The minute I came across this DIY recipe, I knew I had to try it.

You see, I live in a house with three boys.  (And a boy dog, but he doesn’t use our toilets.)  More and more often, I’m starting to feel like our bathrooms are lacking in the “clean-and-fresh-smelling” department.

My apologies to our house guests.

The third boy must be the tipping point, because we were fine until Little Brother came along and began using the porcelain throne on his own.

Anyhoo, sometimes the toilets still look clean and don’t necessarily need a scrubbing, but the odor could stand to be improved.  Those are the times when I’ll toss a good ol’ Toilet Bomb into the commode.  Toilet Bombs freshen the air, and furthermore, the fizzing action is fun to watch. What could be better?

*Spoiler Alert for friends and family members who may be reading this post*

Toilet Bombs are fun to include in Homemade Gift Baskets.  Every year at Christmas, I love to make all sorts of useful gifts for friends and family.  As you might imagine, the last few years’ gift baskets have been filled with my favorite non-toxic, DIY products–many of them made with essential oils.  (See some of my favorites here: Essential Oils: Favorite DIY Recipes {Perfect for Holiday Gift-Giving}.)

Because nothing says “Merry Christmas” like a jar of Toilet Bombs.

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Funny Story…they’re not actually bombs

Last week, Mr. Native Texan made a business trip to his home state.  It was perfect timing for delivering gifts to friends and family there.  I’d been planning to mail the gifts as usual, but sent them instead in Mr. NT’s suitcase.

He was nervous because they were labeled as “bombs.”

I hadn’t even thought of that!  Surely, I reasoned, if we wanted to smuggle real bombs, we would not label them as such, and I was banking on the fact that the TSA would concur.

You’ll be relieved to know it all worked out just fine.  {Whew!}

And now, for the instructions.  By the way, here is the recipe I followed: DIY Toilet Bombs from Holistic Living.

DIY Toilet Bombs

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric acid
Essential oil–about 90 drops (or 30 drops each of 3 different oils, or 45 drops each of 2 different oils).  See aroma ideas below.

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Instructions 

1. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Place essential oils with a TINY bit of water in a spray bottle.  I used a travel-sized spray bottle from the Container Store; it worked perfectly.
3. Spray the mixture carefully, stirring between sprays.  You want the mixture to become slightly damp, but not so wet that it begins to fizz.  It will still be kind of dry and crumbly.
4. Spoon the mixture into molds.  I use the same molds I use for hard lotion.
5. Allow them to dry overnight.
6. Pop them out of the molds, and store in a glass jar.  I found my cute canisters at–Guess Where–Hobby Lobby.
7. To use, just toss one bomb into the toilet.  Watch it fizz away, and enjoy the pleasant aroma from your chosen essential oils.

Note:  The first time I made these, I was convinced it wouldn’t work because the mixture didn’t seem wet enough when it came time to spoon it into the molds.  But I followed the instructions and when I checked on them the next day, they had indeed hardened.  Success!

Tip:  Before filling your molds, place them on a tray or baking sheet.  The tray will catch all the crumbles that don’t make it into the molds, which will make for much easier clean up.  It will also make it easy to transport the molds to an out-of-the-way spot while they dry.

Pop the hardened bombs out into the tray–once again, the trays will catch the crumbs.  After the bombs go into the jars, you can sweep all the crumbs right into the toilet!

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Essential Oil Ideas 

• Lavender + Lemon + Peppermint
• Lavender + Eucalyptus + Peppermint–My favorite scent combo for this popular Room Spray.
• Citrus–Wild Orange, Lemon, Lime, etc.  Any citrus oils are a great choice for the bathroom.
• Cleansing Blend–If you love the smell of Pine-y cleaners, this would be a great choice.
• Protective Blend–Wild Orange, Cinnamon, Clove, Rosemary + Eucalyptus.  Fantastic for germ-busting purposes of all sorts.
• Happy Holidays–Check out this list of ideas for holiday scents.

The possibilities are endless!  Use any scent you love.

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Gift idea: pair a bottle of Room Spray with a jar of Toilet Bombs in coordinating scents!

Note: I actually did not use my high quality oils for this particular project.  There were a few random bottles of essential oil hanging around my cupboards–oils that I received for free with diffuser purchases and oils I purchased before learning about standards of EO purity and such. I hated to throw them away, but didn’t want to use those oils on my family.  They were perfect for making Toilet Bombs!

 Bombs away!

Do you love essential oils?  Follow my Pinterest board All Things Essential for lots of great recipes, tips, information and research.

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