Natural Personal Care Products: Deodorant

You won’t get any clue to the identity of this white powder by looking at its container...

…because that is just a repurposed salsa jar.



In this little jar happens to be one of the hardest-working, multi-tasking-est things in our house....



Baking Soda.


Bicarbonate of soda, if you want to get technical.

We use this stuff for all kinds of purposes here at our house…but for today, let me introduce you to…my deodorant.


Why don’t I use store-bought stuff anymore?

In a word: chemicals. The aluminum in store-bought deodorant has been linked to breast cancer. It has also been linked to alzheimers.  Some people may poo-poo these ideas…but me?   I prefer to play it safe.


I also prefer to spend less money, rather than more. And making my own deodorant is cheaper than store-bought any day.


I began my foray into homemade deodorant several years ago now…after seeing this post on a favorite homescooling-mom-of-many’s site. I used this recipe for quite a while and liked it just fine.

Then I came across this post from Keeper of the Home, and liked the idea of being able to refill an old deodorant bottle and smooth it on that way.

Again, I used this for quite a while and liked the results.


The problem? I’m lazy. Total slacker.

So when my last deodorant bottle ran out (months ago now), I resorted to grabbing this jar of baking soda from my bathroom cabinet where I always keep some (because I use this stuff for lots of things).

At first I thought, “I’ll just use this until I make another batch of deodorant.”

But then days turned into weeks. And then weeks turned into months…and I finally admitted to myself that I was never going to make another batch of deodorant.

Why would I want to?

This stuff works great.

And talk about cheap.

And...this deodorant “recipe” is slacker-proof.  Just what I need.


And safe.

 We prefer to only use products on our skin that we would 

be able to eat. Because guess what? Your skin “eats” (absorbs) 

whatever you put on it. (This is the reason hormone 

creams and nicotine patches work on skin.)    

That, is a quote by *me*.  Quote me on it.

Here are the oh-so-complicated steps to using baking soda as deodorant:





Wet two fingers.  Dip them in the baking soda…

….and smooth that in your arm pit.


And then….


….well…actually, that’s it.


I guess that wasn’t so hard after all.


I do usually stand over my sink as I’m applying the baking soda, so that if any extra falls off, it will land in my sink (rub that around the sink as you wash it down and now you’ve just cleaned the sink also).

Now homemade deodorant is like homemade mayo in that there are a million and one ways to do this…and lots of reasons to do it for your self. And lots of reasons to not use the store-bought stuff with ick in it.

So, if this deodorant doesn’t float your boat, try, try, again to find one that *will* float your boat. Here are some other ideas from some blogs I love:

How I Quit Using Deodorant with Magnesium by Cheeseslave (MORE explanations on potential problems with store-bought, including more on links to breast cancer...and an innovative idea about solving the root of the stink problem)

Homemade Deodorant by Thank Your Body (with more explanation on "why" to not use store-bought)

Homemade Deodorant for Sensitive Skin by Oh Lardy!


Easy Homemade Deodorant that Really Works!  "Man Stink Killer"  by Mommypotamus


I digress to Deodorant by The Elliott Homestead