Dr Teal’s bath salts are so good I’ve just ordered some more. Which might sound like a bit of a non-statement (if you like something then why on earth wouldn’t you order more?) but when you have a whole shelfload of things waiting to be tested – bottles of bath oils and tubes of body unguents and great big glass pots of epsom salts – it’s a special kind of product that makes you ignore the queue and part with hard cash.
Not that the Dr Teal’s is expensive, I hasten to add – a large 3lbs bag of Dr Teal’s Soaking Solution has just set me back £7.99 on Amazon*. With free Prime delivery. I’d actually be tempted to set up one of those repeat orders where they send stuff to you every month, but there’s no option for it. Probably a good idea anyway, considering that I never get my repeat orders right in terms of quantity or frequency; I currently have no cat food, no cat litter but 24 kilos of dried dog food and 62,000 packs of pull-up nappy pants.
(For Ted, not me.) (Though with my pelvic floor those days can’t be far away.)
So yeah, Dr Teal’s Pure Epsom Salt Soaking Solution: I can’t imagine anything overtaking it on the bath salts front any time soon. These particular salts have given me the best nights’ sleep I’ve had in years. Uninterrupted, deep, weird-dream sort of sleep that nothing can shake me from. Dr Teal’s, they knock me right out.
Admittedly that’s not ideal when you have a three year old and a two year old, but I only “take the salts” when there’s another responsible adult around. Namely Mr AMR, who actually also “takes the salts” because he inevitably gets into the bath after me, but he is immune to all and any sleep-inducing concoctions, including bath salts, Benilyn Original and the nighttime Night Nurse capsule which is, as we all know, laced with some sort of sleep magic.
So Mr AMR is unaffected by Dr Teal’s Soaking Solution, but let’s ignore him because he’s obviously harder to fell than an Ox; I, on the other hand, am sent into the deepest possible slumber. Someone could dismantle my house around me, brick by brick, move me to a different hamlet/village/town and rebuild the house and I would be none the wiser. You could shrink me down and put me inside a boom box and I probably wouldn’t even murmur. You know those stupid videos where people blow a foghorn down a sleeping person’s ear? Wouldn’t wake me. A huge handful of salts in the bath just before bedtime and I am completely lost to all earthly communications and sensations.
Buy Dr Teal’s Soaking Solution here*
The salts I’ve been trying are the Dr Teal’s Detoxify & Energize with Ginger & Clay. In all honesty, I don’t know how much effect the addition of Ginger & Clay has (perfume is listed higher on the ingredients list than clay is), but I don’t really care; ten minutes basking in Dr Teal’s solution (sounds dodgy) and I’m out for the count.
I’m no stranger to the joy of the Epsom Salt, by the way – it has always had a knockout effect on me – and you can get them relatively cheaply on the internet in huge quantities. At around twenty quid for ten kilos (it comes in huge buckets) the plain, slightly industrial-looking tubs of salts are dozens of times cheaper than anything branded or laced with oils and perfumes and – er – clay.
(You can get 20 kilos of epsom salts for £20 on Amazon* here…)
Dr Teal’s salts aren’t as plain (or as cheap) as those, but I rather like the hint of oil and the bit of fragrance. You could of course use the cheaper, unadulterated salts and then add a few drops of really great quality bath oil (I can highly recommend anything from Aromatherapy Associates, especially the Deep Relax Oil) but most of the time that’s one step too many for me. I can barely remember to take my clothes off before stepping into the water let alone concoct my own bath treatment. (Although that may have to be my next post: a how-to on the most cost-efficient, luxury bath soak.)
The particular fragrance of Dr Teal’s Detoxify & Energise (with Ginger & Clay, don’t forget!) is what I like to describe as “well-groomed man of a certain age”. If you’re a fan of the BBC drama Line Of Duty then you can use Superintendent Ted Hastings as your reference here. I just like the idea that he smells clean, slightly musky, a hint of shaving cream – he’s a man who’s a pro at shaving and still has all of his own teeth. Probably.
So for a knockout sleep, try this: a whole huge mugful of the Dr Teal’s salts into a warm bath (yes, you put loads in, that’s the beauty of them being relatively cheap) and then a nice soak before getting straight into bed. No iPhone, no television, no laptop in between bath and bed – just dry yourself off and then hop directly between the sheets. (Or betwixt sheet and duvet. Does anyone use a flat sheet as well as a fitted anymore? I started off with good intentions, when I first left home, but soon realised that it was one more thing to have to change on laundry day…)
You can find the Dr Teal’s Soaking Solution here* – there’s also a lavender one, which must send people into the sort of deep sleep that to come around from requires a gong and some car jump leads. It has a three month wait on delivery for that, perhaps because the people at the factory and the van drivers are all snoozing…
Delightful post. What a glorious solution while we are all on quarantine – sleeping the night away! So appreciate your writing! Always makes me happy !
Sounds like a strong solution! Love ginger though!
I am a fan as well (I use plain or lavender) and it helps achy muscles too.
Ruth – I am a bath lover and I use Dr Teals all the time, the Milk and Honey and Coconut versions are delicious and leave your bathroom smelling great for hours. In the US you can get a foaming bath version and bath bombs. Also I have found a Kniepp shop and their bath stuff is lush too.
To answer your aside yes people (I) still use a flat sheet :) best thing ever when you sleep next to a human version of a radiator, duvet off but still under the covers. Salts already on order!! The way you described the scent was the clincher…..
The flat sheet comment also made me laugh – it’s one thing I noticed staying at friends’ houses in England, was that nobody has flat sheets! Coming from NZ where flat sheets are the norm, it seemed very strange! I use a flat sheet so I don’t have to wash my duvet so often – certainly not every wash day. I curl the top of the flat sheet over the top of my duvet when I’m sleeping. Duvets are too much of a faff to get on and off, I would much rather just change a flat sheet!
Hadn’t even thought of this particular benefit!!
In Australia flat sheets are also the norm. Most of the time it’s way too hot for a duvet so flat sheets are a necessity. Sleeping between crisp cool sheets on a boiling hot night after a long 40 degrees Celsius day is something to look forward to. We’d be cooked alive if we had a duvet on top of us. I find duvets or as we call them Dooners to be such a pain. I detest trying to stuff the duvet back into the cover. It’s a never ending battle I agree with Miss Kitty washing sheets is so much easier than the whole dooner thing.
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Another Australian seconding this. I love a flat sheet and a cotton ‘hospital blanket’ :)
I’ve only just discovered the wonder of bath salts and and plentiful deep sleep. I was given a lavender and orange blossom jar and it was heavenly. I’m ordering these pronto, in for a penny in for 3lbszzzzzzz.
Hahaha!!!! xx
Yes please, I want to soak myself in some Superintendent Ted Hastings salts before bed!
Linda, Libra, Loca: Beauty, Baby and Backpacking
I’m glad someone else shares my fancies… : )
You can buy lavender one in BOots or TK maxx
REALLY?! This is excellent news, thank you – will update. x
Love the sound of these Ruth, but I have to ask, the Detoxify & Energise salts you recommend….aren’t they meant to make you feel ‘energised’, give you more energy etc etc.? I see Amazon have a relaxing version of the salts too. Confused!
You’d think so, but no. Straight. To. Sleep. x
Sounds great, must try it some time.
As a fellow parent obviously this sounds like the stuff of dreams (apologies) and I am 100% on board. My only question is: can you use it on children?
Good question!!!! Dr Google says fine so long as they don’t drink it, but I’d ask your own professional person, or Dr Google + own common sense! : )
They actually have one especially for kids at Walmart. It’s called sleeping Epsom salt foaming bath.