Homemade Bath Soaks With Dried Herbs & Oats

Last Updated on May 25, 2023 by Ellen Christian

This oatmeal bath soak recipe is the ideal way to pamper yourself at the end of a long day. Learn how to make these easy homemade oatmeal bath soaks. 

Homemade Bath Soaks

Homemade bath soaks are one of the ways that I try to relax at the end of the day. It’s not always easy to find time to pamper yourself and escape from whatever worries or responsibilities you have for a few minutes.  Using homemade bath soaks lets me turn a regular bath into something a bit more special.  

By making homemade bath soaks, I can pamper myself while keeping the costs down.  I also know that the homemade bath soaks I’m using don’t contain any harmful chemicals or ingredients that are bad for the environment. I originally shared this post in 2013 but wanted to update for my readers who haven’t seen it.

If you enjoy making your own bath products, try my soap recipes next. You will love making your own homemade soap.

How do you make your own bath soak?

Making homemade bath soaks is very simply. What you’re doing is putting good for you ingredients into a muslin bag and tossing them into your tub as the water fills.

The ingredients you choose to use are up to you. I’ve used oats, baking soda, lavender, and chamomile because they are relaxing and good for your skin.

What can I put in my bath?

There are a number of additives you can put in your bath to help soothe your skin. I regularly use Epsom salts with my favorite essential oils.

But, you can also add oats, honey, your favorite herbs, coconut oil, and baking soda.

What does bathing in baking soda do?

Baking soda may help remove germs and speed healing. So, it can be beneficial for those who have skin irritations, rashes or acne.

That’s one of the reasons that I add it to my homemade bath soaks. Baking soda can also help with odor.

So, if you have a vaginal yeast infection, adding baking soda can help soothe itching and burning.

Different types of bath soaks

• Homemade bath soak for sore muscles
• DIY milk bath soak
• Homemade bath salts for sensitive skin
• Detox bath soak

What you need to make homemade bath soaks

• 2 cups plain old fashioned oats
• 1 tablespoon dried lavender buds, culinary quality
• 1 chamomile tea bag, opened
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• small muslin bags

NOTE: I use muslin bags because it keeps the oats and herbs from making a giant mess in the bathtub. You can empty the muslin bags after your bath and re-use them over and over again which helps eliminate waste.

You can also use pretty purple organza bags if you want to give these as gifts. I don’t find that they last as long as the muslin bags.

The herbs used in these homemade bath soaks are meant to relax you. If you would prefer to use something to energize you and wake you up, you can use dried peppermint instead.

Or, if you prefer to feel pampered, add a few dried rose petals to the bag with or without a bit of lavender. It’s up to you on the scents you use. I generally take my bath at night, so I like to feel relaxed.

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or a food processor and pulse until the mixture looks like flour. This will help more of the ingredients dissolve into the water than if you just put plain whole oats into the bag.

Fill each muslin bag with the mixture and tie shut. If you don’t have muslin bags, you can simply add about 1/3 cup to a hot bath, under running water.  

I prefer using a muslin bag to hold homemade bath soaks because it cuts down on clean up time.

You can store the homemade bath soaks mixture in a glass jar and just fill the muslin bag as needed.  When done, just dump out the contents and rinse the bag out to dry for next time.

Or, you can prepare a bunch of them at once and store them in a container with a tight-fitting lid to keep moisture out. Tie them with a pretty pink or red ribbon and give them as Valentine’s Day gifts to your girlfriends, mom or even as a teacher’s gift at school.

Have you ever tried to make homemade bath soaks? What is your favorite version? Do you use them all the time or only on special days to relax?

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