Easy Homemade Lavender Bath Salts Recipe - Garden Therapy (2024)

Making fragrant jars of homemade lavender bath salts couldn’t be easier. In vintage mason jars, bath salts look beautiful on display and make wonderful gifts. Here is a recipe to make your own in just a few simple steps.

There are so many different botanicals you can add to bath salts, and somehow I keep coming back to lavender again and again. The scent is soothing and relaxing, and I find the benefits of the plant to be numerous.

The Benefits of Bath Salts with Lavender

Both bath salts and lavender offer their own benefits that work beautifully together.

The Benefits of Bath Salts

After a long day in my garden, I often look forward to a long soak in the tub afterward. For this reason, I make sure to keep my supply of bath salts well-stocked! Bath salts are made with Epsom salt, and some of the benefits include:

• Helps with insomnia – there’s a reason a nice soak in the bath will make you sleepy. Epsom salt has magnesium, which can help your body produce melatonin naturally. Combine that with the relaxing effect of soaking in hot water, and you’ll sleep more soundly.
• Reduces pain and inflammation– for those who have inflammatory conditions such as fibromyalgia, the magnesium in Epsom salt can improve symptoms and reduce pain.
• Help with sore muscles –athletes are often advised to soak in a tub of Epsom salt after tough workouts. There’s no reason the same benefits can’t be applied to those of us with lesser athletic endeavors!

The Benefits of Lavender

Lavender has plenty of healing and cleansing properties, making it the perfect addition to a jar of bath salts. Some benefits of using lavender, whether dried or in essential oil form, include:

• Reduces anxiety – there’s something immediately soothing about the scent of lavender. A recent study showed that science backs this up too!
• Helps with sleep problems– the same study also showed that lavender was superior to a placebo when used for insomnia, disturbed sleep, or restlessness.
• Stabilizes mood – whether you are in a season or stress, or dealing with depression, lavender is beneficial aromatherapy to employ.
• You can grow it at home –perhaps the most fun thing about lavender is that you can grow it right in your own backyard! It also happens to be an excellent way to attract beneficial pollinators to your yard, too.

Tips for Picking Lavender

I harvest lavender for crafts and DIYs quite often at my home. I wrote an entire post detailing my process, but here are the highlights of how to harvest lavender for bath salts or any other project:

• Use sharp pruners and leave a minimum of 2 leaves on the stem to promote regrowth.
• Dry bunches of lavender by hanging them upside down.
• Once dry, shake the dried lavender off into a bowl or container.

How to Preserve Lavender’s Color as it Dries

I also love how beautiful lavender buds look in a clear jar of bath salts, especially if I want to present it to someone as a gift. Sometimes when lavender dries it turns gray or brown, but there are a few things you can do to help the buds keep their pretty purple color.

Choose One of These Varieties

Any lavender can be harvested and dried for use, but Purple Bouquet, Royal Purple, and Folgate lavenders hold their color especially well as they dry out.

Harvest at the Right Time

Cut your lavender from the plant just before the blooms open for the best color. I like to leave at least some blooms to open in the garden for the bees, though.

Store Properly

I like to keep my lavender (and my lavender bath salts) in a clear glass jar, but exposing the dried buds to light will make them lose their color, so keep the jar of lavender hidden away in a dark cupboard or drawer.

Lavender Bath Salts Recipe

Okay, let’s talk about how to make the bath salts! It only takes a few minutes to make (well, after you dry the lavender, that is) so you’ll be soaking in the tub in no time!

Materials:

• Epsomsalts
• 100% pure lavender essential oil (notfragrance)
• Dried lavender
• Vintage mason jars (or any kind of jar)

Make it!

1. Open all your mason jars. Set the lids aside, but keep them handy—you’ll need them shortly!
2. Fill each Mason jar about halfway full of the Epsom salts.
3. Next, we can add the lavender oil. I have found that 10-15 drops are about right, but if you are making a small container, adjust accordingly. Then, put the lid back on and shake well to combine.
4. Remove the lid again, and add 1 tablespoon of your dried lavender flowers. Then replace lid once more and shake to combine.
5. Add more Epsom salts to fill the jar and then (you guessed it) replace the lid and shake, shake, shake.
6. Optional: download and print these freebie canning labels to dress up the jars. This is especially fun if you are making these as a gift!

As you can see, making this DIY is simple. You’ll be so glad you gave this one a try!

More Posts with Lavender

Love lavender? Me too! Check out all of the crafts and projects that can be done with just a few backyard lavender plants: