9. Bath Therapy Sleep Remedy
Sleep aid tips and bath salts recipes

Sleep aid tips about aromatherapy bath salts recipes and herbal bath sleep remedy for visitors when using this site to search for information, aromatherapy herb recipes and remedies for your better sleep which may also cure any mild sleep disorder you may want natural bath salts recipe and herbal bath sleep aid remedies for.

Being immersed in warm water is one of the most comforting sensations you can experience.

For an antidote to a busy day, simply run a bedtime bath and enjoy the tranquillizing effects of water.

Many cultures throughout history have recognized the healing and health giving properties of water, and spa resorts have been built around natural springs from ancient times to the present day.

But you need not be near a spa to enjoy water – a pampering and relaxing treat is only as far away as your own bathroom.

Soothing waves of relaxation:

It is essential to find time to switch off from cares and worries.

By reserving half an hour for yourself and locking the bathroom door, you can ensure a little oasis of peace while you read, listen to music or a play, or just lose yourself in pleasant contemplation – whatever you find most calming.

The ideal time for an evening bath is about an hour before going to sleep. This gives your body a chance to cool down slightly before you get into bed.

A few drops of essential oil mixed with skin softening almond oil can be added to the bath water, to help create a relaxing aromatic bath.

A few drops of lavender oil added to your bath will direct you towards slumber in a sumptuous cloud of scent.

Have big, fluffy towels on hand and a moisturizing cream or body oil, or silky talcum powder ready to round off the sensual experience.

Bathtime scenery:

You can enhance your bathing pleasure by creating a room that cossets all your senses.

• Think of the bath as a place to relax and unwind as much as a place to get clean.
• Make bath time special with soft candlelight and fragrant oils
• Paint the room a watery colour; such as sea green or azure blue.
Avoid bright prime colors that are stimulating and irritating to the senses
• If you like plants, surround the tub with moisture loving ferns and scented plants such as jasmine or stephanotis.
• Soften lighting by fitting flattering amber, peach or pink lightbulbs, or use lanterns and candles.
• Make sure the room is warm in winter and well ventilated in summer.
• Roll up a towel to place behind your neck and head for comfort.

Aromatherapy Bath oil blends:

Bath Salt Recipe

Ingredients:

- 3 parts Epsom salts
- 2 parts baking soda
- 1 part table salt (Dead Sea Salts or borax)
- Essential Oils

Mix thoroughly using your hands to stir the ingredients. This is now the base from which you can create a wide variety of bath salts.

Now add the essential oils drop by drop, one ingredient at a time, until the scent seems right. Using your hands and fingertips, mix it until all salt particles are moistened.

To use, add from 2 tablespoons to one-half cup of the bath salts to a full tub. Mix with your hands into the water. Relax and enjoy.

Dead Sea Salts

Rich in mineral salts found along the shore of the Dead Sea they are unique in character and famous for their healing and therapeutic properties. The therapeutic powers of Dead Sea Natural Mineral Salt Crystals help to relieve aches and pains, prevent stiffness after exercising, relaxing the muscles.

Epsom Salts

Epsom Salt is a natural magnesium sulfate. The therapeutic values of Epsom Salts are well known including aiding the well-being of the skin, detoxification and the soothing of swollen body parts. Combined with our pure essential oils this bath salt is truly wonderful.

Sedative Herbal Bath bags:

Cloth bags filled with herb blossoms make a subtle and gentle addition to your evening bath – the sedative properties of these therapeutic plants will help to soothe you to sleep.

A sleep inducing mixture of lime, chamomile and hop flowers is a perfect wind down to an early night.

