Instructions

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First, mix the dry bath fizzies ingredients (baking soda, Epsom salt, corn starch, and citric acid) together in a large bowl. Use the whisk to make sure the mixture is clump-free. Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is a key ingredient in this bathtub explosion: When the high pH powder reacts with a low pH acid, it produces carbon dioxide bubbles. Remember those baking soda and vinegar volcanoes you made in elementary school? Citric acid takes the place of vinegar in this chemical equation, but it doesn’t react with sodium bicarbonate until it gets wet. If you want, you can add visual decorations like biodegradable glitter into the mix. Just don’t use regular-old craft glitter, because it’s no good for our friends in the ocean.

Now mix up the wet bath fizzies ingredients (oil, water, essential oil, and food coloring). The easiest way to get this party started is to put them in a jar and shake them up. This is the step where you need to make some important decisions about scent. You can tweak quantity to suit your taste, but you should use about two teaspoons total of essential oil or perfume. Try cinnamon, cocoa, peppermint, or coffee scents for the winter holidays (or a combination of all four to make a mocha-licious bath). Or go with something classic, like a spa-like eucalyptus and lavender mix or a straight-up sugary hit of vanilla extract. The possibilities aretruly endless. It’s also time to make decisions about color. We recommend sticking to a single hue to avoid accidentally muddying the bath waters. Stick to something like 4-6 drops of food coloring total, but feel free to mix up different pigments.