How to use a shower steamer so the scent lasts the whole shower

A shower steamer is a small fizzing tablet that turns warm water into scented air. Here is where to put it, when to start, and how to keep the rest of the box dry.

What the tablet actually is

A shower steamer is mostly baking soda and citric acid, pressed together with a little binder and scented with essential oils such as eucalyptus, lavender or peppermint. Dry, the two powders sit quietly. Add water and they react, giving off carbon dioxide bubbles that carry the oils into the air. That is the whole trick, and it explains every step below.

Setting it up

1. Choose your spot before you turn the water on. Water should reach the tablet as splash and mist, not as a direct jet. A tub corner, a ledge or a low stool just outside the stream all work.
2. Keep it off the floor you stand on. A wet tablet gets slick and crumbly, and nobody wants to step on one at six in the morning. Keep it clear of the drain too, since it will wash away before it does anything.
3. Close the bathroom door. A small room holds steam, and steam holds scent. Open a window a crack only if the room feels stuffy.
4. Run the water warm and let the room fill for a minute, then set the tablet down. Hot water makes it fizz faster and fade sooner, so a slightly cooler setting stretches it out.
5. Step in and let the splash do the work. Depending on the size of the tablet, the fizzing runs from a few minutes to around a quarter of an hour.

Afterward and between uses

What is left is a little soft baking soda paste. Rinse it down the drain with the shower and you are done.

The real enemy of the rest of the box is humidity. Keep unused tablets in their wrapper or in a lidded jar, on a shelf away from the tub, not beside it. If one goes chalky and stops fizzing, damp air got to it.

Two cautions. Essential oils are strong, so keep the tablet and its steam away from your eyes, and skip them if a scent has ever bothered you or if you are pregnant and unsure about a particular oil. And which scent is right is purely a matter of taste. Peppermint and eucalyptus read sharp and bright, lavender reads soft, and nothing about measurement will settle that for you. Pick the one you like to walk into.