Herb bath bags recipe: (makes 8)

Eight 30 x 10com / 12” x 4” rectangles of loosely woven fabric like cheesecloth or muslin.
Needle and thread
50gr / 2oz chamomile flowers
50gr / 2oz lime blossom
25gr / 1oz hop flowers
50gr / 2 oz coarse oatmeal
8 - 10”lengths of ribbon or string

Fold the fabric rectangles in half 15 x 10cm) and sew up the two sides.
Turn the bag the right side out so the sown seam is on the inside.
Mix the herbs and oats and fill the bags with the mixture
To finish, tie a large loop in a length of ribbon or sting before tying it to close the top of the bag and hold the herbs inside the sachet.
The loop can then be hung around the hot tap so that the running water flows through the bag.

“No sewing” version of herbal bath bags:

Simply purchase a pack of 8 inexpensive handkerchiefs.
Open them up and lay them flat on the table.
Place herb ingredients in the centre of the handkerchief.
Gather up the sides of the handkerchief and tie with loop & string so that the herb contents are contained inside the centre pouch.

Note: it is essential that the herb/oatmeal mixture is placed inside a securely closed bag, not simply sprinkled directly into the bath, as the oatmeal will “cook” and coagulate in the bath, and the herbs will become irritating as flakes of plants leaves and petals stick to you when you dry yourself off after the bath. They will also coagulate in your bath drain hole and plumbing.

Herb Bath Sachet Recipe #2:

For 6 bags / sachets:

½ cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons Marjoram
2 tablespoons Spearmint / mint
2 tablespoons Lemon Balm**
2 tablespoons Lem0n Verbena**
2 tablespoons Chamomile

(**substitute a strip of lemon peel if required)

Mix together herbs and place into little bags with ribbon threaded at top to make a loop.
Hang this bag from the tap as bath fills up and let the sachet float in the bath water.

Relaxing herbal bath salts recipe:

A concoction of salts and aromatic flowers, herbs or oils can be added to the bath for a wonderful soak at bedtime.

Although many salts are suitable, simple sea salt is used for this mixture

Chamomile is widely recognized sedative; for the following bath is has been combined with sweet marjoram, which is an effective treatment for insomnia.

These bath salts should be used only if you are planning to go straight to sleep after your bath: sweet marjoram is thought to be an anaphordisiac, which means that is has the opposite effect of an aphrodisiac!’

As well as having a sedative effect, the bath salts will heal and stimulate the skin.

Chamomile bath salts recipe:

500 grams / 1 and a quarter lb / 2 and a half cups of: coarse sea salt
10 drops chamomile essential oil
10 drops sweet marjoram essential oil
1-3 drops green or blue food coloring (optional)

Combine all the ingredients, mixing well with a wooden spoon, and pour into a glass jar with a lid.
Place the lid on firmly and store in a cool place.
Add two heaped tablespoons of salts to the bath, pouring them under the hot tap as the water runs.

Mandarin Orange Bath Salts, Lavender Bath Salts, Sugar and Spice Bath Salts, Bath Salts from the Sea, and Patchouli Bath Salts.

What You Will Need:

For the Bath Salts Recipes –

• epsom salts or sea salt, or both, and baking soda
• essential oils - mandarin orange, lavender, sandlewood, and patchouli or
• 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger and 1/4 tsp cloves for each cup of sugar and spice bath salts
• food coloring
• 1 or 2 teaspoons of glycerin per jar - optional, but glycerin is an effective skin moisturizer and a nice addition

For the Decorative Glass Jars –
• four glass jars and one glass sugar shaker jar
• printable jar labels
• scissors and glue to cut out and stick on labels
• assorted embellishments, including several yards of orange or peach colored ribbon, small amount of lavender or mauve ribbon, ecru or white doily, raffia, tacky glue and household twine

Instructions:

1. Collect your jars, remove labels, then wash and dry thoroughly.

2. For most bath salts recipes you can use your choice of epsom salts or sea salt, with baking soda, if desired, or a combination of all three.

One good mix is one cup of epsom salts, with 1/4 cup of sea salt, and two or three tablespoons of baking soda. A little more or less of each ingredient is fine for most bath salts.

Epsom salts and sea salt are soothing for tired muscles, while both will gently soften the water for a luxurious bath experience. You could also add a tablespoon or two of finely ground regular oatmeal (not quick cooking) for silky, skin-softening water.

