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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I’ve definitely had problems with any deodorant, homemade or not, that has baking soda in it. My first experience was with Crystal Roll-On Deodorant, which has sodium bicarbonate (more commonly known as baking soda). At the time, I thought it was something else in the Crystal that was making me break out, so I tried making a coconut oil and baking soda deodorant. God, I didn’t stink the next morning, but my underarms had these weird bumps. Ever since I switched to using Crystal’s rock deodorant, I haven’t had any problems. No breakouts, nothing. But I want something for a little sweat protection and to hydrate my underarms, so this recipe may work great for me.
🤣 dying at all the ladies who get hubby to smell armpits!! I do the same thing!! Bless our sweet guys!
Thank you for this recipe. I too have irritation from the baking soda. Tried cutting the amount of baking soda in half, no go. Tried the ACV trick, still red and rashy. I will try this recipe next!!
Just made your deodorant because like many posters the baking soda started to irritate my armpits. I waited a couple of weeks before posting and have to say it is just as effective without the baking soda. Thank you. I add a few sprays of perfume which someone gave me that smells of roses. It is a delightful mixture of the tea tree oil and the roses. I love the no chemicals.
Dinah
Woo hoo! That makes me so happy. Glad you love it
Thanks for this recipe. The recipe I tried first was with arrowroot and baking soda and I thought it was the arrowroot staining and burning my armpit. So I tried it with organic cornstarch and still got the staining and burn rash, so it must be the baking soda. So I’m trying this out with cornstarch. I did half and half coconut oil and shea butter. Shea butter has a higher melt point than coconut oil and I believe it will be solid or semi solid at higher temps. Pray that it works for me! I’m sick of commercial deodorants and how it makes your pits feel.
Oh I hope it works for you Debra. I know all to well what you went through. I think that mixing shea butter and coconut oil should work and will stay hard as long as it stays cold. Or else you can just apply it by hand.
I have done the detox and it works well…I can not use Baking soda in mine as well…I also put mine in the fridge during the hot days…
How to Detox Your Arm Pits
Don’t you love when something is so easy that it almost doesn’t need instructions?
You might already have the ingredients on hand. You’ll just need bentonite clay, apple cider vinegar and water.
Ingredients
•1 tablespoon bentonite clay
•1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
•1-2 teaspoons of water (to get right consistency)
Instructions
1.Mix all of the ingredients in a glass bowl (do not use metal!) with a wooden or non-metal spoon until about the consistency of sour cream.
2.Spread in an even layer over the armpits and allow to sit for 5-20 minutes. I suggest starting slowly and working up to a longer period of time once you see how your body adjust. If it hurts at all, remove immediately.
3.This may cause some redness as it will increase blood-flow to the area, but it will go away quickly.
4.Wash off in the shower or with a warm, wet washcloth.
5.Repeat daily or as needed until under-arm odor goes away and natural deodorant is non-irritating.
Notes
I’ve found that I don’t even need the baking soda in my natural deodorant after doing this.
Additional Things to Try
If you are still struggling with odor or have itching or lumps in your armpits, consider dry brushing, which is said to help improve lymph circulation.
Also, make sure to drink a lot of water any time you stimulate lymph flow (dry brushing, massage, detox, etc) to help flush the body and avoid getting dehydrated.
I too had it happen to me one day where my armpits reacted pretty badly to my homemade deodorant. This was after I first tried adding tea tree oil so I thought that was it, but seems like it was the baking soda after all. I can’t wait to try this recipe!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
I hope it works for you! I will be making an even stronger baking soda free deodorant that will be up on the blog shortly.
anyone ever do a arm pit detox ?
I haven’t & wondered how to do it & if you felt it helped with the oder ?
I had the same thing happen to me after using a homemade deodorant. But I was fine for almost 3 years. I took a break and tried it again to have the rash flare up so quick. But I had the rash with pealing skin AND large lumps that were red and painful. So I am in pursuit of something that works and does not have Baking Soda in it. I am now talking with a friend and she recommended DE in place of Baking Soda. Thanks for what you do!
Is this solid enough I could it An empty deodorant container?
Hey Melissa. It should be if you keep it in the fridge. The coconut oil will melt if it gets to warm.
hey from Argentina! this is a wonderfull blog! thank you! I have a question, what is the function of the lemon/orange essencial oil? does it have one? o is just used for the smell of the desodorant?
Hey Mary. Thank you. It is really just for the lovely citrus smell.
I omitted the baking soda, but still had a rash… so I dropped the essential oil… no more rash 🙂
how long does the recepie usually last?
I am so excited about this. Where I live it is very hard to get baking soda and have been wanting to try to make my own deodorant, as it is also hard to find deodorants, and definitely no natural ones. I really appreciate this. Where I am it is always hot, so my coconut oil is always liquid – I tried using more cornstarch and less oil so that it wouldn’t be runny. Hope it works!! Very excited about this! Thank you!!
That is so interesting that you can’t find baking soda by you. It is everywhere here. Even if your oil is running it should work. Just make sure to mix it up before applying
beeswax would make it more solid .
Hi everyone!
Does the coccnut oil stain clothes with this recipe?
Finally made this deodorant and can’t wait to try and see results. My daughter had the same reaction with the baking soda and I just made a batch just like this recipe and made another container and added a tablespoon of beeswax to harden it up a bit more. THANK YOU for posting and look forward to emails
Hi, just saw this post here in pinterest, i am just asking if you’re still using this at the moment? and how is it working until now, does it help? coz i am about to do a feasibility study and i am thinking this as one of my option, ty
Does the lemon have to be in oil or can it be just natural lemon? Where can I get the lavender oil? I got Sweet Pea & Jasmine oil but I didn’t realize it is for warming. It contains essential oil but it does warn it is skin irritant 🙁
Be careful if using lemon or orange essential oils in your deodorant you should avoid sunlight or UV rays for at least 12 hrs after applying it. They also may be irritant to some sensitive skins.
Does this take a few days to adjust to? I feel like it was working a little bit but does my body need to get used to it for it to work properly?
Thank you for this recipe, I will definitely try it. I made a recipe using the bicarbonate of Soda aka baking soda and it burned my arm pits. I am looking forward to testing this recipe and finding out if it will work.
I made a batch of this deodorant tonight. I too can’t take the baking soda. It looks bad and then itches, oooohhhh the itching was bad. Anyway. I knew I needed something else so I searched Pinterest and found this recipe. So glad to find something that can be used on the skin and hair.:-)