Chemistry question (kinda)

ardinn

okay im probably in the wrong place but I cant find any "ask a chemist" forums online so I'll ask here.

Please direct me somewhere appropriate should you not want my nonsense near you

So im trying to make something similar to a bath bomb - but I am finding it impossible to get the final product to last over a week.

So Im combining citric acid, baking soda, cornflour, salt and a few oils, moulding it and letting it harden.

When I use it within a day, it works great, but if left for a number of days there is no reaction whatsoever.

What am I doing wrong?

bduffy

ardinn wrote: »

okay im probably in the wrong place but I cant find any "ask a chemist" forums online so I'll ask here.

Please direct me somewhere appropriate should you not want my nonsense near you

So im trying to make something similar to a bath bomb - but I am finding it impossible to get the final product to last over a week.

So Im combining citric acid, baking soda, cornflour, salt and a few oils, moulding it and letting it harden.

When I use it within a day, it works great, but if left for a number of days there is no reaction whatsoever.

What am I doing wrong?

Had to look up Bath Bombs tbh.....
Okay, the Chemistry answer when it comes to questions like this is usually ageing. It simply goes off by either loosing reactants (as gases) or else the hardened skin stops water ingress.
Quick test.....make up a few and wrap some of them them in cling film and store in a sealed zip lock bag for a week and compare. You could also freeze some separately to stop any other reactions.....
See what happens.....🀔

ardinn

Thanks I will give it a go!!