet tried any micas, but I might just go with those since you say they work. 🙂
I can’t speak for the Life of the Party Colorants but the Soapylove Jewelry Box colorants should be great! If you go with the micas it takes a lot of mixing so remember to stir, stir, stir!
Courtney from BB
Wow! Never would I have thought to do this!
I made some really rockin mineral salts last year
with SO many good for you things just jam packed in them.
Then about six months later, opened the jar, and needed a sledge hammer to get them out?
So embarrassing!
So I guess baking doesn’t diminish the intensity of the fragrance?
The fragrances stayed beautifully. Just make sure that you bake at a low temperature. And they smelled soooo good coming out of the oven…I instantly felt relaxed =)
Brilliant, as always – I’ve been wanting to play around with bath salt!! I’ve never heard of baking them before, what does it do to the salt?
Can you see how clumpy the salt looks before we put it in the oven? Baking the salt dries it out giving it a really smooth, fine and dry texture.
Can you use dead sea salt with this recipe?
What about the flashpoint of the fragrance oil?
You can use any bath salt for this recipe, including Dead Sea Salt. We like Dendritic Salt because it holds the fragrance oil really well!
The flashpoint of the fragrance oil is really only for when we ship a FO, so the Violet and Jasmine Dreams will work wonderfully and they turned out so well when we did it! 🙂
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I soak in my own handmade bath salts every night. I never would have never have thought of baking them! Will have to give this a shot. Aaaah, I’m relaxing already. 🙂 Thanks!!
Let me know now it goes! The texture is so nice and smooth after you bake and let cool.