Homemade {Baking Soda Free} Deodorant
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I loved, loved, loved my old homemade deodorant with baking soda and had used it for over two years. One day, I noticed my underarms getting super irritated. Of course, I thought nothing of it and continued on my merry way using it. That was until I started getting a bad and painful rash. Literally, my armpits started peeling… gross! Was that TMI? Sorry.
So, I tried a million things, like: taking a break from the homemade stuff for months, then going back to it, making other recipes with shea butter, and I even tried rubbing apple cider vinegar in my pits (to balance out the alkaline of the baking soda). Nothing worked, and I was super bummed. Then, I saw somewhere about just using essential oils! Perfect! Or so I thought. It helped against smell until I did some serious stress-sweating at work, and I think I could’ve made people faint from my stank. Was that too much TMI again? Luckily, this happened, because it gave me another idea! Why not make a recipe similar to the original, without the baking soda, and with a higher concentration of essential oils?
Homemade {Baking Soda Free} Deodorant
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup arrowroot powder (like this one)or cornstarch (like this one)(antiperspirant properties)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (I use this one)
- 10-20 drops of tea tree (like this one) and/or lavender essential oil (like this one) (antibacterial, anti fungal)
- 10 drops of one, or a combination of lemon, orange, peppermint, and/or frankincense
Side note: You could probably use another kind of oil or butter in place of coconut. I have not personally tried it, though.
Also, you can totally half this recipe!
If you need stronger protection, you can use 1/4 cup arrowroot powder and 1/4 cup bentonite clay (like this one) or diatomaceous earth (like this one)
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Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together and place in a jar (these are my favorite). It is easier to mix when the coconut oil is slightly melted.
To Use: Apply a small amount with hands. If you use peppermint, wash your hands after you apply, because if you touch your face, it will have a cool, tingling feeling for awhile. Not that I learned this from experience or anything… Ha.
I have been using this for about two weeks now and love it! No burning or rashes! Yay! Plus, it handles my stink way better than just the essential oils! Just so you know, there are a ton of people who can use the original recipe without any issues. Some of us, on the other hand, cannot – probably due to the alkaline property in the deodorant.
Have you had issues with homemade deodorant with baking soda in the past? What have you found that has helped?
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Same happened to me! I used it for years with no problem. Now it gets sore every time. I also experimented with just leaving out the baking soda, but it’s not nearly as effective. So here’s what I do. When I wash in the mornjng, I use some of the baking soda recipe to completely deodorise, leave it for a minute and rinse it off. Then I use the soda-free recipe. Sometimes I have to wash and reapply during the day. If it’s an important day and don’t want to risk smelling, I dab some Vaseline into the crease of my armpits and then apply the baking soda recipe. That seems to do the trick, as long as I rinse it off as soon as I get home.
I’m really bummed that it started making me sore because it’s just so brilliant! Healthier, plastic-free, no horrible synthetic fragrance, and a fraction of the cost!
Wow! That is a good idea. I should try that. After about 8 years of not being able to use baking soda deodorant I have been able to use it again. Another thing I did when I couldn’t use baking soda was detox my armpits like once a week. I have a recipe on the blog. It worked wonders for the stank lol.
Coconut oil clogs pores and gives myself and a number of folks I know hives. Have a substitute for this?
Tallow? You would want another oil that is solid at room temperature. You could also use a liquid oil and then add beeswax.
Oh my gosh I had this same problem except it only started after I had been using it for 6 months or more! I had the same thought, I just tried to power through until it became painful.. I’ve never seen anyone else write about it so I thought it was just me! I wonder if you could even just decrease the baking soda instead of removing it completely. I am a VERY sweaty person so I don’t know that I could go without it completely… Im going to have to do some testing!
I could not! I tried and tried. Had to go to no baking soda for years. I tried baking soda again every few years and finally this year (like 10 years later) I could use baking soda deodorant again. I feel ya! I’m super sweaty too.
Printing this out to make for later.
I’ll have to try this version out.
Hope it works for you!
Sorry but this did not work for me at all. I stunk to high heaven by the end of the day and I had to wash my bra’s every other day to get rid of the BO smell. Tried a baking soda/shea butter version and it worked much better for me!
I wonder if mango butter would also be a great substitute because it’s a little bit more firmer than Shea.
I live in India. I made a similar deodorant (just altered the essential oils), while it worked very well, it started smelling rancid soon after a month or so. Any idea why?
I tried the baking soda recipe and it worked great a few days but then the rash. I’ve been using the above recipe without the Baking Soda and its fine but doesnt get rid of all the smell on long days at work. I wonder what causes the irritation, the alkalinity of the baking soda or the grainy gritty texture on the skin. Also I wonder if adding a little vinegar to the original baking soda recipe would help by balancing the ph. Just thinking.
I know the thread has been going on for a few years but I just discover.
The baking soda can mess up the ph in your armpits. You could try adding diatomaceous earth as it can help reduce armpit stink.
I make a roll on with FCO and Rosemary, Teatree and Lemongrass.