This week, we’re talking about detox baths. Lovely, healing, make-you-feel-human-again detox baths.
Don’t forget to read the first post on Baby Step # 2 |Detox Baths| if you missed it.
There are endless variations of things that can be added to a bath to improve its usefulness. We will focus on some that provide a gentle detox, are allergen-free, and use ingredients that can do double duty in other areas of your home.
Method
Tub
- Drink 12-16 ounces of water during the hour before to be sure you’re hydrated.
- Fill tub with very warm water (body temperature for children). ‘Very warm’ should be comfortable. Let’s say a happy medium between room temperature and scalding that makes you say Ahhhh when you sink down into it.
- Add your ingredients to the water while it is filling or just before you get in.
- Empty your bladder before you get in. You just drank a bunch of water, and you’re not allowed to pee in the tub. It messes up the whole detox thing.
- Now sink down in the water, let out a happy sigh, and relax.
- Soak for 20 minutes. Take some deep, slow breaths to increase oxygen flow and relax more deeply…without falling asleep.
- Rinse skin well when finished and voila! You should feel refreshed and pretty darn good.
- Drink another 8-16 ounces of water within 30 minutes to rehydrate and help flush out residual toxins.
Foot Bath
Follow the above instructions, but use 1/4 of the ingredients called for in the following recipes.
Shower
If you do not use any toxic personal care products in the shower, you can close the drain and let your feet soak in the water while you shower. Every little bit helps!
Notes
You may sweat profusely during the bath. That’s a good sign your body is getting rid of the bad stuff. As long as you do not feel flushed and overheated, enjoy.
If you do feel the need to cool down, sit up and run cool water over your arms while you bring the temperature of the bath water down. I detest being hot, so I occasionally prop my feet on the edge of the tub to cool myself down.
Baths can be taken up to 3 times a day for detox relief and should be taken every day or as often as possible during acute healing. Just like you chuck all the junk food out of the house when you want to get healthy, your body goes through a similar process when you clean up your lifestyle.
Start small. If you are new to detox baths, I suggest starting with plain water or no more than 1/4 cup of any bath addition until you know how you respond to it.
For those with serious health conditions and those who are pregnant, drop the temperature to a more comfortable level and consult your health professional about what is appropriate for your particular sensitivity.
Filtered Water
Filtered water is a very important component of detoxifying your body. The chemicals found in tap water are extremely harmful to our health and should be filtered out as much as possible. We use a 2-stage shower filter and use the detachable head to fill the tub (see sources)
That said, I do believe a detox bath in unfiltered water is still beneficial unless you are using abnormally toxic water. I know many people cannot afford another strain on their budget, so a shower/bath filter should at least be put on your to-do-later list.
Detox Bath Recipes
Click here to buy ingredients from my sources.
Whine Buster - buh-bye cranky kiddos!
- 1/4 cup Epsom salt or magnesium chloride (magnesium chloride is a form of magnesium more easily retained by the body)
- 1-3 drops lavender essential oil*; for very small children, diffuse a couple drops in a bowl of warm water and place near tub instead of in the water; essential oils should never be ingested
- a full belly and a bath are my secret weapons against whinyness
Relaxation For the Rest of Us
- up to 2 cups of Epsom salt or magnesium chloride
- 5-10 drops soothing essential oil* such as lavender, roman chamomile, ylang ylang
Itch Be Gone - good for skin conditions such as yeast infections, rashes, sunburns (cool water bath only), and body acne
- 1 cup organic apple cider vinegar
- I occasionally sub with home-brewed kombucha that has turned into vinegar
A Little Pick-Me-Up
- 1/2 cup organic apple cider vinegar
- 10-15 drops of orange or mint essential oil*
Sensitive Skin Soak
- water, preferably filtered
Secondary Allergic Reactions
- up to 1 cup of food-grade Bentonite clay
Beat the Blahs
- This will be your personal preference. Experiment with the different ‘ingredients’ listed and write down which ones make you feel the best. Any time you feel less than ideal, grab the list and soak your way to happy thoughts.
- My go-to bath is 1 cup apple cider vinegar and 1/2 cup clay.
The Ultimate
Add up to 2 cups from any combination of the following:
- food-grade clay such as Bentonite clay
- organic apple cider or kombucha vinegar
- unrefined salt
- Epsom salt
- baking soda
- ginger or ginger tea
- 10-15 drops of essential oil*
*Be sure to check contraindications for any essential oils before using them.
