It's been more than four months since I officially ran out of deodorant and started using baking soda on my underarms to prevent odors, and all I can say is that it really works.
In fact, I've been doing aerobics classes four times a week and even after my hour-long workouts, my armpits don't really smell. I will admit that the texture of the baking soda does create a bit of friction during my workouts, but the irritation is not bad enough to motivate me to stop me from using baking soda.
Summary: baking soda deodorant is still amazing!
Update - 3.22.09 - At the suggestion of some readers, I am now using baking soda AND cornstarch mixed together (1:1) and I am no longer experiencing any irritation. Thanks everyone!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
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Thanks for writing this blog! I am going to link to it from my own blog as I believe that we must change in order to save our planet. I have been using more natural products such as baking soda, vinegar etc. to clean with, make my own laundry detergent, NEVER heat my food in plastic, eat well, (quinoa is my new fave - SP?) and use the finest and purest things on my skin. I have a great place by the way if you love pure lotions/products. My friend in NYC makes it ...lornasnaturals.com.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! patti
I've been using baking soda for six months. I went down to the tropics (Bonaire) for two weeks and I call that a real test. Test passed beautifully! No smell from my underarms at all even in all-day tropical heat!
I just rub on about half a teaspoon of baking soda on each of my arm pits in the morning (don't shave right before because that would sting!). I think it must be the salty skin (salty from the baking soda) that keeps the smelly bacteria from growing.
My big problem is sweat. I'm a sweaty Betty, and I don't really smell so much as just... have a rainforest under my arm.
I found a recipe that calls for 1/4 cub of baking powder, 1/4 cup of arrowroot powder and 4-5 tablespoons of coconut oil. You can also add some essential oils.
Another product I tried (it's in plastic though) is Geranium Lime 'Pit Putty from www.bubbleandbee.com. It works great. As soon as I buy the ingredients for the homemade deoderant I'll compare them.
Ugh. I gotta say, as practical as that idea sounds, and as much as it appeals to the practical side of me, I just can't stand sweat. Call me crazy... I need my aluminum sulfide or whatever it is that makes there be no sweat under my arms!
Its aluminum zirconium trichlorophosphate, and it's highly toxic. I wouldn't touch the stuff, wanting to avoid degenerative disease and all. But for some, sweat now is more frightening than having one's brain dissolve later.
I've found that salt is very effective at eliminating odors, and without the chalky texture of baking soda! My latest bar of salt is pink Himalayan salt, came packaged in paper, and will likely last three years, for less than seven dollars!
I cycle everywhere, so I've had to find a way to cut down on B.O. This is what works for me: Merino wool T-shirts, which are smooth as silk against your skin and don't itch. Best of all, bacteria cannot propogate in them, so they don't smell and they needn't be washed very frequently. Just hanging them outside every couple of days does the trick. I'm saving lots of water and using much less soap and detergent than when I wore cotton. Other tricks: keep underarm hair trimmed and wipe under there every once in a while with alcohol to kill oder-causing bacteria.
I am naturally... sweaty... but the baking soda really helps. I love that I can neutralize odors, too. Showering everyday is over rated!
Kel
I use a big hippie salt crystal. It works beautifully! I will never go back to anything else.
I have a question for you and your readers. What do you do about food leftovers? Ie, are there non-plastic alternatives to tupperware?
If you're not into the texture, try using baking soda and melted shea butter. I've been using this recipe for 6-8 months and LOVE it. Not only is there not much smell, but seriously... so easy. I can get shea butter in non-plastic containers (er, bulk bins) at my local co-op.
3 Tablespoons shea butter
3 Tablespoons baking soda
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons cocoa butter
2 vitamin E oil gel caps (puncture and squeeze out the oil)
Essential Oil (I used ylang yang and rose)
**recipe originally from AngryChicken's website: http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2008/07/homemade-deodor.html
Good luck, and thanks for keeping up this blog-- always inspires me.
I have one of the big mineral crystals too and I LOVE it! I think it will las me and my daughter's lifetimes. I've had it a year and it looks pretty much the same as when I got it!
I just tried baking soda after reading your blog. I lived in California for years and have tried the salt crystal, Tom's, almost all of the natural brands, a couple of the evil ones..without much success. Now I live in the Netherlands and have tried the Euro health brands. I just had a kidney transplant and all of the drugs have made me so insanely smelly and sweaty...until the baking soda! I have used it for 5 days, stressful ones at that, and without so much as a hint of stink. Now, if I could just get the clay I use to wash my hair to work as well as this...
Hmmmm... interesting. I might have to try this some day just as an experiment, but I think the salt-block-style deoderant I'm using is going to last for one day less than forever at this rate!
Hi, just found your blog today, I use the Toms of Maine brand but, I would love to try something less expensive, without the plastic packaging and simpler. So, since I'm running out of my current brand I'm going to give baking soda a try. Sounds like it might be a bit more soothing to the skin too, for those who shave.
Yeah I think the texture could be improved by adding a little of some other incredient to the mix such as corn starch or clay. makes the stuff a bit smoother. I Also add essential oils just for the nice smell
I've been using baking soda as a deodorant for a few weeks now, but sometimes it really irritates my skin. So I tried dissolving it in a little water and dabbing it on with a cotton pad. It seems to work just as well and I never get the irritation using it this way.
I also often brush my teeth with baking soda. I was a little worried about the abrasion of the powder so I also dissolve it for tooth brushing and it works great.
Nice post!
for lack of any other thing usable in my house to block the stink...lemon peel, alcohol, socks (just kidding) etc. I stumbled on baking soda I had in the b-room for teeth. works great & has been a year. Hippie-rocks didn't work for me sadly, cause they last forever! I keep some baking soda in a little ceramic pot (Bob's Red Mill brand) and dab on after showering or whenever...use a little water on the fingers. Don't over-do it or a ring of salts? comes out on the clothing.
i've been using baking soda (aluminum free bob's red mill) for months and love it.
thanks for getting the word out about it!
