DIY Natural Deodorant

Natural Deodorant

Top Fill Style from an old "Degree" container

Making natural deodorant is easy! Deodorant lets you sweat but keeps the bacteria from forming and causing you to stink.You can use various ingredients to do the job and not worry about the dangerous additives of antiperspirants, such as  aluminum. I have tried using baking soda and other ingredients, but this is the combination that works the best for me.

First you need a container, if you have an old antiperspirant tube you may wash it thoroughly and re-purpose it for your recipe. If it is a bottom fill style you will remove the plug from the bottom and put tape across the top to keep it from running out as the bottom fill style needs to be done upside down. I prefer my top fill! You simply pour it in and let it harden! Lots easier. Any type of small container is fine, you need to determine how much you will need to make based on the size of your container.

The ingredients I use are:

• Zinc Oxide Powder
• Coconut oil (or any hard butter such as Cocoa, Mango, Tucuma, Kokum, Cupuacu, or Sal) 
• Beeswax or Floral Wax
• A few drops of T-50 E
• Optional: essential oils and/or fragrance oils

Example: For a 3 oz container I use 2 oz butter, .25 oz beeswax, 2 T Zinc Oxide Powder, a few drops of T-50 E, lavender, rosemary and lemongrass essential oil

Directions:

Using a small enamel or glass saucepan and melt your butter and wax, add in the zinc powder mixing it in thoroughly, add  the T-50 E, add your optional EO's and FO's. Your mixture should be white and fairly runny. Pour into your container. Place in fridge for a while until cooled and hard.

Note: If you're using a top fill container set it on a plate or in a bowl just in case it leaks so you won't have a mess to clean in the fridge!

To use: 

Place a small amount under the arms or any place you have problems with bacteria causing odors.

It lasts for 2-4 days depending on how vigorous you are and how much you sweat. I wash my underarms at night with water and it keeps right on working!

So there you have it, it's simple but effective. I've used this for several years, before that I used Lavilin which works quite well but is a bit expensive. The rest of the natural stuff out there I wasn't interested in because the ingredients were things I can't use (like baking soda). I also tried the crystal salts-they seemed like they worked but just didn't last once the sweating started! For many years I used zinc oxide cream but once I realized it is in a petroleum base,  I knew I needed to stop putting petroleum on my underarms! That's how I came up with this combination. I took the ingredient from the zinc oxide that worked for me and put it in a harmless base! I only have to make a new batch 1-2 times a year and it works fantastic! I made up several and sold them at my last craft show! I got these white top fill containers very inexpensively from CPS ( http://www.containerandpackaging.com/ ) Louisville, KY. Try making some and get away from aluminum-some day you will wish you had!

Take care and talk to you soon!

Marla Riedling
MJR Soaps

Deodorant