Last year I made some bath bombs that contained both milk powder and a surfactant, and while I loved them, I found that any large amount of milk powder negatively impacted the structural integrity of the bath bombs. I wanted more milk, dangit, but the bath bomb format just wasn’t having it! So, I decided to stray from the solid format and move to a lovely powdery concoction so I could really get my bubbly milky bath time goodness on without any fits of frustration from trying to get a bath bomb that had far too much milk powder in it to be a bath bomb.
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This powdery blend is crazy simple to make (the video is a single take), and the end product is wonderful. Add a few spoonfuls to your bath while the water runs and you’ll be rewarded with fluffy bubbles and silky, coconut-scented bath water that leaves your skin wonderfully smooth and happy.
We’re just using four simple ingredients. #1: fragrant coconut milk powder. You could use a different milk powder if you prefer, or a blend, but I love the coconut scent that powdered coconut milk brings to the concoction.
#2: SLSa (Lathanol LAL/Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate)—this anionic surfactant brings the bubbles! It is a very fine powder that loves to float up into the air and make a beeline for your nostrils, so a dust mask is a MUST. Inhaling surfactant powder is unbelievably unpleasant as well as being not great for your lungs. WEAR YOUR DUST MASK.
#3: Cornstarch. This silky white powder contributes a beautiful silkiness to the bath water. Once upon a time I read that cornstarch in bath water can cause yeast infections, but when I looked into this more recently I couldn’t find anything to back this up—though I did find a study to the contrary. So, I think we’re safe.
#4: Colloidal oats. This simple powder of ultrafine oaty goodness helps soothe and protect skin. Booyah. An extra soothing bath? Sign me up!
And that’s it. Seriously. Simple, sudsy, soothing, coconut-scented bath time goodness awaits!
Want to watch this project instead of read it?
Powdered Coconut Bath Milk
60g | 60% powdered coconut milk (USA / Canada)
20g | 20% Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (SLSa) (USA / Canada)
10g | 10% corn starch
10g | 10% colloidal oatmeal (USA / Canada)Put on your dust mask.
Weigh all four ingredients into a medium sized bowl. Stir to combine, breaking up clumps with the back of a spoon. That’s it!
I transferred mine to an 8oz paperboard jar from YellowBee, but any similar sized jar would work. To use, add a few spoonfuls to your bath while its still running and enjoy silky bathwater and fluffy bubbles!
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this bath milk does not contain any water, it does not require a broad-spectrum preservative (broad spectrum preservatives ward off microbial growth, and microbes require water to live—no water, no microbes!). Be sure to keep it dry to ensure it lasts as long as possible—don’t let any water get into the container and it should easily last a year.
Substitutions
As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.
- As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams this recipe will make 100g.
- You can use a different type of starch, like arrowroot starch, instead of cornstarch
- You can use a different type of milk powder (cow, goat) instead of coconut milk powder
- If you don’t have colloidal oats you can replace them with more milk powder
- You could use powdered Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) (USA / Canada) instead of the SLSa. Use 15% SCI, and add the extra 5% to the milk powder.
Hmmmm, I am wondering how soothing this might be for eczema and psoriasis. My poor daughter-in-law could do with some relief from her sore itchy skin. I will give it a go when I get back home. Thank you for this Marie
I wouldn’t use on irritated skin as SLS may irritate more …
There is no SLS in this recipe—please take a closer look 🙂
Hey Marie,
Can the sls and slsa stays out completely? I have so many allergy reactions? Or can sodium bicarbonate use instead?
I guess, though it won’t be a “foaming” bath milk anymore. I would use more milk powder or salt instead of you have sensitive skin, rather than very basic baking soda. Happy making!
Hi, Can You Make A Matching Soap To Go With The Milk Bath?
I’d hypothesize that it could be helpful, though I don’t feel I know enough about either condition to do more than that. Let me know how it goes over if you do try it!
I will definitely let you know Marie. Thank you 🙂
Unfortunately I’m extremely familiar with both . Baths are terrible for eczema, this is great for psoriasis but I would replace the slsa with SCI as it’s used in products for psoriasis and never bathe in water that’s too warm and never soak more than 20 min (story of my life ugh..)
Will it be ok to add some goats milk powder? Or will it dry up into chunks?
You can use a different type of milk powder (cow, goat) instead of coconut milk powder.
Coconut milk sure resonates with a luxy feel! Btw have you worked with methyl gluceth 20 before? Is it worth it to include in formulations?
I’ve never worked with methyl gluceth 20, but if I ever found some for sale I’d probably try it!
Hi Marie–this seems absolutely luscious! I will probably sub goat milk powder as I LOVE the feel of it! I know introducing a bit of fragrance would add a bit of liquid–but do you think that if well mixed it would be ‘doable’?
