Rex Trulove
For a long time, it has been known that mint, added to a bath, can alleviate muscle aches and pains. The scent is also quite useful for causing relaxation. Not everyone has a ready supply of mint, though. You can make an equivalent that works quite well, smells good, is relaxing, is simple to make, and that actually fizzes when you add it to the bath.
These homemade fizzing bath balls are even suitable to give as gifts. They can be packaged in decorative air-tight containers and they will likely be a hit. The bath balls are all natural, too. They don’t contain harmful chemicals.
The ingredients you need are:
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup citric acid powder
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon real mint or peppermint extract (don’t use imitation)
- 10 drops green food coloring
To make the fizzing bath balls:
1. Mix the dry ingredients together thoroughly in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the olive oil, mint extract, and food coloring.
3. Blend the oil mixture into the dry mixture. This should form a stiff dough. If needed, a little more olive oil can be added to achieve the stiff dough result.
4. Make balls of the dough by rolling a tablespoon or two of it between your hands. The balls should be about an inch in diameter; about the size of a large marble. Place these on a cookie sheet, pastry mat, or on waxed paper on the counter and allow them to sit for one or two days to harden.
5. Store the bath balls in an air-tight container. To use, simply drop one or two in your bath.
The fizzing is caused by a mild reaction of the citric acid (which is vitamin C) and the baking soda when they become wet in the water. This releases the mint into the bathwater. Larger batches can be made easily, too. You can even use other colors of food coloring if you wish.
Not only is this a relaxing, soothing, and aromatic addition to the bath, it is a healthy one because of the vitamin C. In fact, the olive oil also softens and moisturizes your skin. It gives the same benefits as using fresh mint, but it can be a lot easier to use because you don’t need to grow the mint or purchase fresh mint at the store. Using fresh mint also doesn’t moisturize your skin and doesn’t contain a large quantity of vitamin C.
These bath balls are great to have on hand for those days when over-exertion has left your arms, legs, or back aching. Plopping a couple of these into the bath water can be a tremendous relief that rejuvenates the body from the outside in.
I did it. I made it and I love them. I found something I can do! Thanks.
Thank you very much for the testimony! I love hearing when someone likes them as much as I do!
What a great gift idea! I’m going to collect the ingredients and try this!
I bought more citrus powder a few days ago in order to make some. The powder I got was “fruit fresh” and it surprised me that it wasn’t more expensive. I already had some mint extract. :))
Sounds interesting. I might have trouble finding the citrus powder though, could I use an orange , lemon or lime instead?
The problem with using an orange, lemon, or lime is that the juice would react immediately with the baking soda. Rachel, you should be able to find citrus powder at stores that carry canning supplies or at a pharmacy. In fact, it is probably sold in places that sell wine making supplies, too.
This is very difficult here in Israel to find such types of stores. Thanks for the ideas though.
Do you ever make jam or fruit preserves there? Citrus powder is normally used for making jam out of very sweet fruit since it adds tartness without adding fluid. Another thing that *might* work, though, is to make lemon or orange zest and use that. Lemon/orange zest is simply the peels, grated and dried. I’ve never tried it, but the peels of oranges and lemons contain a lot of citric acids and if they were dried, they wouldn’t contain much moisture, so they wouldn’t react to the baking soda until they were put in water. It is a thought, anyway.
Very good recipes though I drink purely pure mint.
Mint will work in the bath regardless if it is fresh or not.
I would try this if I could still get in and out of a bathtub easily. I can’t remember the last time I had anything but a shower. The only mints I’m growing at the time are catmint and lemon balm. I don’t guess they would work.
Actually, both would work. They just aren’t as powerful as peppermint. The active substance that is so helpful is menthol. Catmint and lemon balm both contain it, but peppermint has about 10 times as much.
Thank you for sharing on this site the benefits of homemade mints.
This is one reason that I really like mint. lol
Great recipe, sounds very relaxing and nice. I’d try to make some if we had a bath…our apartment has a walk in shower unfortunately!
They’d still be good gifts. Besides, sooner or later, it is likely that you will be somewhere that there’s a bathtub. :))
Yes, good as gifts….or could make some to sell! And yes I visit family that have bathtubs lol