Homemade {Baking Soda Free} Deodorant
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
(antiperspirant properties)
)
, 
, 
, and/or 
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)
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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Love your site! I am wearing your fabulous deodorant right now! It feels great and smells great but it’s not really working for me, (I’m on my second day). Did you or anyone notice that it took a while to work, like a detox period maybe? Thanks!
ive used baking soda deodorant for two years. Turns out, I’ve been sensitive to the soda all along, always had rashes and itching. Recently the burning got so bad, I *gulp* went back to using regular antiperspirant. I hate using that stuff, and my pits always stink by mid day. I’m so excited to have found this recipe. I’ve made two little jars, so I can have one at work in case I need a bit of help later. I’ve got some on now and so far, no burning!
It’s interesting…my armpits had a reaction to the baking soda version after about 2 months of use, too. I have a suspicion it had to do with some settling after mixing. I noticed toward the end of my jar, it got a little more gritty feeling. I didn’t think anything of it until I got home from an especially sweaty day and my armpits were on fire and I couldn’t stop scratching them! It’s been 3 days without use and they’re still red but not as itchy or burning. Can’t wait to try this.
So glad to have found this recipe. I will definetely replace my old deodorant with this one. The baking soda gave me a rash/burn on my armpits a few weeks into using it, as well as making them darker.
Love this! Accidentally dropped my first batch that was in a glass container. This batch I will be much more careful with. Side note my mixture isn’t White like shown in your photo its a tad greyish. Did I do something wrong?
I was using Toms deodorant for years… it’s okay but I now use purebodyscent because of the reviews I read. I can honestly say this is the best deodorant I have ever used. They have a large selection of scents. I did a 3 day road trip, applied the deodorant once before I left and after day three I never had any odor… matter of fact, I could still smell the deodorant.
Have you considered selling this here or via an Etsy store? Would love to try it without buying the ingredients in bulk and would gladly buy from you!
I started using natural deodorant bought from a local vendor. I didn’t have an odor or anything but I noticed my armpits became black and really sore. I think she used a lot of baking soda…so I have discontinued use for the last week. I will make my own without the baking soda and I pray my pits get better soon. Thanks for the recipe baking soda free.
Hey Amy, we featured your deodorant article here: http://www.naturalandhealthyliving.com/top-10-homemade-diy-natural-deodorants/ and sent you an email too!
Has anyone had any success adding beeswax to this to make a solid? I am getting ready to attempt to make today but would prefer a solid. On the hunt locally for arrowroot powder right now. Over the past month I have managed to get rid of all store bought products in beauty and cleaning and loving it. Wasn’t quite ready to give up my not so natural deodorant but after reading this I am sure going to try!!!
Hello Stephanie. I just read your comment and I must say I would LOVE to know how you did it. How DID you get rid of all store bought beauty products? I have been able to purge toxic cleaning products but I hesitate to tackle the makeup drawer. How did you do it? ?
Stephanie, did you give it a try with beeswax? i would like to try it too and would love to here your excperience! 🙂
I just made this at 8:00 am in the morning and can’t wait to use it. This is a very easy recipe and I’m trying to get away from all the store bought stuff and this seemed like a good place to start…:) Thanks for the recipe I can’t wait to see how it works for me….
Hi Amy! Thanks so much for posting this. I’m glad to see others have also been recently commenting. I also have had the same issues with the rash/darkened skin from the baking soda. I ended up switching back to a brand I won’t call out here but that is aluminum-free but still has tricolsan (which I really don’t want hanging out on my body all day). I’ve been searching for a natural alternative for years and been mostly through ones the just don’t work or that irritate my skin and am currently using one that’s basically a compromise in my eyes (I feel unhappy about it every time I apply).
Anyway, I’m so looking forward to trying this! I see that the tea tree oil and the lavender are antibacterial, but I’m wondering if the second list of oils have any properties that make them necessary ingredients or if I can sub them for any other combos? I’m actually considering doing mostly lavender and a little tea tree since those are the only two I currently have. Thanks again!! – Lauren 🙂
Just an update, I made this with lavender and tea tree oils. It worked pretty well the first week, just had to re-apply about once halfway through the day and usually do with all deodorant. It then ended up not working so well come the second week. 🙁 I used for about two and a half weeks total until I had to try something else because I was smelling real funky. I read about magnesium oil being a good deodorant so I added a tablespoon of that to my about halfway done jar, worked a little better but not completely. Tried adding another tablespoon today and it ended up turning into something similar to gritty Play-Do- woops! Haha, oh man, trying to find a natural deodorant suited for you is really a venture. While I think this is an awesome recipe, I’m sad to say it just hasn’t worked for my body (and please note I smell, like, a lot). Will definitely be trying again with ingredients from this recipe and the magnesium oil in different quantities- big thank you again for this post!!
Hello, What size jars do you use to store your deodorant and where did you get them? Thank you!
I just made this recepe and am realy exciting to find out if it works. The only thing I was wondering, is: don’t your clothes become oily from this deodorant?
I dumped my commercial deodorant in the trash after a long afternoon conversation with a friend on the terrors of commercial deodorant ingredients. I had speculations quitting cold turkey, so decided to do a 2 week detox with Apple Cider Vinegar. I simply took a tablespoon of ACV with two tablespoons water and mix together. Applied on morning and night for the first few days, currently I’m nearing the end of my 2 week detox but I might make it three just because. I made a batch of this deodorant though and am using it between detox periods (when I need to go out, etc.) and it’s been working great!!! I do notice like a fellow commenter said that (you don’t feel as dry) but I have my days. Sometimes I feel totally dry and other days I don’t. BUT! No more sweat stains or overly sweaty pits hurray!!! Great recipe without the baking soda! I plan to make my own sunscreen eventually too! Thank you!
Oh my goodness, I have had exactly the same thing! I used mine for 2 years and then last year I developed a fungal infection under my arms. It took me until now, stranded for 3 days inside the house and not using deodorant for it to clear up. I use apple cider vinegar to clean and nothing worked. Now I realise all of a sudden it was the bicarb. Didn’t realise because it worked fantastically for me so far which is such a shame I can;t use it anymore. Thank goodness I can replace it with cornstarch and add in more tea tree. Coconut oil alone doesn’t work for me
Thank you for posting this. I have been using natural/organic deodorant for about a month and half and it does have baking soda. My under arms turned really dark and the creases are red. What should I do to help them heal? The deodorant I use works well, the only downside is the darkness and rash.
Sorry Lipsia. It take some time for them to heal. You can put a little plain shea butter and vitamin e to help them heal
Just wondering what kind of essential oils you are using. 40 drops of tea tree oil sounds like a ton? Some oils are more pure than others ….
Thanks!
Hey Christine. I was using Aura Cacia for a long time because that’s whats available at our local co op. But I’m switching to a better essential oil like plant therapy.
I too have had the bad peeling rash. My genius husband says the alkalinity of the baking soda is too strong for our bodies so we balanced it our with ascorbic acid or vitamin c. I just added some to my mix and my rashes don’t happen any more.
Wow that’s a great tip Tracy! Thanks for sharing!!!