S-Paw-tacular Bath Bombs

Have you ever seen those cute bath bombs in all sorts of shapes? Little critters, miniature cupcakes, and all sorts of goodies.

I had an idea to make a bath bomb — but in our favorite paw-shaped mold.

So I set out to work.

I've made regular bath bombs in the past. There was a bit of tinkering involved to get them solid and keep them from falling apart on me, but eventually I got it down.

So I thought, cute little paws? No problem, right?

WRONG. Haha! 

It all started with the base

I was testing a slight adjustment to my formula, exchanging a bit of water with some bubbly goodness.

It's sold as "Bubble Up", but in the makers circles, we know it as Cocamidopropyl Betaine or CAPB.

I didn't add much — just 1.28% of the entire formula. I figured one liquid was pretty much like any other.

 At first, I didn't notice anything unusual.

I went about making my bath bombs the usual way: adding my bubbly liquid to the baking soda, then mixing in some extra goodies like kaolin clay and colloidal oats. Next came the oils and fragrance. Mix that really well, then add the citric acid. 

Everything seemed completely normal.

Then its time to divide the mixture.

Now keep in mind, this was a ticking time bomb. Nothing was going to happen immediately, everything looked fine.

In fact, other things went wrong before this decided it was time to party.

Making the little paws

I went and colored my mixtures and started layering them into the mold: white first, then pink, then green.

Oh, by the way, I'm was making watermelon scented, paw-shaped bath bombs. 

I added the layers to the silicone mold I normally use for my soaps and pressed everything down. 

I pulled out the first one.

It popped out like magic, a perfectly shaped paw.

I went and tried to make a second one.

Same thing. 

At this point, I'm thinking, We're going to pull this off! 

Then I made the third.

Press.

Try to pull it out.

Not so easy this time.

It fell apart. It started to crumble, and the little paw pads fall right off.

I tried again.

Nope.

Again.

Still no.

Eventually, after about two hours I managed to make eight cute little paws.

I had enough mixture to make twenty. 

That's when I gave up.

Enter the mega bath bombs

Rather than waste the rest of the mixture, I decided to make mega bath bombs.

And I mean mega.

We're talking almost 8-ounce bath bombs.

Huge ones.

So big that if you threw one at somebody, it would probably hurt.

As I made them, everything seemed normal.

Until I turned around.

I looked back at my precious little cat-paw bath bombs.

They were growing fuzz.

At first I was confused.

Did the cat come down here?

Nope.

It was not the cat.

The bath bombs were fizzing prematurely.

Apparently, my little paw-shaped creations had decided to throw a party without inviting me.

I rushed them into another room with my dehumidifier and hoped for the best.

They survived for the most part.

Although, to be honest, they now looked a little like a stuffed animal that had been dragged around by a two-year-old who discovered the candy bowl on Halloween.

The mega bath bombs fared a little better. Most of them held together, although one didn't quite make it. It cracked and flattened out a bit.

So… do they work?

Well.

The answer is… maybe.

They're currently sitting on a tray, a sad little reminder of what could have been.

But that's the funny thing about making things.

Sometimes you think you know exactly what you're doing, and then your ingredients, your molds, or your humidity decide to humble you.

The paw bath bombs taught me that a tiny change to a formula can have a much bigger effect than you expect—and that just because something works beautifully in one application doesn't mean it's going to behave the same way in another.

Will I try them again?

Probably.

Because those little paws really are cute.

But next time, I'm going into the experiment knowing that the bath bombs might have other plans.

All I can say is...

it was S-Paw-tacular!