There’s nothing worse than trying to trug along through your day when you have a miserable cold. Even just some sinus congestion can feel so uncomfortable and just distract you all day. Sure, it’s winter, but it doesn’t mean you have to just sit in discomfort and blow through 10 kleenex boxes a day. These easy to make shower soothers will help you breathe more easily when you feel sick.
You know how good it feels just to take a shower and breathe in some steam when you have a cold? These shower soothers make that feel ten times better than that, if you can believe me! They are so refreshing and really do ease that icky congestion.
They’re so simple to make too!
Ingredients:
- Baking soda: The main body of the disks, helps keep them fresh and retain smell
- Citric acid: Creates the fizzing effect
- Corn starch: Makes the shower disks hold their shape
- Epsom salt: Helps you feel more hydrated and helps relieve sore muscles
- Eucalyptus essential oil: Opens your airways and helps with congestion
- Water: Binds everything together
You can see in the picture above an example of the clumping you should see when you add water to the mixture. If your mixture looks this clumpy- you’ve gone slightly too far! So use this as a precaution- stop slightly before this point.
All right, I think you’re ready to find out how to make these suckers.
Homemade Shower Soothers for Colds and Congestion
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of baking soda
- 1/4 cup epsom salt
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1/4 cup citric acid
- 1-3 tablespoons water
- 10-60 drops eucalyptus essential oil
Instructions
- Mix the baking soda, epsom salt, corn starch, and citric acid in a mixing bowl until well combined
- Start adding the water gradually. There will be some amount of fizzing and clumping. You want to keep the fizzing minimal. So stir while you add, and tend towards less water. Less is definitely more here.
- Pack the mixture into silicone molds or an ice tray. You can really pack them down. They are going to expand so you can make them small.
- Using a glass dropper, drop 2-10 drops of eucalyptus oil into each mold section, depending on how strong you want them to be
- Let dry overnight in a dry place. They will expand somewhat.
- To use: place on the floor of the shower, not directly under the stream. Place where some of the water will splash onto the disks. If you put them directly under the stream they will fizz away quite quickly. The longer you want them to last, the farther you should put them from the direct stream of water.
You can see in the picture above how much my shower soothers puffed up. I definitely added too much water, which made them expand more. So make sure to use your water sparingly. If you use too much all the fizziness will be used up before you even get a chance to use these in the shower!
And let me just say, you want the chance to use these in the shower. Using one of these made me feel like I was in a spa. The eucalyptus is so relaxing and refreshing.
I’m not saying I’m looking forward to getting a cold, but I do love having an excuse to use these. Eucalyptus is definitely one of my favorite essential oils. It is really great stuff. I always use it to help me breathe when I have a cold.
So there you have it. I bet you didn’t realize how easy these would be to make! So you really have no excuses… go out and make some yourself!
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