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Welcome to day 2 of my 3-day series on making bath products. Today it is how to make tub tea bags.

Yesterday I shared with you how to make bath bombs. That is probably the most complicated project of this 3-day series. These tub tea bags are much easier to make.

What is a Tub Tea Bag?

To be honest, until I started figuring out projects to do with my dried lavender, I had never heard of this. But now that I know what it is, I must say that I love it!

Think of a tub tea bag as almost like a deconstructed bath bomb. The elements of the bath bomb are in a tea bag, but minus the fizzing. Steep a couple of tub tea bags while you run the water for your bath. The bathwater will diffuse with salts, oils and whatever else you put in your tub tea bag.

There are endless possibilities of what you can put in the tea bag. This makes it so easy to customize. Just make up your mixture and put them into empty tea bags.

You can get disposable, empty tea bags from a variety of places online. They come in paper (which you can toss into the compost when done!) or in a lightweight fabric. Most come with a drawstring to close up after you’ve filled. They also come in a variety of sizes. You’ll want something pretty big. If you can’t find big tea bags, you can just put a couple into each bath.

So tub tea bags contain things which you would normally like to have in a bath. But the beauty of these are is that everything is contained in the tea bag! While it may look wonderfully luxurious to soak in a tub with dried flowers, I can tell you it is a big mess to clean up when you are done. It won’t have the same visual appeal, but you will have all the benefits.

Suggested Fillers

There really is no recipe for tub tea bags. You basically just put in whatever you want. Here are some suggestions.

• Epsom salts – great for tired muscles
• pink sea salt – looks pretty and great for the skin
• milk powder – makes your skin nice and soft
• quick oats – moisturizing and soothing to the skin; has been known to help dry skin and skin issues like itchiness or eczema. I like to grind mine up in a food processor or coffee grinder as I like the look of it better.
• essential oils – this gives a nice aroma to your bath; popular choices include lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus and some pre-made blends.
• dried flowers – this some scent, but also some colour to your tea bag. Think of this as a garnish. Lavender, chamomile and rose petals are all great choices.

Which Essential Oils to Use?

Choosing which essential oils to use can be somewhat overwhelming as there are just so many. While it is quite open as to what to use, I’ve narrowed it down to a few popular choices for you. Use this as a starting point – from there experiment and see what you like.

The essential oil or oils you choose depends on what you wish to achieve with the tub tea bags. Do you want something relaxing and calming or do you want something uplifting and rejuvenating?

Here are my suggestions to help get you started.

How to Make Tub Tea Bags

Combine any combination of the above in a large bowl. There are no real proportions as it is all a matter of personal preference.

To get you started, begin with equal parts of Epsom salts and quick oats – like 1/2 a cup each. Then from there add 10 drops of essential oil, to begin with. You can always add more if it isn’t strong enough. Lastly, add a couple of spoonfuls of the dried flowers to make it look pretty. Mix it all together so that everything is evenly distributed.

From there you can customize to what you prefer. Want just a milk bath? Then just use the milk powder with the oats and omit the Epsom salts. It’s easy to come up with so many variations. There are so many possibilities

Add about 1/4 cup of the mixture to empty tea bags. I don’t actually measure. I just fill the bags up about 2/3’s full.

Keep in mind that if you are making these for someone with sensitive skin, you may want to limit the number of ingredients. Remember that less is more.

How to Use Tub Tea Bags

Simply let your tub tea bags steep in your bath water and enjoy a relaxing bath. The number of tea bags you use depends on how big your bathtub is and how much water you are using.

Generally, the more tub tea bags you use, the stronger the effect it will have on the water. I like to use 3 tea bags. I love the aroma of the lavender essential oil – it’s so relaxing.

Packaging for Gift Giving

Tub tea bags make great gifts or party favours for any occasion. Here are some cute ways to package them up.

• put some a labelled glass jar – check the dollar store or IKEA for some cute jars
• pack a few in a box, like regular tea bags
• put a couple in a pillow box – check out my blog post here on how to make them with your Cricut.

When gift-giving, be sure to label what is in the tub tea bags, as well as what to do with them so that the recipient can enjoy them.

Want to remember how to make your own tub tea bags? Be sure to save this to your favourite Pinterest board.