Bath salts are an easy and profitable product to make and sell. They are also a product that seems to wreak havoc on beginners and veteran's alike. The following tips will help you create perfect bath salts every time, guaranteed!
Tip #1: Sea Salt is the result of evaporated seawater. You will notice that if your bath salts are stored in humid environments, they tend to become wet and liquid. Some people swear by "baking" their finished bath salts in a low-heat oven or using a dehumidifier to try to control humidity. One easy way to avoid this extra labor is to use Dendritic salt in your bath salt blend.
Dendritic Salt is a unique salt with a high specific surface area. It has a rapid dissolution rate and flowability. Dendritic salt has a high liquid adsorptive capacity and caking resistance.
What does this mean? By blending your fragrance oil with dendritic salt BEFORE adding it to your bath salt blend, your final formula will remain dryer longer and flow better with less propensity for caking in the container. This is not only asthetically more pleasing, it will allow you to use higher fragrance loads without making your bath salts damp. A minimum ratio of 3:1 works well. If you are using 1 oz of Fragrance or Essential Oil, combine it with 3 oz of Dendritic Salt and mix thoroughly to incorporate. Higher ratios of Dendritic Salt to fragrance will yield superior results.
Tip #2: Fizzing and Foaming bath salts are popular, but also extremely dangerous if packaged incorrectly. To avoid potential injury to yourself or your clients, package these products appropriately and mix them in a well ventilated area while wearing a face mask.
Citric Acid and Sodium Bicarbonate are commonly blended with bath salts to create a product which foams or fizzes when poured into bath water. These ingredients are highly volatile and can explode your packaging if they come into contact with humidity.
What does this mean? The same great fizzing action we love in the bath can occur inside the package if these products are stored in a humid environment like a bathroom or medicine cabinet. Avoid packaging these types of bath salts in glass containers as exploding glass is highly dangerous. Use
airtight plastic jars or consider packaging in
zip pouches, making sure the product has appropriate headroom in the event of expansion.
FD&C and D&C Colorants are some of the most popular dyes used in bath salts. You must match colors with their intended use. Bath salts are intended for soaking the body in a bath tub. This means the colorants used must be approved for external use but that you may not use any colorants approved for
external use only. Colorants approved for "external use only" are not intended for use near mucous membranes. Since the genitals are submerged in the bath, external use only dyes would make your product misbranded as the color used does not match the usage.
What does this mean? Dyes are very concentrated, so exercise caution when using since a little will go a long way! A good rule of thumb, is that if the colorant you wish to use is approved for use in all three catagories (
Eye Area, Generally, External Only), it should be acceptable for use in bath salts. If you are unsure whether the colorant you intend to use is approved for a specific use,
contact the FDA for clarification.
Did this article help you? Have you had an unexpected outcome making bath salts? Tell us in the comments below!
Allison B. Kontur
www.BathBodySupply.com