This is not a comprehensive list. Please share in the comments what your favorite detox baths are to help out our readers who are new to it!
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This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Link-up, Works for Me Wednesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays, GAPS Friendly Fridays, Fresh Bites Friday, Fill Those Jars Friday, Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday (2) , Works for Me Wednesdays (2), Thank Your Body Thursday
Photo Credit: Dennis Wong
My mom and I were just talking about how ACV can cure anything and joked “can we just bathe in it” and here you are saying yes, you can!
Love me some epsom salts and I am feeling exceptionally cranky at the moment. I think I might just go do this…
missy @ it’s almost naptime recently posted..Questions about the Feingold Diet for ADHD part 2
Missy, it really can cure just about anything, can’t it?! Apple cider vinegar (ACV) and raw shea butter are my Windex (My Big Fat Greek Wedding).
I’m lovin’ the recipe for rashes. I’ll be doing this later for my infant who just broke out in a new mystery rash. Plus I once blogged about epsom salts. We use it to cure restless leg syndrome and our preschoolers night waking episodes. http://rojerthat.com/2011/08/25/our-cure-for-restless-leg-syndrome/
Megan of RojerThat.com recently posted..Working With Meetup To Find Homeschool Playmates
Megan, it’s amazing how many problems crop up from a magnesium deficiency. We cured the same problems mainly by increasing our dietary intake with bone broths and other magnesium-rich foods. You may want to look into magnesium chloride (used in magnesium oil). It is a form more easily absorbed by our bodies and doesn’t get flushed out within 24 hours like the form in Epsom salt. The magnesium chloride makes my daughter’s skin itchy, so we stick with Epsom salt for her baths. I do notice a difference with the magnesium chloride flakes in mine though.
I love all your varied recipes for different baths. I can tend to get in a detox bath rut. : )
Thanks for sharing this with Fill Those Jars Friday. Hope to see you again later this week!
Mindy @ Too Many Jars in My Kitchen! recently posted..Interview with Heather Dessinger (and Honey Cinnamon Cracker Recipe)
Mindy, I get in one too. We tend to stick with our favorites, so I have to make sure to shake it up on occasion.
I used baking soda and kosher salt last night – it was all I had in the house…and I got my sweat on. There are great suggestion – looking up bentonite clay now…
Blessings
http://bit.ly/xabvOm
Do you have a headache combo? My husband and now my 8 year old daughter have been complaining about headaches a lot lately. We have been doing some essential oils and herbs with my daughter to help her. She loves taking baths and would eat something like this up.
Isn’t is great when our kiddos actually like something that’s good for them?! Depending on the cause of the headaches, all of the baths should give some relief. You may want to look into acupressure or acupuncture and definitely chiropractic care if you don’t already do so. A visit to the chiropractor, followed by a couple glasses of water, and an apple cider vinegar bath can cure my family of almost anything. You can also use rub the essential oils that they prefer into your hands with a carrier oil (I use organic, cold-pressed olive oil) and let them inhale the scent 2-3 times, then rub a little around their hairlines to continue the effect.
I hope that helps!
They probably have headaches from allergies. It’s been a particularly rough season.
Try having her eyes examined. When I developed frequent headaches it was because I needed glasses
For the whiny kids bath – could I use something other than lavender – my children has asthma and sometimes it bothers them.
Shaylene,
With asthma, you may want to steer clear of the herbs and just stick with a rotation of a straight warm water bath, Epsom salt, and unrefined sea salt to see how that works out. A mini massage with cocoa, shea, olive, or coconut oil would be a great way to help them relax even further.
haha I love the whine buster!
Most mothers seem to also.
You can also add hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to detox baths. Both are very beneficial.
It was said that you should never ingest essential oils and that may be true will newborns who are only nursing or if you choose a low quality brand of oil, but therapeutic grade oils like Young Living are completely safe to use directly on skin, diluted with a carrier oil, inhaled, or even ingested. In fact some work best when ingested.
Totally love these recipes though!
Thanks for the info Autumn. It really helps when readers add their 2 cents. There’s only so much that will fit in one post, and a wealth of knowledge that we can all share with each other!
I will have a sequel post up soon for more recipes and will definitely include peroxide, baking soda, and more essential oils in the mix.
