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My bath bombs blob.
Hello clever people. Looking at the forum, I realize how much I must learn. So many phrases to study up. My current problem: My bath bombs start spinning and then the foam overwhelms them and instead of spreading out a blob forms stopping the spin. Am I using to much SLSa? Does P80 dampen the spread? Another question. Another bomb expert says that in order to not let your mix dry out, create a blob of wet phase. She mentions PEG 40 hydrogenated castor oil. I have some “hurray”. How, if, do I add it?
Thank you so much for any help!
Bicarbonate 60%
Citric acid 29%
Tapioca starch 2.4%
Cream of Tartar 4%
SLSa 2.6%
Wet
FO 1%
PO 80 0.45%
Water 1.5%
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4 Replies
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I live in a high humidity area, and taught workshops for kids, I prefer to use an emulsifier rather than a solubiliser as I have issues with the solubilised kind. Have had luck with just water, but much better and never fails (esp. important when doing workshops with kids) so I use an emulsifier.
The spinning effect of a bath bomb depends on how the gases (CO₂) from the citric acid and baking soda reaction escape, as well as how foam and surfactants interact. Yep, I’d wager your SLSa is likely contributing to the excess foam. While 2.6% SLSa is within reasonable limits, it could be overpowering when combined with other factors, such as the tightness of the press or the amount of binding agent used. I’d try reducing it and see if it improves.And it could also be the amount of tapioca starch you are using. Your ratio between Na Bicarb and Citric seems okay, but your tapioca might be a bit high and will effect spin. I’d personally reduce it, it’s just filler and really isn’t a necessary add.
PS80 doesn’t directly dampen spread but too much can add viscosity to the bath water, so will slow the fizz or cause clumping. Although your input is low, so I personally don’t think this would be too much of an issue.
But I find you need some air in them to spin, some people put pins etc to add airholes, I don’t both but I don’t pack tightly. The more densely it is packed the more likely it will trap air and not spin, when packing play around with how much you compress, if you are using a pneumonic press you are more likely to be packing tightly, but you can alter this. Just play around with it, and work out what works best for you.
You could add some PEG40-HCO but you would want to reduce your PS80 I would think, mix your PEG40 with your PS80 and water mix to homogenous before adding to dry phase.
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Hi Juggsy.
Oh my goodness, you have helped me with such good advice. I’m going to give it a bash now. Just curious about a few things. I’m in South Africa so we have dry winters and summer rainfall (not so much now due to global warming). I bought a humidifier too and put it on when air is dry. What emulsifier could I use for the wet days. A liquid? I’m going to persevere with the P80 but drop the amount. I hand press and press the living daylights out of the bombs. So great full I can calm down with that.
For interest sake, some folks use P20 and then reduce the water amount. Is P20 less soapy?
Great full for your time and advice.
Arhlene
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are you experiencing soapness? P20 is less “heavy duty” so to speak, ( better for solubilising small amounts fragrance etc), so maybe it is percieved as less soapy?
I don’t use liquid emulsifiers I use ones I need to heat first, I tend to use a blend that is cheap like like glyceryl stearate and peg 100 stearate.
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Hi juggsy. Sorry i miss spoke. It feels… i suppose oily. I love that emulsifier. My Body butters are made with it. I will give it a try in the BBombs just for the experience.
I have left the best news for last. I made the changes as you suggested. They came out great. Foaming was what i wanted and yes, they spin. I’m so great full. Thank you.
I didn’t eliminate the Tapioca all together but reduced it to 1%. My thinking was that it would make the bomb last a little longer. I added 0.2 % PEG 40… it possibly helped. Can’t say. It was raining so drying wasn’t an issue.
Thank you so much.
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