Ingredients for Basic Bubble Bath

Making your own bubble bath at home can be a challenging and rewarding hobby.

There are infinite degrees of customization for bath and other personal care products, and your products will be all-natural and safe for your skin, as well as the environment.

If you have never made your own bubble bath, and are interested in trying it for the first time, you'll need to know what ingredients go into a batch of basic liquid bubble bath.

Most homemade liquid bubble bath is comprised of three basic ingredients. The first of these is liquid soap, most commonly Castile soap. “Castile soap” is a term that originally referred to soap made from a mixture of oils that was predominantly olive oil, but it is now often used to refer to any soap that is made from vegetable oils instead of animal fats.

Castile soap comes in both liquid and solid forms, and while the liquid form is more popular for making bubble bath, the solid form can be used as well; it simply has to be melted before it is used in your bath products.

Glycerin is the second ingredient present in most homemade bubble bath. Glycerin is a compound that is released during the process of saponification, when sodium hydroxide lye reacts with water and oils to form soap.

It is a natural by-product of the soap-making process, but is commonly removed from commercially-made soap so that it can be sold separately.

Glycerin is a valuable compound, as it is a powerful moisturizer and skin conditioner, so companies profit more when they sell the pure glycerin and replace it with synthetic humectants.

Unfortunately, the man-made moisturizers that they use as substitutes for the glycerin are not as good as the real thing, and the resulting soap is often harsh, stripping skin of its natural moisture and leaving it dry and irritated.

Glycerin is typically added to homemade bubble bath by those who make it because it leaves skin feeling soft and nourished, adding to the luxurious experience of a great bubble bath.
Water is the third ingredient in liquid bubble bath. It thins the mixture and allows it to be poured easily. The use of tap water is not recommended for homemade personal products, as most tap water contains minerals and other impurities which can compromise the quality or longevity of the finished product.

Distilled or filtered water is most commonly used for this purpose, because it is purer than tap water and less wasteful than bottled or spring water.
These three ingredients will make a basic batch of liquid bubble baths, but there are a variety of additives – such as essential oils, colorants and others – which you can use to add a personal touch to your bubble bath.

You can use a variety of ingredients to customize your bubble bath to the tastes of whatever individual will be using it, but this basic formula is a great place to start if you have never made bubble bath before.