Bag o’ Fizz question

On the comments yesterday, Tami posted an interesting bath fizzy problem.

I know you’re working on M&P molds this week, but I have a question about bombs that I didn’t find an answer to on your site, hoping maybe you could answer? I have made small ones that I’ve had no problems with, but in making a larger batch and making 10 larger size bombs, am experiencing most of them cracking. They are very firm and not crumbly, but have large cracks in them, my daughter is devastated, as she was planning to sell them since (we) made them. I know that we compressed them as much as possible, what could be other causes for the cracking?

My response was a total shot in the dark.

Hi Tami –

It sounds like the bath bombs might be expanding – and the top is already hard – and this ends up making the larger bombs crack. The smaller bombs, with less volume, don’t expand as much and so don’t crack.

Of course, this is all an educated guess since I haven’t seen your fizzies.

You’re using witch hazel and not anything water based, right? That would be my first suggestion – make sure everything is totally non-reactive with your fizzy mixture.

A little bit of oil will also keep the swelling to a minimum. So, less liquids overall, no water based products and a tiny bit of oil should do the trick for you.

In the meantime, take heart. Your bath fizzies will work wonderfully. Maybe breaking them into smaller bits, selling them in a bag and calling them something creative (Fizzy Rocks, Bag o’ Fizz, Bag o’ Bombs) might help your daughter feel better about your cracking bath fizzies. The photo on the right is of fizzing bath salts. Hopefully it will help inspire your daughter to think outside the proverbial box and turn her “Oops” into something unique and different.

Anne-Marie

If anyone has any better ideas for Tami to help save her daughter’s school sale, please post them in the comments and let us know. Stay tuned for news about our drawing (hint: it’s going to be even better) and the final touches for soap-on-a-rope.