I haven’t tried it—I don’t recommend it because the ingredients are already fairly clump-prone, but if you do give it a go let me know how it turns out 🙂
Is SLSa different from SLS? I thought that that was the “no-no” ingredient in body products that we were supposed to run from? 😉
Yes, they are two different products.
It’s very different—a simple google will set you straight 🙂
Hi Marie. First of all- thank you so much for your wonderful recipes, you’re such an inspiration! I haven’t worked with surfactants yet but I have some Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate and am wondering if you’ve ever used it in an emulsified scrub or a solid scrub bar.
I’m used it in solid shampoo bars before, and I’d think you could add some scrubby things to one of those and have a solid scrub bar pretty quickly!
Thanks Marie, I’ll do some experimenting.
Just climbed out of my bath tube, followed it up with your perfect body butter bars, loved it,Marie! Thanks for being such an awesome inspiration!
Ooh, how decadent! Thanks so much for sharing & DIYing with me!
I would like to add honey powder, can I add it in substitute for some of the milk powder? Instead of 60% milk powder, 40% milk and 20% honey? Will that work?
I would not recommend using that much honey powder; it is highly prone to clumping and I worry you’d end up with a brick of powder. I’d probably start with ~5% honey powder, or just make the recipe as is and add a scoop of fresh honey to the bath as it’s running!
I too was curious re fragrance (and colour!) so tried this recipe (using rather stale skim milk powder instead of luscious coconut milk powder ) with 2 pinches of ultramarine blue and 2ml (pipette) of Karma fragrance from windy point. Seemed to work fine, no clumping issues (lots of blending) and made for a nice bluish bubbly bath. Could even have used more fragrance and colour ! Thanks for the recipe! I live on the ‘Wet Coast’ so have trouble with the baking soda/citric acid bath powders because they react with the humidity before they make it to the tub! So this ones a keeper!
Cool! Thanks so much for sharing your experience and DIYing with me 🙂
Hi
Could i use 10gs of cocoa butter instead of the Oatmeal powder or 5gs of each?
Thanks
I don’t recommend replacing a powder with a fat; in a recipe like this you’d want to replace a powder with another similar, suitable powder (more coconut milk would be a good choice for this formula).
Hi,
I was wondering if I could add salts and how much do you recommend?
The amounts would be entirely personal taste; I would recommend adding them to the bath at the time of use, though. I’ve found mixtures like this with lots of salt can seize up in the jar. Happy making!
I LOVE this recipe! I have made it twice now, the first time I used a spoon to stir the ingredients and break up the coconut powder. The second my husband mentioned a shifter so I tried it and it’s so good! I ran all the ingredients through my sifter twice after mixing and the clean up in the bath after was so much easier than the first batch. Love this!
I’m so thrilled to hear it! Thank you so much for sharing your awesome tip and happy making 😀
Hi Marie, Thanks for all your lovely formulations! I only have SCI on hand and Ive tried this formula twice now- but I don’t seem to be getting what everyone is describing here 😀 It’s more like a very thin white foam that sits on top of the water-the water itself is nowhere near milky. any idea what could be happening here?
That’d be the surfactant swap at work—SCI doesn’t lather up the same way Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (SLSa) does. You could try using more Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) for more bubbles, but I would really recommend getting yourself some Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (SLSa)! It’s very useful. Happy making!
Where did you get the packaging?
It’s linked right in the instructions 😉 Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
This looks so good! What a fun gift to make for friends or to enjoy yourself!
Thank you so much! Happy making 🙂
Hi Marie, I’d love to try this and have all the ingredients on hand – yay! Since SLSa dust is so irritating, do we need to wear a mask when spooning this mix into the tub? Or does mixing the SLSa with the other ingredients stop it from fluffing out into the air and irritating our lungs and sinuses like it does when we are measuring it into the recipe? Thanks!
I find the other ingredients drastically reduce the floaty-ness, but you’re also not stirring the mixture when you use it—and as soon as it gets wet in the tub it definitely won’t float around. Happy making!
Once made do you still have a issue with the SLSA proofing up into the air?
Could you replace a hefty portion of the coconut milk with epsom salts and get the same result in terms of foamy-ness?
Already made this twice. Both batches were heavenly! For the second batch I added a few drops of essential oil for scent, the mixed everything with my fingers. The result: A lovely smelling foaming bath milk that did not clump. Definitely suitable for gifting. Thank you!
Hello,
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Is the SLSA not airborne once it’s incorporated into the mix? I would think the SLSA would still be airborne since all the ingredients are dry, and have no wet binder. Please let me know if it would safe to lightly shake and smell this bath soak powder once all the ingredients are mixed together. Thank you so much.
Could I slowly add 1 tbsp of coco betaine and some fragrance to the mix?