Making bath bombs is fun, but at times can also be challenging. Probably one of the biggest challenges that most of us struggle with is drying bath bombs, and when I say drying, I mean drying so fast that you can send them out the same day. So, in this article, we’ll talk about how you can dry them quickly and safely.
Adding kaolin clay will accelerate the drying process of your bath bombs and get them dry in just 3 hours. You can also put them in the oven on the ‘warm’ setting, which gets them dry in 1-4 hours. Using a dehumidifier dehydratorwill help if you wish to air dry them but live in a humid environment. Humidity in the air will slow down the drying process.
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In most cases, you don’t need to dry bath bombs within a specific timeframe. Once you’ve prepared a batch, you let it dry overnight at room temperature, and that’s all there is to it. However, things get more complicated the moment you need them on the same day. Luckily there are some ways to shorten the drying process, so don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know for drying the bath bombs!
How long does it normally take to dry bath bombs?
As previously mentioned, if you let your bath bombs dry overnight at room temperature should do the trick. So, the ideal duration for your bath bombs to dry “normally would be 6-8 hours. You should keep them in the mold to avoid crumbling when you remove them. Once dried, you simply remove them, and they should be ready to be packed if you need to send them for shipping.
How can you dry bath bombs quickly and effectively?
Drying bath bombs can be done in several ways. Some are easy and fast, and others are cheaper but less fast. The big difference between them is the time it takes for your bath bombs to dry. The most effective and common ways include air drying, oven drying, adding kaolin clay, etc.
Using less water and oil
This sounds very obvious and that’s because it is. Using less water and oil will make your bath bomb dry much faster. But you should be really careful when you choose to go this direction, as using too little water might cause your bath bomb to be too dry and crumble, or not having enough oil will cause your bath bomb to not bind at all. This method helps you “avoid” force drying.
Air drying your bath bombs
Air drying is one of the most commonly used methods out there and also the easiest. You leave them outside overnight to dry in their molds, and that’s it. However, this is also, at the same time, the slowest of them all.
TIP: Refrigerating the bath bombs for an hour will help them to harden up even more.
Use a dehumidifier
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If you go for the air-drying method, there is one thing you can do that might help to go through the process more effectively. The weather conditions play a huge factor in the drying out process of a bath bomb. If the place you live in is quite humid, bath bombs will take a long time to dry out. In such cases, a dehumidifier can be used to set the conditions ideally and enhance the speed of the drying process.
But there are some other ways to do this. Below you can find a few basic and easy-to-adopt processes to dry out the bath bombs quickly and effectively.
There are a few tricks that can help dry bath bombs in a much quicker way. Here’s an elaborate procedure for each of the mentioned methods to allow you to dry the bath bombs in a faster and safer way.
Kaolin Clay
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The bombs become harder by adding some kaolin clay, and added value to it is that they will take a few hours to set. With the help of kaolin clay, you can get some quality results in a quick time. Moreover, you can scale this operation to any size. So, this is an excellent solution for manufacturers as well.
Even though using kaolin clay is an excellent solution to dry bath bombs, there will be an added cost. If you can bear the cost, there isn’t a better and more effective option available in the market. Within 3 hours, you will have dry bath bombs and that too, with better durability. Therefore, make sure you consider your factors properly before deciding on this one or any other method to help dry these quickly.
Oven drying
Oven drying your bath bombs is the fastest method and also the cheapest. Everyone has an oven at home, and we can make use of that oven for more than just making food. You can use your oven to dry your bath bombs in just 45 minutes. This is done by preheating your oven at 175° and leaving your bath bombs in it for 45 minutes. If you wish to know how to dry them in your oven, I have an article that gives you all you need to know about it.
TIP: You can use muffin trays as a mold for the bombs and can dry them up.
However, this sort of solution is not ideal when you are trying to make a big batch since you only have a limited amount of space in your oven.
Use a dehydrator
There is a lot of confusion between a dehumidifier and a dehydrator. Just so it’s clear, a dehumidifier takes moisture out of the air while a dehydrator takes water out of an object.
Why go through all that trouble of turning on your oven when you can use the dehydrator? The best thing about them is they’re simple and affordable. If a bomb is too big for its tray or just needs some more space to fit things properly, then cutting away some plastic grate lining will do wonders.
And to keep your bath bombs from getting permanent lines on the bottom, line each tray with parchment paper or use a fruit tray liner. Set your oven at 125 degrees and dry for 3-6 hours until completely cooled before packaging up these awesome goodies.
Fridge
Some people like to use the fridge to dry their bath bombs. This is especially the case for those who live in a hot environment.
But overall, this method is not really the best solution. Mainly because you would be mixing your bath bombs with other stuff in your fridge; this means that if your bath bombs are heavily scented, some of them might potentially transfer over to food.
This method should only be used when you have a separate fridge that doesn’t store any food or a bath bomb made with oils (such as coconut oil) that solidifies at low temperatures.
Freezer
If the fridge is not an option, the freezer might be better. But only with bath bombs that contain oils such as olive oil since they solidify at a lower temperature.
Otherwise, any other bath bombs will not benefit from it unless you wish to make your bath bombs harder. This means that it won’t really help them dry faster.
Things you need to be aware of if you dry them fast!
Nothing comes for free, and drying your bath bombs fast might also be the cause of your throwing away your whole batch. The problem is timing. If you are new at this and tried it out for the first time, you might not get the time right and remove them from their molds way too early. When your bombs are not as hard as they should be, it can lead to major problems during their drying process. In fact, you might end up with something that isn’t even a bath bomb in some cases.
What makes bath bombs dry slower, and how to fix it?
We already mentioned it briefly earlier, but one of the significant factors that come into play is the weather conditions and temperature. If the climate is too humid, the bath bombs won’t dry out quickly. This is because of the moisture in the air, your bath bombs will absorb most of it, and this will ruin the air-drying process.
Therefore, it’s highly recommended to check the temperature of the place where you are preparing your bath bombs and use a dehumidifier to set the conditions ideal for the bombs. Another thing is, corn-starch binding makes the drying out process quite slow. Hence, some amount of kaolin clay is being used to speed up the process and dry it out quickly.
Endnotes
Out of all the pointers that we have taken you through, using kaolin clay and drying in the oven are the best ones. It will help you in drying bath bombs quickly and safely. Moreover, if you want to expand your business and carry out the drying process in a large number, this would be best suited.