Sunday, September 22, 2013

Pintester Movement the 3rd: DIY Shower Soothers

http://pintester.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pintester-movement-500-plain.jpg


Sonja over at Pintester.com has decided it was time for another Pintester Movement!

I love the Pintester Movement because it makes me search the depths of my Pinterest boards for a long-lost project that I've been cyber-hoarding.

So here we go!

You guys, I LOVED Shower Soothers.
They were my favorite "feeling under the weather" tool.
Not only did they smell soooo good and help clear your nasal passages but you used them IN a steaming hot shower.
Sick. Person. Heaven.

But, for stupid reasons unbeknownst to me, the stupid manufacturers stopped making them.
(You can still technically find them on Amazon BUT only the Vanilla Mint kind and that is NOT the right one. Plus, they are ridiculously expensive)

Pinterest to the rescue!

 I found a few different "recipes" for these but this is the one that was on my board already.
It's from www.mrshappyhomemaker.com and here is the original post

It has but 3 ingredients:

1/3 C. Water (check)
1 C. Baking soda (check)
Essential Oils (sorta check)

The instructions say to use Eucalyptus, Lavender and Rosemary oil. 
I had Lavender, and I found Eucalyptus, but I wasn't going to make another stop with a cranky kid just to try and find Rosemary oil.
Sue me.
Also, apparently the Lavender oil is "Calming" and the Eucalyptus is "Exhilarating" so I prepared myself for an emotional roller coaster of a shower.

 It's a pretty basic recipe:

Mix Baking Soda with Water.


Pour into silicone muffin tin.
OK, This is the silicone muffin thingy I have. As you can see, it's not normal muffin size. It's a huge, Big and Tall version of a muffin tin, which is probably why my mom just gave it to me like 7 years ago.
An average size muffin tin (is it still a tin if it's made of silicone?) would probably work better.


Drop in some oils.
So.... I have no idea how much oil I put in each puck... I was busy trying to take pictures at the same time... hmmmm.

Put in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes.
Notice that I even remembered to put the floppy pan on a baking sheet... so smart.

So this is where I expected my house to start smelling like a spa.
But... that's not what happened.
It definitely smelled, but it was more of an "eye-burny, head-achy, over-powering, a eucalyptus forest is obviously burning down" kind of smell.
Did I mention I don't know how many drops of oil I put in those things?
In my defense, the instructions don't specify.

Take them out and let them cool.


Pop them out, drop a little more oil on each puck and store in an airtight container.
Put them in your bathroom for all to behold and wonder what the hell they are.
I should probably put a label on the jar.


Put one on the floor of the shower and breathe in the soothy-ness

Verdict:
  Meh.

I had this right in the shower stream and it lasted long enough for me to take a picture, get in the shower and wet down my hair. Then it was completely gone. So, it smelled good for about 4 minutes. Next time I will put it in the corner on the edge of the tub and see if that works better.

Because my muffin pan was ginormous, I only got 3 thin pucks. I feel like surface area is a pretty big factor in how fast these things dissolve in the shower, which is another reason I think a normal size muffin pan would work better.
Also, I feel the need to tell you all that even after a run through the dishwasher, the silicone muffin pan still smells suspiciously like eucalyptus.


If you're curious which projects I've done for previous Pintester Movements, see them here:
The Pintester Movement: Watermark Tee
The Pintester Movement V 2.0: Arm Knitting

28 comments :

  1. I didn't even know shower soothers existed...where have I been hiding. They sound amazing.

    I wanted to do something similar but for the toilet (toilet bomb) however I didn't have a silicone muffin thing or essential oils. Good to know that the scent lingers on the silicone muffin pan and that you should put a baking sheet under it.

    Have a good day
    Cherin// masterfullyme.com

    BTW - I love the color and background of your blog. I am kind of obsessed.

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    1. Thanks Cherin! I see we have pretty similar taste... and by that I mean we have GOOD taste. Ha! I'm pretty obsessed with Shower Soothers and since my pan already smells I might as well try these again. Maybe I'll find a different recipe.

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  2. Oh man, I had wondered where the shower soothers went--they seemed like a perfect solution to feeling gross! Sorry these didn't turn out as awesome as you'd hoped... there's always next time! I did a recipe for my Pin-test, check it out if you wanna :)

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    1. Thanks Ashley, I think I'm going to give them another go. My jar is already looking pitifully empty with only 2 lonely soothers in it. :)

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  3. Ooh, that one's definitely on my list. Thanks for trying it out!

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  4. Oh wow, I've never even heard of shower soothers before! (Probably a biproduct of living in Australia, but that's beside the point, haha)
    Shame that these didn't turn out quite as well as you hoped, but at least it was an interesting experiment :)

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  5. I so needed these last week!!! I knew there had to be something like this out there!! I wonder if there is a way to make them last longer? Good luck getting the eucalyptus smell out, I'm still having a problem with that from soap making! :)

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    1. I think keeping them out of the direct path of the water will help but I may have to go back to the drawing board :) Thanks for the heads up on your smelly pans, I think I just wont bother trying to get it out. I never use them for food anyway :)

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  6. I wish I knew about shower soothers! May need to try these for the kiddos...

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    1. I may have to find the CEO of Sudacare and force him to produce the real ones again. A 5'3" knitter with a 1 year old and a little fluffy white dog are super imposing and scary. He'll totally give in right?

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  7. I wish I knew about shower soothers! May need to try these for the kiddos...

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  8. I miss those things, they were so good if you got a stuffy nose. I'll have to try it with a tiny muffin pan.

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  9. Ooh ooh! I have to tell you...CVS makes a version of the shower soothers that are still available (as of the last time my husband had a cold) and they don't make any of your kitchen equipment smell horrible.
    http://www.cvs.com/shop/product-detail/CVS-Shower-Reliever-Effervescent-Vapor-Tablets?skuId=415988

    Also, I forced my husband to come into the computer room to read this to him so he could hear what was making me laugh uproariously.

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    1. Sweet! Thanks for the heads up! I'm always looking for replacements. And glad I could give you a couple chuckles. I try to appear all put together and cool, but in real life I'm effing ridiculous.

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  10. I'm sad this didn't work out because you seemed really excited about it and it sounds like an awesome thing to have on hand when you're feeling like crap. On the other hand, I'm kind of obsessed with your current nail decor. Periwinkle sparkles?

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    1. Periwinkle sparkles indeed. I keep my nail tech on her toes with the craziness. ;)

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  11. Wow, looks awesome. I may try this out. Great job.

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  12. ooh I've never heard of this before. Glad it sorta worked!

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  13. I totally would have neglected to put the floppy pan on a baking sheet, so props for that! I'm disappointed it dissolved so quickly, though - I was looking forward to a description of your emotional roller coaster shower.

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    1. Have you ever tried those funny shaped, silicone ice-cube molds? They're a total shit show. That's how I learned that silicone pans need a sturdy base. And I was looking forward to describing a roller-coaster shower, but alas, 4 minutes was not long enough for a thrill-ride rivaling cleanse. Boo...

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  14. Sounds like a helluva lot of effort, when you could just put a few drops in any vessel designed to release the scent of essential oils.

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    1. True story. But that wasn't really the point of the whole thing was it? :)

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  15. I tried those too and the dissolved right away no matter where I out them! It was so disappointing...but they cleared my sinuses while I was making them so at least there was that!

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