3. Fill each jar to the top with the combination of bath salts that you plan to use. Empty the salts into a mixing jar and add a drop or two of glycerin, if using.

Add your choice of essential oil - how many drops you use is a personal preference, but start with two or three drops and see if you like the fragrance.

The same goes for the liquid food coloring; sometimes I use quite a few drops of food color to get the strong hue that I like, but so far it hasn't stained the bath tub or anyone's skin.

Remember that the color and fragrance will be much diluted in the bath water. Stir the salts vigorously until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

• Mandarin Orange Bath Salts recipe:

Use a small canning jar for this project, with a screw top one piece lid. I also used only epsom salts, adding about six drops of mandarin essential oil and about six drops of orange food color. The lid is decorated with 1/2" orange ribbon, cut in strips to cover the top.

Coat the lid with tacky glue and lay the first strip going across the middle of the lid and extending over the rim just a little on both sides. Add ribbon strips on either side, each one overlapping just a little, until the top of the lid is covered.

Take another strip and glue it around the lid rim, covering the edges of the top ribbons. Overlap the ends of the lid rim strip and glue down firmly. Cover these ends by making a small bow, then gluing it in place.

Screw the ribbon lid in place securely.

• Lavender Bath Salts:
1 cup of epsom salts, half a cup of sea salt, and a few tablespoons of baking soda for this recipe, adding 8 drops of lavender. Adjust the fragrance, just adding one or two drops at a time until you're happy with it.
Lavender is a difficult color to achieve with food coloring, but I managed to get a lavender color that I liked by using far more red than blue.
To decorate the jar, thread lavender ribbon through the openings in an ecru doily, tie in place and make a bow. If this isn't possible, use a rubber band to secure the doily in place, then tie the ribbon over it.

• Sugar and Spice Bath Salts:
Use half epsom salts and half sea salts to almost fill a glass sugar shaker jar, then add approximately 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves and two heaped teaspoons of brown or white sugar for each cup of the salts.
Empty into a mixing bowl and, if you like, thoroughly stir in a few drops of red and green food coloring to enhance the golden brown color.
Tie a few lengths of raffia around the neck of the jar, and remember to seal it with the inner plastic cap before screwing on the metal lid with holes in it.

• Bath Salts from the Sea:
Use only sea salt - either fine or coarse, or a combination of both, for this recipe. Add an essential oil that reminds you of the sea eg: sandalwood.
A drop of eucalyptus might enhance this mixture. Jasmine would also work well. Add drops of blue food coloring, if desired, either to all the mixture, or just half, so you can funnel white and blue layers into the jar.

For the nautical rope decoration, take 3 lengths of household twine, each about 3 feet long and braid them together.
Coat the jar lid with tacky glue and, in the middle of the lid, start twisting the braid around itself in a spiral, pushing the flat side of the braid firmly into the glue.
Go right over the lid edge and around the rim, adding extra glue to secure the end. Make another braid to decorate the bottom of the jar in similar fashion. Take this braid up the jar about an inch or so, then secure the end at the back of the jar.

Take a single strand of twine and glue it around the front label. Tie another single strand of twine in a bow around the neck of the bottle.

• Patchouli Bath Salts Recipe:

Patchouli oil has a sensual woodsy aroma, valued for its tranquil calming effect and long-lasting intense fragrance. Add sparingly to epsom salts, sea salt, or a combination of both. Color the bath salts green with food coloring, add glycerin, if using, and bottle.

The rope decoration is simple. Just coat the jar lid with tacky glue and begin to spiral a single strand of household twine around the top and down the sides of the lid.

Do the same at the bottom of the jar, bringing the twine up the jar to a depth of about an inch. You can use extra glue on top of the twine if it is necessary to make it secure; the twine absorbs the glue, which then dries clear.

