Fall hit this year and I went a little overboard haha. Fall is my favorite time of the year and when my creative juices really flow.

I’d already done a couple of fall candles and a batch of apple cider vinegar hair rinse, and then I spotted my pumpkin spice essential oils sitting on the shelf. My daughter asked for something for her baths, so I thought I would try to make some bubble scoops!

I’d never made bubble scoops before. Bath bombs, yes, plenty of times, bath melts, sure, but not really bubble scoops.

But scoops were new to me and I fumbled the first batch pretty badly (added the wet mix too fast, got fizzing, panicked, added too much baking soda, ended up with sad crumbly lumps). The second batch though? Worked out great!

So if you’ve been wanting to try fall bath DIY ideas that actually feel special, these DIY pumpkin spice bubble scoops are exactly that. They’re cozy, they smell incredible, and making your own bubble scoops at home is genuinely easier than it looks once you know what to watch for 🙂

Benefits

Here’s a little bit about each of the ingredients:

Baking soda softens bathwater and is super gentle on skin. It helps balance pH too, which is why it’s a base ingredient in so many DIY bath products.
Citric acid is what creates the fizz when the scoop hits water. Together with baking soda it makes that satisfying little bubbling reaction that so many kids love!
SLSA (sodium lauryl sulfoacetate) is the ingredient that actually makes bubbles, and it’s a mild, plant-derived surfactant. It’s different from SLS and is generally considered much gentler on skin.
Shea butter brings the skin softening. It melts right into the water and leaves your skin feeling really nice, not greasy, just soft! My daughter LOVES this part.
Polysorbate 80 is here to make sure the shea butter actually disperses in the water instead of just floating on top in a slick film. It’s the ingredient that keeps your tub from being a mess.
The essential oils are doing a lot here. Sweet orange is bright and mood-lifting. Cinnamon leaf is warming and has those classic fall aromatics. Nutmeg and ginger round it all out into something that smells exactly like a pumpkin spice latte decided to become a bath product.
Orange mica powder gives the scoops that warm, pretty color.

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DIY Pumpkin Spice Bubble Scoops Recipe

Makes: About 12 scoops if using medium scoop

Ingredients

¾ cup baking soda
½ cup citric acid
¼ cup SLSA
¼ cup shea butter
1 tablespoon polysorbate 80
20 drops sweet orange essential oil
12 drops cinnamon leaf essential oil
8 drops nutmeg essential oil
5 drops ginger essential oil
Orange mica powder (about ½ teaspoon)
Medium scoop

Instructions

Melt the shea butter gently in the microwave or a double boiler until fully liquid. Let it cool slightly so it’s warm but not hot.

In a large bowl, whisk together the baking soda, citric acid, SLSA, and mica powder until fully combined, clump-free, and evenly colored.

In a small separate bowl, combine the essential oils with the polysorbate 80 and stir until evenly mixed.

Hand adding essential oil into a small container of ingredients.

Stir the melted shea butter into the essential oil and polysorbate mixture until well blended.

Slowly drizzle the wet mixture into the dry mix while stirring quickly and constantly. Work fast to keep the fizzing reaction minimal. The mixture should hold together like damp sand when squeezed.

Squeeze a bit in your hand to check the texture. If it’s too crumbly, mix in a few more drops of melted shea butter. If it’s too wet or starts fizzing, add a bit more baking soda and citric acid, same ratio, to balance it out.

Use a small cookie scoop to firmly pack the mixture, pressing hard so each scoop holds its shape when released.

Set the scoops on a parchment-lined tray and let them air dry uncovered for 24 to 48 hours until fully hardened.

Once completely dry and firm, transfer to an airtight container and store somewhere cool and dry.

Notes

Work quickly once the wet ingredients hit the dry mix, since the fizzing reaction starts right away.
Drying time can run closer to 48 hours depending on humidity, so don’t rush packaging until they feel fully hard.
My first batch just fizzed over and over again. I found that putting it straight into the fridge helped stop the fizz reaction!
When I made these, I used a Candy Corn essential oil blend and my kids LOVED it!

How to Use It

Drop one scoop directly under running water as the tub fills. That’s when you’ll get the most bubbles. The fizzing is subtle compared to a traditional bath bomb but it’s there, and the foam that builds up is really satisfying.

