Do Bath Bombs Expire and How to Make Them Last Longer?

Bath bombs are a stylish way to relax, unwind and enjoy an incredible bathing experience. They come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and fragrances, and a lot of people like to save them for special occasions, seeing they are considered a luxurious bathroom product. So, do bath bombs have an expiration date? Moreover, can you make them last longer in any way?

Bath bombs usually have an expiration date lasting 6 to 12 months, although they’ll start losing their best properties after only a couple of months. You can do many things to keep them from spoiling, such as safe storage, keeping moisture away from them, etc.

It’s important to note that higher-quality bath bombs tend to have a longer-lasting life when stored or shelved. Lush bath bombs are the most popular on the market since the company invented this product, and if properly stored, they can maintain their dizziness for well more than a year.

Do bath bombs expire?

As does any product containing organic material, bath bombs do have an expiration date. But, unlike food products, these won’t become spoiled and bad for you; the bombs simply lose their properties over time, making them not worth the money.

The estimated expiration date of a bath bomb is around six months but can go up to twelve months with higher quality products. The reason why they ever even go “bad” is because of the chemical reaction they are designed to do.

The main two compounds of a bath bomb are sodium bicarbonate and citric acid. These two compounds react when exposed to water, which is how you get all the foam, colors, and aromas in your bath.

But, that same reaction is slowly triggered over time when you keep the product shelved. The more moisture there is in the air, the faster will the bath bomb lose its properties. That’s why it would be best not to keep them in your bathroom. There’s the most water in the air there.

If you follow the instructions on using them, there should be no consequences of using an expired bath bomb. It’ll only mean you won’t get the experience you were meant to get when you first got it.

It is advised not to store bath bombs for too long. Although they still work after six or seven months, they start to lose their power after only two or three months. That means the fresher the bath bomb is, the better it will perform.

If you do end up having a few and need to store them, there are a few tricks to make them last for as long as possible without losing their best features, such as the skin-care properties and soothing aromatherapy.

How to make bath bombs last longer?

We now know how bath bombs work and what triggers them to expire sooner. That means we also know how to avoid those triggers and make them last longer when safely stored. Let’s look at some of the most useful tips on making bath bombs last longer.

1. Buy high-quality products

It might seem like an obvious answer, but there are more than a few reasons you shouldn’t even consider buying the cheapest bath bombs on the market. Firstly, there’s a lot of chemistry involved here, so you should be very careful and buy products like these only from verified manufacturers. That way, you can rest assured you’ll get a dermatologically tested product with no questionable chemicals and ingredients.

Secondly, the higher quality products will last longer, especially when carefully stored. Suppose you compare a top-quality Lush bath bomb with a lower-quality product. In that case, you’ll notice that the Lush bombs have much more integrity, making them more resilient to environmental triggers. Like with any other product, being cheaper doesn’t always mean being the better choice.

If you want to have the most significant chance of safely storing a bath bomb and keeping it from spoiling for longer, you should buy a high-quality product from the start.

2. Keep them away from moisture

Although you use the bath bombs in your bathroom, it’s probably the worst place to store them in if you want to keep them unspoiled for as long as possible. As we mentioned, moisture from the air can trigger the effect you want out of a bath bomb when you put it in water. 

The bathroom is the dampest room in the entire house, so every time you take a warm shower and steam up the bathroom, your bath bomb will lose its properties. If you store a bath bomb on a shelf in your bathroom, it might not even last for six months. The best way to avoid spoiling is to keep them away from moist places and any water exposure.

Try to find a room, a shelf, or a cupboard exposed to the least moisture and airflow and store the bath bombs there. That will prevent the reaction from happening, making the bombs last longer.

3. Store in an airtight container

By now, you know that what makes a stored bath bomb go bad is the moisture it gets from the air around it. So, the best way to keep that moisture away is to store them in an airtight container. Some products come with the packaging when you buy them, but feel free to use your containers, too.

That way, the bath bombs will last as long as they possibly can, and you can then store them anywhere you want – even in your bathroom. No air means no reaction, so a bath ball held this way can last for as long as 18 months without losing most of its efficiency.

Can you use expired bath bombs?

If you follow the instructions provided on how to use the bath bomb properly, there’s no reason why you couldn’t use an expired bath bomb, too. If anything, there’ll be less possibility of an unexpected reaction when coming in contact with your skin because it will lose its main properties once they expire. That makes them unuseful but not dangerous to use.

You won’t get the experience you were hoping for if you use an expired bath bomb. The scent might be weakened, and the fizzy foam won’t be nearly as vibrant as it would be if the product were fresh. All that takes away from the point of using a bath bomb at all, which is to relax and enjoy a unique bathing experience, be it a soothing bath to calm your mind before bedtime, or a fun, colorful display to get your energy levels up.

So, to answer the question at hand, you can use expired bath bombs, but you won’t get the desired outcomes as you would if it weren’t expired. It’s advisable to rinse after taking a bath to avoid any residual essential oils or other ingredients on your skin. Apart from that, using expired bath bombs shouldn’t be dangerous at all.

There’s a much more considerable risk of having problems if you ingest a bath bomb, be it an expired one or not. You’ll probably be more careful about it, but you should watch out when having children enjoying a nice bubbly bath bomb. If ingested in a moderate amount, it won’t have any long-lasting consequences but will cause nausea, stomach pain, and possibly diarrhea.

It would also be best if you avoided any eye contact with the bath bomb, as it can cause intense irritation and redness, especially if there are features in the bath bomb, such as glitter. Finally, people with sensitive skin should look for milder products to prevent skin irritations or other related issues.

What happens when a bath bomb expires?

When reaching its expiration date, a bath bomb may become chalky and lose its integrity. If it were exposed to high levels of moisture over time, they might become moldy. It rarely happens but can occur more frequently with lower-quality products. In that case, you shouldn’t use it and throw it away instantly.

In other cases, a bath bomb will remain perfectly fine, even for months after the designated expiration date. It all depends on the ingredients of that particular bomb and how carefully it has been stored. Fruity bombs usually have a shorter expiration date than flowery ones.

But, in most cases, nothing physically visible ever happens to bath bombs when they expire. As we stated, they simply lose their properties, making them not worth the wait. You should always look to use them as soon as possible to ensure you will get the most pleasure out of the whole experience.

When picking a product, look for its properties and what it can provide you with. Bath bombs are a great way to help deal with a lot of different things. If you want a mood booster, choose one with a more visual effect, such as colors, fizzy foam, etc. Some products with energy-boosting aromatherapy and essential oils give you a feeling of freshness and being well-rested.

On the other hand, if you want to unwind and relax, use a bomb that provides you with a soothing effect, relaxing your muscles and moisturizing your skin, making you feel light, silky, and ready for the best night’s sleep you’ve had in years. Whatever you choose, we advise you to use it – before the expiration date.