Homemade Oatmeal Bath
Homemade skin care

A homemade oatmeal bath soothes and relaxes your oryour baby’s skin like no other product or natural skin care ingredient outthere. Oatmeal is as pure and honest a natural product as it gets. It has beenin use for as long as (wo)mankind has been treating our itchy or irritated skin

What’s more, during both my pregnancies a homemadeoatmeal bath has been the go-to remedy to soothe my stretched, stressed anditchy skin and relieve my oh so tired back. Even thinking back I want to drawme another oatmeal bath drop myself into it and drift away on soothing pink oatmealclouds and dream of puppies and……hold on, hold on I’m drifting off…

We have the recipe you bring the energy


…and the ingredients plus some kitchen utensils please

I love it so much because it soothes, relaxes and even heals like nothing else. Even until now my kids get treated to a nice oatmeal bath when their itchy skin starts to make them go ape... That could be as a diaper rash treatment or when one of them had chicken pox, when they fall into some poison ivy in the back yard or when bitten by ma mosquito in the summer

For all of us the cold winter winds and dry heat inside are taking their toll on our delicate skin as well. This might start to get boring now, but only a warm milky white homemade oatmeal bath never disappoints us and saves the day (and our dry itchy skin) time and again

Oatmeal bath; what are the skin benefits of oatmeal for me and my kids?

Where to begin on the skin benefits of oatmeal? Oats are simple and down to earth buttheir effect on your skin is complex but always simply heavenly. When used inmasks, scrubs or other homemade skin care recipes, the oats’ main activity isthat they absorb and remove surface dirt and impurities, cleanse your poresdeeply, scrub or gently exfoliate. However in oatmeal baths their focus shiftsto relaxation, hydration and softening of your skin (and lighting up your soulfor that matter…)

Most of the time we use colloidal oatmeal for ahomemade oatmeal bath and other skin care recipes. Because technically itprotects and keeps moisture inside your skin, it is gifted with antioxidant andanti-inflammatory activity, some of its components are strong ultra violetabsorbers and they cleanse

In short, “…their many functional properties makecolloidal oatmeal a cleanser, moisturizer, buffer, as well as a soothing and protectiveanti-inflammatory agent.” (US National Library of Medicine) Your honor, I restmy case…

 Oatmeal Super Power

Doctors agree with the mom’s and basically all of us on the super power of a colloidal oatmeal bath and often prescribe it for many itchy skin conditions

Most commonly a homemade oatmeal bath is used for:

• Itching; itchy skin (Pruritus)
• Dry skin
• Rashes
• Diaper rash
• Chicken pox
• Poison ivy, oak and sumac
• Mosquito and other insect bites
• Eczema
• Psoriasis
• Acne
• Windburn
• Sunburn
• Razor burns
• Shingles

Although these oatmeal bath recipes can be very helpful, keep in mind that serious rashes or sunburns need the attention of your doctor

What is colloidal oatmeal?

According to the dictionary (Merriam Webster) colloidal means: …Are you ready?

“…a substance that consists of particles dispersed throughout another substance which are too small for resolution with an ordinary light microscope but are incapable of passing through a semipermeable membrane”

SAY WHAT? How on earth does this translate to good ol’ granny’s oatmeal?

In “you and me” language it means: oats ground into an extremely fine powder. Full stop... When you add it to water, e.g. for an oatmeal bath, it creates a milky substance. The reason for this is that colloidal oatmeal doesn’t dissolve nor settle in water. Ahaaa, got it...

Now we know, let's get to the oatmeal bath recipes

Homemade skin care
Homemade Oatmeal Bath recipes

When you use these homemade oatmeal bath recipes totreat yourself or your family members you can of course buy the commercialcolloidal oatmeal. I love it, it’s heaven but quite often a pricy heaven whenit is so simple to make it by yourself for just a fraction of that price…thedifference I then spend on spoiling myself, my husband and our little rascals in other more meaningful ways ;-)

How to make the best oatmeal yourself

All you have to do is take some old-fashioned large flake oats (these work best) but 100% natural unflavored oatmeal will also do. Grind it in a blender, food processor or coffee grinder until you have a very fine consistent powder, almost like dust. To test if the oatmeal is fine enough take a tablespoon of it and stir it in a glass of lukewarm water

The oatmeal should easily absorb the water and you should get a milky white liquid that feels nice and silky, this means you’re done. If however you see a lot of sediment on the bottom of the glass you’ve still got some grinding to do. When you’re done you can sift the colloidal oatmeal to get a more even powder

Now you’re ready for the oatmeal bath recipes, I’ll start with the basic one and work my way up the difficulty ladder

It's now official home spa pampering time! Gather the ingredients, invite some friends over, turn off your phone, turn on your favorite music, pour that drink you love, shift your mind to the good things in life, put on a smile and most importantly:

Think positive, happy thoughts and relax...


this is actually half the secret of these recipes!

Enjoy and have FUN!