Fashion the handle by tying a double strand of twine tightly around the neck of the jar, then twist the strands loosely together, looping them over the lid top, and back to the other side to knot in place.

Bath Salts Recipes

Bath Salts are an easily prepared alternative to bath herbs, and are to be preferred to the mixtures now on the market; most of these chemical-ridden formulas are almost guaranteed to irritate your skin.

Bath salts are used for many different purposes, and they make great gifts too. The basic ingredients are table salt, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) & Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). Some herbalists also use borax.

Add the salts to a large bowl in these proportions:

3 parts Epsom salts
2 parts baking soda
1 part table salt (or borax)
Essential (scented, herbal/floral) Oils
Tip: try it with vanilla extract

Mix thoroughly using your hands to stir the ingredients.

This is now the base from which you can create a wide variety of bath salts.

Its wise to add colors to bath salts. Use plain food coloring for this purpose, letting it fall drop by drop onto the salt base.

If two or more colors are required to mix an exotic hue (such as purple), mix these in a spoon first and then add to the salts to avoid creating a two-toned product, unless of course, you plan on a two or three tone salt.

Add many drops for a darker colored salt; fewer for a lightly hued salt. Mix the color into the salts until it is evenly distributed; again use your hands or you may use a utensil.

Now add the essential oils drop by drop, one ingredient at a time, until the scent seems right. using your hands and fingertips, mix it until all salt particles are moistened. This may take up to fifteen minutes or longer.

As to proportions, rely on your nose to determine the exact quantities. The more potent the finished products' scent, the less will have to be used for each bath. They should be strongly scented.

To use, add from 2 tablespoons to one-half cup of the bath salts to a full tub. Mix with your hands into the water. Relax, enjoy!!

NOTE: For bath salts place in a deep wide rimmed container, don’t use a small bottle neck as the salts may harden, making it almost impossible to get out.

Simple Bath Salts Recipe

Materials

Epsom salts
Food coloring
Fragrance (scented oils)

Mix the Epsom salts, food coloring and fragrance.

Fill a baby food jar, label, and put a pretty covering on the jar lid, such as wrapping paper and ribbon.

Golden Bath Salts Recipe

5 drops yellow food coloring
2 drops red food coloring
4 drops musk oil
3 drops Jasmine oil
3 cups epsom salts
1 cup baking soda
2 teaspoons glycerin

Combine baking soda, epsom salt and glycerin until well blended, add scents stirring until there is no clumps just a fine powder. Divide the mixture evenly into 3 separate bowls.

In the first bowl add 3 drops yellow food coloring, in the second add 3 drops red food coloring and in the 3rd bowl add 2 drops yellow with 1 drop red food coloring...stir each bowl until the color is well mixed.

Allow the air to dry it for a few hours before placing in a bottle. Once dried, layer the colors...red first, then orange then lastly yellow.

Bath Crystals Recipe

1/3 cup baking soda
1/4 cup citric acid crystals
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Mix ingredients and place in an airtight container. Keep salts dry, moisture will cause them to react and fizz. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of the salts into warm tub of water.

Bath Bombs Recipe

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup citric or ascorbic acid
1/8 cup epson salt
1/2 cup olive oil
20 to 28 drop fragrance oil

Mix very well. Add UP to 1/2 cup olive oil, until the consistency of pastry dough.

Add a 20 to 28 drops fragrance oil if you want them scented. Put on cookie sheet and put wax paper down.

Form into small, golf- sized balls, and Store in cellophane wrapper, and then put your bath bombs into glass jars for each scent you make.

Bath Oil Recipe

Use mineral oil or baby oil
a few drops of food coloring

Pour a small amount into running water, a little goes a LONG way. For a nice effect add a few drops of food coloring.

Fresh Bath Herb recipe

1 cup fresh (chopped) or 1/4 cup dried mint
1 cup fresh bay leaves -finely chopped
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon of almond extract

Mix ingredients together then place in a mesh bag such as cheesecloth. Place under hot running water. Sit back & enjoy your bath.

