I have been looking for something soothing to put in my daughter’s bath to help with her extremely dry skin— besides olive oil (which makes her very slippery 😉 ).  So in honor of Bubble Bath day we decided to whip up our own bubble bath.

If you don’t want to make your own bubble bath it is at least a good reason to enjoy a nice relaxing bath!

Please read note about this project at the bottom of the post.

Homemade Bubble Bath

3 oz glycerin

1 – 4 oz bar of castile soap

4 cups distilled water

skin safe 100% pure essential oil (we used about 10 drops of lavender)

The ingredients can all be found at a grocery store. The glycerin was in the pharmacy/health and beauty section near the band-aids. The essential oil was in the health food section.  Make sure the essential oil is 100% pure and safe for the skin.

Grate or finely chop the bar of castile soap.

Make sure it is finely chopped, it will make it easier to dissolve in the water.

Mix the chopped soap, 3 ounces glycerin, and about 6 or more drops of essential oil into 4 cups distilled water.  I didn’t have distilled water so I boiled four cups of water.  I allowed the water to cool slightly.  I think the warm water helped the soap to dissolve.

Pour the bubble bath into a container. We put some of it in this container my daughter found at Hobby Lobby.  They are made for sand art.  The bubble bath is now too thick for this container— but wouldn’t have made cute favors? They have loads of different shapes, even a rocket.


The verdict, no bubbles. We used about half a cup in the bath.  It made a milky looking bath. As long as it helps my daughter’s skin and keeps her from complaining it is a success. But it is not a winner for bubbles.

HELP – Later in the day the bubble bath was a really thick mixture, like thick pudding.  I re-made the bubble bath with distilled water to see if the hot water had changed the structure of the mixture — same results.

Does anybody know what I did wrong?

If you have a recipe for a moisturizing bubble bath for very sensitive skin please share in the comments!

I am off to drown my disappointment in a warm bath!


About Cindy Hopper

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Comments

  1. Yes, Dove will work regardless of water “hardness”. Or you could just get the ingredients in Dove that make the foam: chiefly sodium lauroyl (or cocoyl) isethionate, with cocamidopropyl betaine to make the bubbles last and make it a little milder. But I would encourage you to learn about other foaming agents and experiment as I did. My own mixture (out of patent by now) is diammonium (or disodium if you want solid) lauryl sulfosuccinate, lauramidopropyl betaine (preferably mixed with some palmitamidopropyl betaine for more skin softening), and disodium lauryl ether(3) sulfosuccinate, in descending order.

  2. Use do a bar of Dove sensitive soap instead of the castile, it suds nicely and is great for the skin.

  3. try using half the bar of soap. i make my own laundry detergent and read somewhere to use half the bar or fels naptha for my laundry detergent maybe the same came be applied here.

  4. Hi, here is a great way to get bubbles. Add desired amount of body wash to 4 tablespoons of gelatin with one cup hot (not boiling) water in a bowl. Add more body wash if you don’t want to it to dry quickly. Add one and a half tea spoon carrier oil (sweet almond, hazelnut, olive etc etc etc). If using unscented body wash, add desired amount of essential or fragrance oils (skin safe!). Mix well. The consistency should be between liquid Jello and body wash mixed with water. If too runny, add more gelatin, and mix until everything is dissolved. If too thick, add more water. Here’s your chance to add color. For sensitive skin, add food color to desired shade. Mix well. Leave to set in the fridge, or you can put it in the freezer if you want to speed up the process. But you’ll have to keep and eye on it to prevent it becoming frozen. Once in jello state, take to a dry-ish room and leave for one to 10 days to cure, until dry and hard on the outside but not on the inside. Time may depend on your consistency, so check everyday. Once it’s like THAT, you can use it! Just run it under water that’s got pressure, and it will come up with bubbles!
    It may not work with your body wash, but give it a try!

  5. Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Organic Oil Castile Soap provides lots of bubbles and is gentle for the skin! They also have an unscented ‘Baby Mild’ Formula that doesn’t use the essential oils for fragrance. We use it for our 4 year olds bath all the time! You can find it at health food co-ops and we carry it at our Scott’s and Kroger grocery stores here. You can also get it at Trader Joe’s or online.

  6. Do away with using soap shavings, add a bit of baking soda, cream of tartar, and sodium lauryl sulfate (it’s a very safe ingredient derived from coconut oil, this helps the foam) and mess with the quantities a bit.

    Works like a charm.

  7. I was going to suggest Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap or even his Sal Suds too. I use Sal Suds for my homemade laundry, dishwasher and dish soap and liquid Castile Soap for hand soap…we love it and it does lather up real nice with only a little bit (especially while doing dishes!). My hubby loves the hand soap with Liquid Castile soap. I’m only able to find Sal Suds on Amazon, but the liquid CS can be found anywhere now. I’m actually going to give this recipe a try with Sal Suds and see how it turns out! I’m thinking I’ll make these for a baby shower favor at my baby shower in a couple weeks! Thanks for the idea! =)

  8. My little girl has/had eczema. We have used the olive oil in the bath water too and the same soap that you have in your picture. The soap was just by accident but it seems to have worked because she doesn’t have it anymore. Sometimes in her bath I use Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Foaming Bath, but I only use about a teaspoon.

  9. My 5 yr old has eczema and an allergy to oatmeal. We don’t do soap except on the bits that really need it. We’ve never tried bubble bath because I fear the consequences. We have the same problem as Wendy with Dr. Bronner’s. Wanted to love it, but it makes everything dry, dry, dry. Good luck on your quest for bubbles.

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