Home > Bath Salts Recipe - The Good, Bad and Downright Ugly
Bath Salts Recipes Reviewed: Mistakes You WILL Find in an Online Bath Salt Recipe
Plus... where you can download top quality bath salt recipes - right to your computer desktop!
When using bath salt recipes, always keep in mind where they come from. Quality is always
an important consideration. Quality - is also becoming increasingly difficult to find.
Earlier when I began learning how to make bath salts I was encouraged by the free recipes and
resources I found online. Until I got started that was!
My experiments with many of the online 'free' recipes and resources frequently ended with nothing but
wasted ingredients in the garbage. Eventually, I learned what I know call the 7 Common Mistakes of Bath
Salt Recipes.
7 Common Mistakes
- Mistake #1: There was absolutely no mention of the one critical ingredient in bath salts that
can solve ALL of the clumping problems you will experience with many online recipes.
Through my research I learned about this ingredient - but I didn't find it in any online recipes! This
one ingredient alone will save you headaches, time and money when you use it - and it will cut down on
the 'scrap' salts!
- Mistake # 2: No warning of the potential dangers of using baking soda in your bath salts. I
know this one really shocked me - when I combined the wrong ingredient with baking soda (at the
insistence of the recipe I must add).
The resulting chemical reaction blew the top right off my packaging. Can you imagine if I had used a
glass container and corked it good and tight?!
I simply shudder when I see websites offering "recipes" with baking soda - and not warning the end user!
- Mistake #3: I was appalled to find literally NO variety in the type of salt used from my many
online sources.
I don't mind using the more common salts, but after a while plain Epsom salt does get somewhat boring!
What you really need is recipes that involve more exotic salts -- Icelandic geo- thermal brine salt,
Hawaiian red salt -- AND -- provide you with acceptable substitutes, in case you don't have that
particular salt on hand!
- Mistake #4: - most people don't know that if you buy fragrances and perfumes from a craft
store - and not a reputable supplier, you may actually be purchasing ingredients that are not skin-safe
-- they are a HEALTH HAZARD.
I found almost no warnings regarding this online -- and most commonly I was led to believe that I
could use absolutely any fragrance or perfume I desired. It's just not that easy.
Point to remember: ask your supplier if the ingredients are skin-safe.
- Mistake #5: - using liquid glycerin in bath salts. This ingredient, included frequently in bath
salts by many online sites is one ingredient I would not recommend using.
When mixed in with your salts, glycerin has a tendency to draw all moisture from the atmosphere to
itself. This can result in severe clumping of your bath salts - not a pretty sight to be certain!
- Mistake #6: - there was absolutely NO mention of how to use proper cosmetic colourants in your bath
salts. If I was planning to use the bath salts only for myself, this wouldn't have been a problem.
However, since in the back of my mind was the idea of giving them as gifts and possibly selling them - I
knew I would have to use proper colourants.
- Mistake #7: - no troubleshooting information of any kind is provided. I know this really annoyed me
when I began making bath salts. Especially given the sheer amount of trouble I was having!
What you really need is in-depth instructions and troubleshooting tips, along with a list of the most
common problems incurred in making bath salts - and what you can do about them.
I know what major headaches these mistakes can cause -- not to mention the wasted time and money on spent
on ingredients.
Take mistake #1 for example. Clumping salts are not to be desired. Some of your salts are still good, but the
clumps dry out and you end up with rock-hard clods of salt inside your packaging! That's just not stylish.
Now mistake #2 - I don't need to tell you about. Just Google 'exploding bath salts' and you'll quickly find out
that I wasn't the only person who experienced this problem!
Unfortunately, that leaves us with only two options:
- Do all the legwork yourself and research each ingredient individually before using it... AND spend your time
and money finding out what does and doesn't work.
I took this route. Not that I wanted to - there just wasn't any other way available when I started making bath
salts. This route can allow you to glean a lot of information along the way - if you have the time and interest
to keep at it.
- Let someone else do the legwork for you - and piggyback on their success. Fortunately, instead of
having to do all the research yourself, there are other people who have already done it for you.
Recently there have been publishers producing 'guides' to making bath salts. If you don't want to have to do
all the research and make all the mistakes yourself, this is definitely your best option.
The easiest way
by far is to get a bath salts guide. There are several of these online and before
you download one you need to know what to look for.
Here's what any bath salts guide *MUST* have...
- Variation in Recipes - I've seen sites advertising so-many-hundred recipes, and
at first I thought that would be a great deal - for the price being charged. Then I got the so-called 'recipes'.
They were all the EXACT same recipes - with the exception of the fragrance which was changed! So the colourants, salts
and additives were the same -- and they just changed the fragrance oil and called it a 'new' recipe!
Having the same proportions is absolutely fine and even recommended (i.e. each recipe yields two cups) - but to have
the same old recipe change its spots over and over is just tedious.
- Pictures and Photographs - here's how it works. If there aren't a lot of pictures of the recipes, ingredients,
and supplies in any guide, chances are the recipes were just made up on the spur of the moment and were never really tested.
Make absolutely certain there are high-quality photographs to help you along the way.
- In-depth Packaging Information - to teach you how to package your bath salts
elegantly and professional - and not "put in a ziploc bag"!
Look - there's no point in making the best bath salts and then stuffing them in a tupperware container. They
should look pretty. Make sure there are photos accompanying the packaging to help you visualize what you are
after.
- In-depth Troubleshooting Instructions - this is an absolute must with any bath
salts eBook - yet it is sadly lacking on the Internet.
Be absolutely certain the recipes and information comes with detailed troubleshooting instructions - otherwise
it is pretty well useless.
- Comprehensive Supplier Listings - it's useless having a killer recipe, if you
can't find the exotic ingredients called for.
Also - you need to be sure that the suppliers are trustworthy. Some suppliers I've dealt with are simply no
good. You couldn't PAY me to do business with them.
Currently, there is only one bath salts guide
Homemade-Bath-Salts-Receipes.com (whew! long url!)
recommends.
'The Comprehensive Guide to Handcrafted Bath Salts'
MakeBathSalts.com has been online for years providing bath salts making information. With a reputation
in customer service (see their testimonials) they are quite possibly the #1 site for bath salts recipes
and bath salt making information.
You can learn more about this eBook by
clicking here.
PLUS -- checkout the
stunning photo gallery
of the bath salts you'll be making (when you download their eBook).
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