Hold on just a minute! 10-15 drops of peppermint essential oil will BURN your skin.
I don’t know if spearmint has the same effect, but under no circumstances should an adult put more than 2 drops of peppermint oil into the bath (and none for children).
I am speaking from experience with food-grade, pure essential oils. Be VERY careful with mint oils.
Thank you for the information Christie. I appreciate you weighing in on this.
My recommendations are based on my personal experience and the product usage instructions. The recommended dilution is 1-3 drops per ounce of carrier oil, but I will contact a company who produces pure, food-grade EOs to verify the amount recommended in each of my recipes. I will update the post with the green light or modified information as soon as I hear back!
I was really looking forward to a “Detox Bath”, but unfortunately I did get the sweating, or funny feelings. Nothing at all but a horrible smell threw out my home, and self ugh “apple cider vinger is gross” sorry but it is. Maybe I did something wrong someone please explain. I used 2 cups apple cider vinegar, and 2 cups epsom salt. I was going to use a oil but the bottles of oil I have say no contact w/ skin or eyes. So I wasnt sure. Thanks
You poor thing! I’m glad you came back and said something. Let’s make this work for you!!
It sounds like you were try to make “The Ultimate” recipe. I’m sorry if the instructions weren’t clear enough. The ingredients are any combination of what’s listed UP TO 2 cups, so 1 cup of Epsom salt and 1 cup of apple cider vinegar is a possibility. If you don’t like the smell of the vinegar, feel free to skip it and try another ingredient or use 1 1/2 cups of Epsom salt and 1/4-1/2 cup of vinegar. The smell will be much more subtle.
Your best bet will be to play with the ingredients and find out what you prefer. Make sure it’s relaxing and enjoyable so you can get the full benefits. Increasing the temperature a bit and making sure your body is submerged as much as possible will help too.
High-quality essential oils like orange, peppermint, lavender, and similar scents that we would normally use on our skin should all be safe. It was a good idea to read the directions on yours and skip it! If you would like to use oils, find a store that carries ‘food-grade’ essential oils so you know they’re safe.
Good luck Crystal! I hope the next bath works well for you.
My daughter has eczema and asthma, we see a homeopathic doc and am now excited to try some of these baths!
Thank you for making a site like this! I am excited to see and share more natural ways of healing.
Even my kids try to explain it to their friends and teachers.
They are our #1 method for cleansing our detox systems after food. I hope they work as well for you!
I love bath infusions, thanks for sharing such great recipes for the body.
…Stay Beautiful and Healthy,
Milan recently posted..Health
I just wanted to say not only do I LOVE the ideas for the different baths, (New detox bath junkie lol.) but also I am INCREDIBALLY impressed with how you handle the negative posts and respond in a helpfull not definsive manner.
Well thank you Amber! How kind of you to say so.
Thank you so much for this post! I can’t wait to try out some of these detox baths! I have included this in my weekly roundup of useful sites at http://www.doomestic.com Thank you so much!!
Tiffany recently posted..Sunday Shares #3
Thanks Tiffany! I can’t wait for you to try them either. They are my favorite part of Saturday mornings.
I am excited to prepare a bath for my wife. We swear by putting lavinder on our kids feet at night time but never in bath form. The ACV is a great idea to! Thanks!!!
You have one lucky wife Geoff!
All of the mixtures for detox baths include epsom salts which I’m sure do work great for most people. I am, however, allergic to most all sulfa/sulfates and get severe skin irritation up to dangerous reactions which I’m exposed to them which means epsom salt is a very bad idea for me to bath in. Does anyone have suggestions for alternatives to incldue in a detox bath with similiar benefits? Also, unless its something you can get at Kroger or such I’d appreciate any pointers on where to get what you suggest too. Thanks for anyone who can help, and great article!
Only 3 of the 10 recipes mention Epsom salt (Magnesium sulfate) and give Magnesium Chloride as an alternate. Take another read over the recipes and feel free to substitute Magnesium Chloride or use one of the recipes that omits magnesium altogether. I mention that my preferred bath uses apple cider vinegar and clay. You can also pick and choose your ingredients and make your own!
Where do you buy your food grade bentonite clay? It is insanely expensive locally and that’s for quite small containers. I’ve searched around online and I’m never convinced enough of the quality to complete the purchase.
Swanson Vitamins (online) carries Redmond Clay for a great price, and it’s a wonderful product.