Seaweed Baths

As an Island surrounded by the sea we are so fortunate to have an abundance of gifts fro
m nature at our finger tips. And one of these is Seaweed.

I am a lover of the sea but I have one passionate dislike and that is wading through the seaweed, probably the fear of what lurks unseen beneath.

However I do have a love for collecting the seaweed for my bath and I would like to share my pleasure with you so you can feel the benefits for yourself.

The next time you go for that stroll along the beach, pop a bucket in your car and collect some of this beautiful plant to bring home with you.

I'll tell you why.

In winter we lose so many nutrients from our body especially through our skin from things like central heating and just lack of sun on our bodies. 

A simple act of bathing in seaweed is a gentle, pure way to readdress the balance.

One of natures silent gentle gifts nurturing vitality, beauty and equilibrium 



Seaweed is one of natures sponge’s and naturally absorbs it’s nourishment from the sea.

As a result seaweed contains countless minerals, vitamins and beneficial ingredients in high concentrations. In fact no plant known has a comparable quantity of minerals and vitamins.

When seaweed is steamed it produces amazing luxurious oils and as the heat opens your body’s pores and dilate blood vessels these oils are easily absorbed. The hot water increases blood circulation and cell oxygenation which helps dissolve and eliminate toxins from our body. As well as increasing the flow of nutrients absorbed from the seaweed and bringing them to vital organs and tissue.

Simply put, by filtering our body the seaweed acts as a gentle detoxification removing toxins and transferring its nutrients to the body.

I know we can walk in to a shop and pick up a packed of dried seaweed and take it home. I have done this in the past and I've left it sitting on a shelf for weeks before getting round to using it.

But where's the fun in that? nor does it give you the same undiluted pleasure as walking in the sea air, taking in the delights of the shore, filling your bucket or basket, taking it home and preparing your bath. 

What I have learned is that it is in the whole act of gathering  seaweed right through to        making use of it that has the complete effect on the mind and body.

                                                 Let me guide you through the fun part.

The seaweed that I mainly collect is Bladderwack.

I just collect a bucket full because I believe in taking no more than what I need and taking from a renewable source, so I collect it from different parts of the beach. Also it is a good idea to trim the seaweed rather that taking it's roots so it can renew itself.

I then take it home, put the kettle on and while its boiling I wash the seaweed, that rids it of any wee sea things I don't want in the bath. 

 I do this outside with a hose so the sand doesn't block drains and using cold water doesn't waste any precious oils from the seaweed.

Then I relax with my cuppa while the seaweed drains.

There are many books and websites were you can research the many benefits of a seaweed bath but I have kept this free of the clutter of all the science because I want you to do this yourself without getting bogged down in facts and figures.

 There are many fine establishments offering beautiful surroundings and baths but there is a cost to that and I want you to enjoy something that we have freely growing on our shores and enjoy the pure journey from start to finish. 

And when you're finished you can snuggle in front of your own fire or jump into your own bed with out the stress of a long drive undoing all the good that had been done in the baths.

Preparing my seaweed I use the little net bags from Lemons or onions. Working on my table outside (less messy) I tightly pack the net bags with seaweed. 

The reason I use these little net bags are because of my dislike of floating seaweed- that expands to my bath and is not relaxing for me.

Hence the net bags.

For the bath- Indulge yourself.



Light candles,
Put on your favorite music and warm your towels, this is purely about you.

Often with the busy pace of the day we jump quickly in a shower each morning, our mind already racing thorough our day.
We barely take time to check in with our bodies.

A long gentle soak gives us the opportunity to acknowledge those aches and twinges, understand the reason we have them, and recognize how hard we work each day.


This is your time to just let go of worries and cares, regrets or mistakes and just simply be.

Run a hot bath no cold water yet, place in your net bag or bags of seaweed and fill the bath.



Give the seaweed 5-10 min soaking in the bath before you get in, then taking it out is optional ( I have the bucket beside the bath so as not to soak the floor).

You can put in a few drops of essential oil like Bergamot, Lemon or one of your choice if you don't like the scent of the seaweed, though it's not very strong.

Now just lay back and relax...

Your little bags of seaweed can be re-used up to 3 times and when your done spread it round your roses... They'll love you for it as it makes a great fertilizer too.


The most important thing I can share with you from my experience is that it's the complete act that makes this nourish the soul, relax and refresh the mind, and feed the body.

There is nothing complicated to it, just do it simply.