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!
I sell Arbonne and we have all botanically based products that are pure, safe & beneficial. Our products don’t contain mineral oil, which can “feel” like you are adding moisture to the skin but you are actually depleting it. If you would like more info please check out my website!
You might think this is crazy, but hear me out! I have Yorkies, not kids, so we use Cloud Star Buddy Wash (the lavender/original scent). It’s “soap” free (No SLS) I use it in all of my soap dispensers (diluted w/ distilled water in those foaming dispensers) I use it as a body wash and of course, I use it on my dogs once or twice a week. My groomer friend switched to it and it kept her hands from drying out. I have yet to encounter a dog smell/mess it can’t get out, so I don’t worry about the lack of “soap”. I have not found a human shampoo or body wash, as pure as this – especially for $10 for a big bottle! It lathers up pretty well so you’ll get some bubbles, but it rinses away cleanly. Next time I bathe the pups I will add the soap before the dogs and send you a picture of the bubbles. I will seriously use this on my kids when I have them. It smells so good! 🙂
Buddy Wash Ingredients:
Coconut shampoo base, aloe vera gel, essence of lavender, essence of mint, chamomile extract, sage extract, nettles extract, rosemary extract, wheat protein extract (natural deodorizing agent), tea tree oil, vitamin E, vitamin C.
that’s a bummer. Hopefully you had fun mixing it all together. It was one more memory made with your daughter, she will never forget the time you two made bubble bath that ended up with no bubbles.
I was also going to suggest adding coconut oil (which is actually more of a butter consistency at room temp)… I don’t know a ton about soap-making, but I do know that it’s great for lather AND skin! Plus it smells yummy if you get the virgin stuff. Mmmm, summer! 🙂 Poke around on thesage.com… I window-shop like crazy there.
Funny…my 4 year old last night wanted bubbles but his skin sensitive wash doesn’t make bubbles. Everything I had that I knew would make bubbles would make his skin go crazy. Hope you figure it out so I can surprise my son!
I’ve used Dr. Bronners liquid castile soap for years — now you can even get it at Target in the organic beauty section.
Target also sells Dr. Bronner’s…….
what a great idea to make. please share when you find the missing ingredient!
Dr. Bronners is a liquid castile soap. I just switched over to it and LOVE IT! I use both in the kitchen and in the bath. I guess you could use it to make your own bubble bath, but it would work just fine on its own. I ordered it from Azure Standard, but have seen it at Trader Joes and Whole Foods.
Ok just guessing here …. having made soap for years but castile soap never does have much of a lather. It is wonderful for the skin but that is it’s drawback with customers is they don’t like the lack luster lather. This is why soappers add coconut oil to their soaps, because of the lather properties. I will give this a try with some of my regular recipe soap which by the way is great for sensitive skin (my kids are all sensitive). I will see if it work but am wondering if it is the nature of natural soap. I will also ask my soap guru if she has ideas. Thanks for sharing this. I am excited to give it a try.
Try adding a baby shampoo, it should be mild enough to not dry skin but will add bubbles.
Aimee, would you use the same amount of liquid castile soap. Also where would you find liquid castile soap.
Many recipes called for ingredients that make more bubbles (dish soap, shampoo) but I think these ingredients can irritate sensitive skin?? That is why I tried the bar of castile soap.
Oh and for bubbles, us a liquid castile soap. ; )
Add more water until you reach your desired constancy…that recipe makes for a thick liquid soap.
http://www.susiescountrygarden.com/ A friend of mine used to make soaps that I sold for her and she sold online…she’s more of a quilter now but she started making them for the same reason, dry, sensitive skin. You can visit and ask her too.
awe! thanks for this…sorry about the bubbles…I didn’t se anything in the ingredients to make bubbles…Like dish soap type stuff….hope someone can help casue my family all can realy use this….
I so love your blog everyday….thanks for being here…..