I am going to be honest; it is not a ton of bubbles. If you want bubbles, try a bubble bath instead! This gives some fizz but is more like a bath melt and will leave your skin so soft!

One scoop per bath is plenty. These are richer than they look because of the shea butter content.

Store them in an airtight container away from humidity. A bathroom cabinet can actually be too humid, so somewhere in your bedroom or a linen closet is smarter. They’ll keep for about 6 to 8 weeks, but they are usually gone by then in our house!

If you want to swap the scent profile entirely, this base recipe works well with other essential oil combinations too. Lavender and vanilla is a nice one. But honestly the pumpkin spice version is hard to beat in the fall months.

A heads up if your skin is very sensitive: cinnamon leaf essential oil can be irritating for some people at higher concentrations. If that’s a concern for you, reduce it or leave it out and add a few extra drops of sweet orange instead.

This is especially important if using with kids!!

DIY Pumpkin Spice Bubble Scoops

Yield: About 12 scoops

Handmade bath scoops infused with pumpkin spice essential oils that fizz and foam in the tub. They're made with a shea butter base for skin softening and SLSA for bubble-making, and they smell like a fall pumpkin spice latte.

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Ingredients

¾ cup baking soda
½ cup citric acid
¼ cup SLSA
¼ cup shea butter
1 tablespoon polysorbate 80
20 drops sweet orange essential oil
12 drops cinnamon leaf essential oil
8 drops nutmeg essential oil
5 drops ginger essential oil
Orange mica powder (about ½ teaspoon)

Instructions

Melt the shea butter gently in the microwave or a double boiler until fully liquid. Let it cool slightly so it's warm but not hot.
In a large bowl, whisk together the baking soda, citric acid, SLSA, and mica powder until fully combined, clump-free, and evenly colored.
In a small separate bowl, combine the essential oils with the polysorbate 80 and stir until evenly mixed.
Stir the melted shea butter into the essential oil and polysorbate mixture until well blended.
Slowly drizzle the wet mixture into the dry mix while stirring quickly and constantly. Work fast to keep the fizzing reaction minimal. The mixture should hold together like damp sand when squeezed.
Squeeze a bit in your hand to check the texture. If it's too crumbly, mix in a few more drops of melted shea butter. If it's too wet or starts fizzing, add a bit more baking soda and citric acid, same ratio, to balance it out.
Use a small cookie scoop to firmly pack the mixture, pressing hard so each scoop holds its shape when released.
Set the scoops on a parchment-lined tray and let them air dry uncovered for 24 to 48 hours until fully hardened.
Once completely dry and firm, transfer to an airtight container and store somewhere cool and dry.

Notes

Work quickly once the wet ingredients hit the dry mix, since the fizzing reaction starts right away.
Drying time can run closer to 48 hours depending on humidity, so don't rush packaging until they feel fully hard.
My first batch just fizzed over and over again. I found that putting it straight into the fridge helped stop the fizz reaction!
Store in an airtight container away from humidity — a bedroom or linen closet is better than a bathroom cabinet.
They'll keep for about 6 to 8 weeks. If skin is very sensitive, reduce or omit the cinnamon leaf essential oil and add a few extra drops of sweet orange instead.
This base recipe also works well with other essential oil combinations such as lavender and vanilla.

Final Thoughts

These homemade pumpkin spice bubble scoops are one of my favorite fall bath products I’ve made so far! I keep a little jar of them on my bathroom shelf and they make the whole room smell like October every time I open the lid.

My daughter asked if she could have one for her bath and I said yes (she has normal, non-sensitive skin) and she was obsessed with the fizzing and her soft skin afterward. Even my son enjoyed it!

I’m already thinking about gifting these in little kraft boxes tied with twine. Honestly a batch of DIY pumpkin spice bath scoops with a handwritten tag would be such a sweet thing to bring to a fall gathering or tuck into a holiday gift basket.

Next time I might try adding a bit of colloidal oatmeal to the dry mix for extra skin-soothing. We’ll see. If you make these DIY pumpkin spice bubble scoops, I’d love to hear how yours turned out!