Soft Skin Bath Recipe

1 cup of powdered milk
few drops of fragrant oil

Add powdered milk and fragrance to running bath water.

Relaxing Milk Bath

4 cups powdered milk
1 cup boiled water
1/2 cup dried chamomile or 5 chamomile tea bags

Steep chamomile in water for 20 minutes Strain liquid. Mix liquid with milk and add to bath water. A real stress releaser!

Oatmeal Milk Bath

1 cup cornstarch
2 cups milk powder
1/2 cup oatmeal (ground finely; or use baby oatmeal)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until mixed. (will scratch plastic food processor bowls.) To use: Add 1/2 cup to hot bath water.

Bubble Bath Recipe

5 drops fragrant oil
1 quart water
1 bar castille soap (grated or flaked)
1 1/2 ounces glycerin

Mix all ingredients together. Store in a container. Pour in running water. *castille soap & glycerin may be found at any health food store.

Lilac Bubble Bath

1 quart water
1 bar castille soap (grated or flaked)
3 ounces glycerin
5 drops lilac fragrant oil

Mix all ingredients together. Store in a container.

Pour bubble recipe mix into running water. * a few drops of red & blue food coloring may be added for color.

*castille soap & glycerin may be found at any health food store.

Lavender Bath Bubble Recipe

1 quart water
1 bar castille soap (grated)
3 ounces glycerin
3 drops lavender oil

Mix all ingredients together. Store in a container. Pour in running water. *castille soap & glycerin may be found at any health food store.

Cherries Bubble Bath

1/2 cup unscented shampoo
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt ( regular table salt is fine)
15 drops cherry fragrance oil

Pour shampoo into a bowl and add water. Stir recipe gently until well mixed.

Add salt, and stir until mixture thickens. Add cherry fragrance and place in decorative bottle.

Washing Bags

Used in the shower, when there is no time to take a soaking bath.

2 parts oatmeal
2 parts dried herbs
1 part grated soap

Place ingredients in a cloth bag and use as a washcloth.

If you don’t have a bath in your home, a foot bath can help you instead.

A fragrant, soothing foot bath helps to warm and restore the whole body.

A comforting herbal foot bath can also help to alleviate the symptoms of a cold.

Tired sore feet can be a cause of wakefulness at night, especially if you have been standing or walking all day.

A foot bath made with herbs is a soothing antidote that will help ease you to sleep.

Peppermint is particularly effective herb in foot baths. It has a cooling effect and helps to soothe aching muscles; rosemary is also useful for reducing pain.

Soothing foot relaxer:

All the herbs listed will have a relaxing effect on the whole body as you inhale the fragrant steam rising from the hot water.

50g / 2oz mixed fresh herbs: peppermint, yarrow, pine needles, chamomile flowers, rosemary, houseleek.
1 litre / 1 Ύ pints / 4 cups of: boiling water
15ml / 1 tablespoon Borax
15 ml / 1 tablespoon Epsom Salts

Roughly chop all the fresh herbs, then place them in a bowl and pour the boiling water over them.
Leave to stand for an hour.

Strain the liquid, and add it to a bowl containing about 1.75 litres / 3 pints / 7 ½ cups hot water – the final temperature of the foot bath should be comfortably warm.
Stir in the borax and the Epsom salts.
Immerse the feet and soak them for about 15 – 20 minutes, then dry them thoroughly with a warm towel.

Lemon and lavender foot bath:

The lavender in this mixture enhances feelings of serenity, and the lemon verbena restores balance to the nervous system.

15g / 1/2oz dried lemon verbena leaves
30ml / 2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers
30ml / 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
5 drops lavender essential oil

Place the lemon verbena and lavender in a basin and pour in enough hot water to cover the feet.
When it has cooled to a comfortable temperature, add the cider vinegar and the lavender oil and swirl. Immerse the feet for 15-10 minutes, then dry well with a warm towel.

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10. Gentle Herb & Flower Sleep Remedy Recipes

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