DIY Moon Press Bath Bombs

Here’s a quick tip: if you don’t want to make your own bath bombs, you probably shouldn’t start. Because once you figure out how freaking easy they are to make (even if there seems to be a million ingredients), you’ll never want to spend money in those mall stores buying them ever again. Jump to the instructions for DIY Moon Press Bath Bombs.

And, when you’ve finally found the time to unpack the last of the boxes (from your move a year ago), and you find a moon press (which makes really awesome cakes and cookies, by the way), you realize that you don’t care if you have jars of perfectly good bath bombs waiting to be used.

You must try to make bath bombs using the moon press (because otherwise, it’s going in the donate pile).

And y’all, Moon Press bath bombs are so much fun.

They’re super pretty (and because of that they’ll look like they took you forever to make), and make great gifts as we head into the holiday season (too soon?).

How to make DIY Moon Press Bath Bombs

Ingredients for DIY Moon Press Bath Bombs

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric acid
1/2 cup Sodium Laurel Sulfoacetate
1/4 cup cream of tartar
1 tablespoon kaolin clay (this clay helps to stabilize your bath bombs, but it’s not required. I found that for the moon press, this made them stay pretty and not get so smushed in storage.)
2 tablespoons organic coconut oil
2 tablespoons rubbing alcohol
1 teaspoon polysorbate 80 (these make your bath bombs bubble when they hit the water, but it’s not a necessity if you want to make the bath bombs without it)
Chamomile essential oil
Bergamot essential oil
Eucalyptus essential oil
Mica coloring powder

You’ll also want to grab:

Spray bottle of rubbing alcohol
1 large mixing bowl
Mesh strainer or sifter
3 smaller mixing bowls
a Moon Press Mold
Parchment or wax paper
Baking sheet, large tray or plate

Directions For DIY Moon Press Bath Bombs

Before you get started, gather all of your ingredients.

Sift the baking soda, citric acid, Sodium Laurel Sulfoacetate, cream of tartar and kaolin clay into a large mixing bowl.

Using your hands or a whisk, break down any remaining lumps that remain after sifting.

In a smaller bowl, add the coconut oil, rubbing alcohol and polysorbate 80. Whisk your liquid ingredients together.

Slowly add in the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, adding about 1 tablespoon at a time.

Stir the mixture together until the liquid mixture is fully incorporated into the dry mixture.

I used my hands to make sure it is incorporated well. This is entirely optional (but pretty fun).

The mixture is ready to press when you can squeeze the mixture together in your hands and it stays solid.

Evenly separate the mixture into three smaller bowls.

Add your essential oils to each bowl (I did one oil per bowl), as well as your mica coloring powder (again, I added one per bowl).

Using a whisk or your hands, blend the coloring thoroughly into your bath bomb mixture until the color you want is achieved. I highly recommend you do this with a whisk unless you want very colorful hands.

With your bottle of rubbing alcohol nearby, add the first color into your Moon Press. Be sure to pack the mix in very well by pressing firmly with a spoon.

Place your moon press as shown in the photo, then press down firmly once or twice to further pack in the mixture.

Hold your moon press about a half an inch above the tray or plate (as shown in photo) and carefully push down on the handle of the press.

While pressing on the handle, slowly lift the press up and release the bath bomb.

If you aren’t happy with how the bath bomb came out, you can put back into the mixture and try again. I had to practice a few times before I got the hang of it!

Once you’ve released the bath bomb, you can press another one. Simply add another color, packing it in well with a spoon, and then repeat the process until you’ve used all of your mixtures. You can make the bath bombs one color or a mixture, depending on the effect you’d like to achieve.

NOTE: As you make your bath bombs, your mixture may begin to dry out. If this occurs, just spritz the mixture with the rubbing alcohol a few times before you start another press.

Allow your bath bombs to dry overnight on the tray. Store them long-term in an airtight jar.

To use them, drop one in your bath water and enjoy!