Written by Beth
The thing I love most about being on a natural health journey is that after you acquire the ingredients you need, you soon find you always have something useful for any situation. The more you research herbs and learn what ingredients do for the body, the more you can connect the dots — and sometimes come up with something different.
I’ve been making homemade decongestant shower disks for a long time. You can google it and get dozens of recipes. Then I thought, what else can I do with this? My answer was …well, a lot!
The best part about this recipe is it’s customizable. If you read our blog, Kid-Safe Essential Oils for Congestion, you can easily use any combination of the essential oils mentioned there. Pair your shower steamer with a relieving homemade herbal sinus rinse, and you’ll return to normal in no time.
Decongestant Shower Steamer
Ingredients:
- Baking soda
- Water
- Cupcake pan (or another pan/mold of choice)
- 15-20 drops of rosemary essential oil
- 15-20 drops of lavender essential oil
- 15-20 drops of eucalyptus essential oil
Directions:
Step 1: Add baking soda to a bowl.
Step 2: Slowly add water until you get a paste. You don’t want it to be too runny because your disks take longer to dry (and are more likely to crumble).
Step 3: Add the essential oils and mix well.
Step 4: Press your mixture into your mold or pan. You can use a liner if you want to easily remove them from a muffin pan.
Step 5: Let them sit out to dry for around 24 hours or bake them at bake at 350ºF for 20 minutes or so.
And there you have it! The far less pretty but still totally useful bath disk…um..ball.
Store in an airtight container. When you’re ready to use one, pop a disk in the bottom of the shower or on the ledge (I’ve found they work just as well but last longer there).
Other Ways to Use Shower Steamers
So, here’s the fun part. Remember when I said, “Then I thought, what else can I do with this?” And my answer was …well, a lot!” Well, just because I use these disks for decongestant purposes doesn’t mean I can’t use the main idea for something else. Here are some other ways to use shower steamers:
- In need of some relaxation but don’t have time for a bath? Add a lavender and clary sage disk to your shower!
- You could add lemon to your disk if you wanted a clean, uplifting smell.
- Add rosemary and orange for a pick-me-up.
The possibilities are endless, especially when you understand essential oil safety. Learn more about essential oil safety in our blogs How to Safely Use Essential Oils with Children and Practicing Essential Oil Safety While Breastfeeding.
Hi!
I have tried countless recipes for these discs and every one that I have tried has resulted in a blob of white stuff that solidifies well, until it hits the shower and then it disappears in less than 30 seconds and has NO decongestant type qualities to it. Any suggestions?
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How much baking soda to start with, thanks!
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