Homemade skin care                                         

Very Basic Homemade Oatmeal Bath

What do youneed:

• A bath ;-)
• 1-2 cups of yourfinest home ground oatmeal

How to do it:

Start pouring a lukewarm bath (NO hot water, thiswill further inflame and harass your skin and more importantly it will absorbmoisture from your skin rather than giving it back!) in the meantime sprinklethe oatmeal in the rising water and stir it every now and then to get evendistribution. If you feel clumps break them up

If the bath is for a child, adjust the amount ofoatmeal to the amount of water

Carefully get into the bath, or carefully assist yourchild when getting in because the oatmeal makes the bath extra slippery

Soak in the tub for 15-20 minutes, let it heal,soothe, relax, calm your nerves, make you drift away to oatmeal bath heaven

Pat yourself dry with a soft towel; rubbing will domore harm than good

If you feel a bit sticky after the bath rinseyourself with some lukewarm water before patting yourself dry

Use this bath once or twicea day (more frequently if your doctor advises so)

See that’show easy it is!

I could make you doan indigenous “soothe my skin” dance but that would be just for the sake ofmaking things seem more complicated than they are; it would make the day morefun though… so dance!

Tip: If you've got dry skin, you might as well try our face mask for dry skin recipes

Homemade skin care                                          

Homemade Milk & Oatmeal Bath

A homemade oatmeal bath with added whole milk especiallyhelpful for relieving dry skin

What do youneed:

How to do it:

Pour a lukewarm bath and in the meantime add theoatmeal and milk while gently stirring

Soak in it for 15-20 minutes

Pat yourself dry and seal the deal with a goodmoisturizer. You might want to try one of our fantastic homemade moisturizers; it’s worth the try!

Tip: If you want a more concentrated milk andoatmeal bath, try 1 cup of powdered milk (instead of the whole milk) and 2 cupsof oatmeal

Homemade skin care                                           

Homemade Oatmeal Bath with Lavender & Chamomile

A very fragrant and helpful oatmeal bath. Chamomile and lavender help reduce dryness, itching and inflammation. Useful to battle psoriasis, eczema and acne

What do you need:

• 1 cup oatmeal
• 5 tablespoons dried Chamomile flowers
• 5 tablespoons dried Lavender

How to do it:

Pour a lukewarm bath and in the meantime add the oatmeal, chamomile and lavender while gently stirring

Soak in it for 15-20 minutes

Pat yourself dry and moisturize using one of our moisturizer recipes

Homemade skin care                                      

Homemade Oatmeal Bath with Milk, Honey, Mint & Aloe Vera

Especially helpful when you or your kids suffer fromsunburned skin

What do youneed:

• 1 cup oatmeal
• 2 tablespoonsHoney (dark organic is the best)
• 3 tablespoonsAloe Vera (gel is good but fresh is best)
• 4 tablespoons (Butter)Milk powder
• 3 tablespoonsdried Mint

How to doit:

Pour a lukewarm bath and in the meantime warm up thehoney in the microwave until it is nice and runny. Add the oatmeal, honey, (butter)milk powder, aloe vera and mint to the rising water while gently stirring

Soak in it for 20-25 minutes

Rinse off with lukewarm or cold water and patyourself dry with a soft towel

Tip: After this soothing bath apply fresh aloe vera tothe sunburned skin it will help soothe even more and for crying out loud put onsunscreen next time you go out in the sun!... yes mom....

Homemade skin care                                      

Homemade Oatmeal Bath with Olive oil, Lavender, Grape seed & Vitamin E oil

This is a slightly different take on the regular oatmeal bath, which uses whole oats, but it is equally relaxing and soothing

What do you need:

• 2-3 cups Whole large flake Oats (not oatmeal this time)
• 3 tablespoons Extra virgin Olive oil
• 4 drops Lavender essential oil
• 10 drops Grape seed oil
• 5 drops vitamin E oil
• 1 panty hose or muslin bag or cheese cloth

How to do it:

First mix the oils in a bowl and let them blend for a few hours

Add this mix to the whole oats and gently stir until the oats are evenly covered in the oil mix

In the meantime draw a warm bath

Pour the oil-covered oats in a panty hose or muslin bag and tie off the end. Drop this in the warm bath and swirl it around a bit. Slip into the bath and soak for 20-25 minutes

You can gently rub the bag over your skin covering it with the pasty substance of the oat and oil mixture

Rinse with lukewarm water and pat your skin dry with a soft towel

Do not reuse the pantyhose

Some words of Caution

A lot of fruits contain citric acid. Lemon, lime and orange (juice) in specific. When you use them in a skin treatment always be careful with how much you use. Too much can cause acid burns. Also if you have sensitive skin be extra aware with these ingredients

Same goes for all essential oils, this is really powerful stuff; be very careful what and how much you use

Because you can never be too careful when it comes to your skin, always do a patch test on a small piece of skin (e.g. behind the ear) to see how your skin reacts to separate ingredients

Do you have dry skin, or just looking for more homemade skin care recipes?

Why stop at a homemade oatmeal bath? Try out some of our other natural homemade cosmetics, like lotions, scrubs, creams, more facial masks and much more, follow one of the links below to some of our other homemade skin care pages and make your spa days even sweeter:

Home remedies for dry skin

Natural Beauty, homemade skin care recipes

Homemade facial mask recipes

...and always remember you're already gifted with the

most effective natural solution available:

And in case that doesn't help, you can find one here at
Natural-Homeremedies-For-Life.com

Go from Homemade oatmeal bath to our Natural Beauty page

Go from oatmeal bath recipes to our facial mask recipes

For more info on colloidal oatmeal

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17373175