Hello. If you’re reading this blog post I highly doubt it’s because everything is going great in your bath bomb world. Nope, odds are you’re reading this because the inevitable has occurred, disaster has struck, and your best laid bath bomb plans have gone sideways.
So without much ado I’ll jump straight in and show you one thing you can do to fix that!
On Monday of this week I made some freaking adorable maraca shaped bath bombs during a Facebook live. It was a great make, everything went smoothly and I was very happy with the results. But two days later when I went to check on the bath bombs, I found that they had slightly activated. Let the mourning begin.
The first 24-48 hours after a bath bomb has been made are pretty critical when it comes to humidity. Even though I use our High Humidity recipe, it’s not humid proof, so for that reason I always run a dehumidifier in my drying area. When I made bath bombs inside our house with it’s central air conditioning unit I never had to do that–dehumidifers are generally built into those systems. However, since moving my studio to a workshop with just a window unit, it’s become essential for me to run a portable dehumidifier!
Unfortunately sometimes it rains so much here that my dehumidifier will fill up twice in one day (I should probably get one with a bigger tank but that’s a problem for future me to handle!) And if my dehumidifier fills up twice, and I’m too lazy to get out there and empty it, then I run the risk of botching a batch. So that’s what happened today. And now my beautiful, happy, festive maracas look like they have hit puberty and are covered in bath bomb acne. Sadness.
What’s a girl to do? Toss the whole batch? I’ve definitely seen people in bath bomb groups declare–with conviction–-that the batch is activated and therefore essentially DEAD and never going to fizz. Which is not true, but cool. I also know that I can crumble the whole batch up and make bath bomb dust, but I just made a bunch of dust from leftover easter bombs so I wasn’t feeling it.
I do have another option–and hear me out on this one, I can sand that baby down!
Yep. If a bath bomb activates you can allow it to dry, then gently sand down the bumpy bits.
And when I say sand the bath bomb I really mean to sand it. Some people use actual sand paper, but I tend to use a scraper of some kind like the white paint scraper I used for these maraca bath bombs. After it’s scraped I like to run a soft brush around the edges to help remove any crumbs that are left behind.
If the shape of the bath bomb is conducive to painting and you have the patience to for it, then that can also help to hide the cosmetic issue of activation!! Just give the bath bomb a light spray of 91% (or higher) rubbing alcohol and paint with your favorite form of bath bomb paint. I prefer to use cosmetic safe mica and rubbing alcohol, but you can also use mica and oil or mica and polysorbate 80.
The bath bomb obviously won’t be as perfect as it would have been without the activation, but this hack can still save the day when you’re in a pickle, and it’s much better than losing a whole batch. In the end I’m still really happy with these bath bombs and am grateful this happened so I could share this solution with you! What’s your favorite way to save a batch?
I usually just save it for personal use or gifting to a friend, but now I’m so curious about trying this method! (Although admittedly, I don’t live in a high humid area, so haven’t had an activation issue. Although now that I’ve put that out there, it’s bound to happen!)
And that painting is SO FREAKING AMAZING!!!! I mean the details in each row, and then that highlight?!? Oh my gawsh, I’m dieing here!
Whaaaattt??? I never ever thought about filing off the goose pimples er “bath bomb acne”! Love it! And that paint job….oh my….no patience here (or talent) but whoa! It looks amazing! Thanks for the tips!<3
That’s what I do. If it’s a little pimple and/or bump I use the buffer side of a nail file. Have been doing for a longtime. I’m like who will know.
Lol me too, never said cause I felt like I was cheating 😊
I usually give them away but now I have learnt another trick from the bath bomb 🧚🏻♀️ I will grab a scraper, sandpaper & wide paint brush.
I’m going to use the paintbrush trick on all my bath bombs now before I start painting. That’s 2 tips you have given me.
The paint job is ooohlala!
So glad I saw this. Was literally about to toss some mother’s day bath bombs I made on Sunday!
You’re such a treasure trove of help and info. Thank you.
And that paint job is everything and a bag of chips! Wow.