Bicarb Bath Bombs are absolutely brilliant and just about the only science experiment where after making a big old mess your bath bombs will actually help you to get clean!

What do I need?

• Mixing bowl & spoon
• Bowl of water
• Bicarbonate of soda
• Citric acid
• Vegetable oil
• Food colouring (optional)

STEP1 – Add half a cup (or half a mug!) of bicarbonate of soda to your mixing bowl.

STEP2 – Add 5 teaspoons of citric acid to your bowl too.

STEP3 – Add a splash of food colouring (be careful if you are going to use your bath bombs in your bath as you don’t want it to stain).

STEP4 – Add 3 teaspoons of vegetable oil.

STEP5 – Get stick in and mix it all togther. It’ll take a few minutes of mixing to transform your mixture into your very own bath bombs.

STEP6 – Leave your bath bombs out to set or just pop them in your bath!

What’s going on?

We now know that it’s possible to do a disgusting science experiment that actually helps you to get clean which is pretty awesome but how does it actually work?

Your Bicarb Bath Bombs are awesome fun and the perfect example of the classic ‘acid + alkali’ reaction! Your citric acid is an ‘acid’ (of course!) your bicarbonate of soda is an ‘alkali’. When you mix an acid and an alkali together you get a chemical reaction that releases bubbles of carbon dioxide out into your bath.

More Fun Please!

• What are the best proportions of citric acid, bicarbonate of soda and vegetable oil to make the perfect bath bombs?
• Test out making 2 bath bombs with different proportions of ingredients and see which makes the most fizz in a bowl of water.
• Experiment with different temperature water. Which do you think will work best, hot or cold?