Okay, I have never heard of making your own deodorant! I especially like Ashley B.'s recipe for deodorant with shea butter! I will have to think about this and maybe try a small batch before completely committing. If it really works, I would consider it! I wear a lot of sleeveless shirts so I would be concerned with caking on the underarms part of the shirt! I love this site, there are so many great ideas.
A bit of lemon juice works wonderfully. I save my squeezed lemon from my morning lemon water and after I have washed up I squeeze out the last drops for under my arms.
Got this tip from a friend who had had breast cancer and suspected using commercial deodorants was partly to blame.
Judith
if you ever want less grit, but maybe a bit of plastic :/ buy salt spray or salt roll-on (the stone alone didn't do the job). no grit & w/ some naturally anti-bacterial soap, you're good to go for 24 hours - even w/ exercise.
thanks for blogging about this. you're inspiring & have a much-needed message!
c.
clevelandyogini.blogspot.com
Tried it. Skin got a little red and irritated. Gave up. Any suggestions?
Athada, Add some cornstarch to the baking soda. That helped me. I used a 1 to 1 ratio and I'm not experiencing any irritation now.
I started doing this because my old deodorant stopped working. I think it was because of hormonal changes after my first baby. I don't shower every day (dries out my skin), and I do struggle with BO. Commercial deodorants have just been making it worse, unless they have the toxic aluminum in them. I've started washing my armpits with soap every day, using a squirt of vinegar, and then after that dries some baking soda. I intend to try the homemade recipe, but the only way I can get the ingredients is online and it's too expensive. Just to encourage those who struggle with stink--This works better than Old Spice!
I was happy to see this and find that I am not alone in using baking soda! I found out years ago that I had a very high level of aluminum in my body- high enough that it was not good. So I started trying all of the brands of natural deodorant and was not impressed. Recently I saw something online about baking soda so I figured I'd try it and was SO shocked! It's just perfect and I don't smell at all!
I even popped the roller ball out of and old roll on deodorant and washed out the bottle, filled it with baking soda and water and put the ball back in and now that is working great for applying it. If I could find empty roll on bottles I would make it for friends.
thanks for the thoughts!
i'm from malaysia, since it's a hot-climate country, can say that i sweat a lot (n daily), so does it work for me, this whole baking-soda-as-deodorant thing?
i am from a tropical country in SE Asia and i sweat a lot too because of the the weather.. but eversince I started using baking soda as my deodorant, it worked perfectly for me.. i dont sweat at all and my armpits have ZERO smell! i love it!
i have been a fan of this until i developed rashes, irritation on my amrpits from using this. I wouldnt really know if mixing it with cornstarch would solve the problem. why is it causing irritation? is it something in my sweat? it is to "rough" that it is making it swell?
This is so effctive and i dont want to give up using it
thanks!
Hey Anonymous, Before you give up on the baking soda, try mixing in some cornstarch. The baking soda can be pretty abrasive and cause irritation. If you mix in cornstarch (maybe 2 parts baking soda, 1 part cornstarch) the mixture will be softer on your skin.
Good luck!
I just tried a mixture of baking soda and lemon juice for the first time and I am amazed! I've struggled with BO for a while and have wasted money on a lot of products. I wash often, would reapply deodorants, tried the stone. Nothing really worked. Yesterday morning I wiped with an alcohol pad first. Then I sprinkled some baking soda and few drops of lemon in my hand. Let it fizz and then rubbed it on and it pretty much disappeared. It's now a full day later and I can't believe how fresh I still smell! I always smell in the morning and this morning I couldn't believe it! I feel like I've been given new life! All the doubters out there......IT WORKS!
Pure baking soda irritates the skin. Diluting it with cornstarch (baby powder) works great. I would start with a 50/50 mix and gradually reduce the proportion of baking soda until you can tell the difference.
The baking soda shifts the pH of your underarms above the range bacteria thrive in, but hopefully not high enough to be caustic to your skin.
Everybody’s skin is a little different. That’s why you want to play with the ratio. I use 1 part baking soda to 2 parts cornstarch, and I think I can get away with 1 to 3. I add a few drops of hop extract and lavender oil, that might have something to do with it.
I've been using a deodarant these last few (hot) weeks-- equal parts baking soda and cornstarch mixed with coconut oil and a few drops of lavender oil just bc I looove lavender. I'm not sweating or stinking! (And I've asked!!) It's working better than any commercial stuff I've used.
Yep, been using it for a couple of years now, the best deodorant bar none!!
I've been looking for a company/product who have made an easily appliable version though, the closest thing is made by hand made cosmetics company called Lush here in the UK.
Good to see that people know about ti and don't have to suffer with often expensive and ineffective deodorants.r
Thanks for writing about baking soda as a deodorant. The 'natural' deodorants (Tom's, JASON) were just not working for me and I was so embarrassed of my BO that I was considering going back to regular deodorant even though I was unhappy about the aluminium content. But baking soda (I'm mixing it with a little lemon juice) is working SO well for me!! :) Even when I'm sweating a lot, I'm not smelly. Yay!
I too have switched to Baking Soda. I tried it and found that amazingly it stopped all arm pit odor completely. and it lasts for hours even into the next day. It is much better than all those expensive commercial deodorants
The only thing I am trying to figure out is how to stop it from irritating my arm pits. It tends to burn and irritate the soft skin under the arms. Sometimes it burns pretty bad through out the day.
There must be a balancing agent to stop the acid burning affect of the baking soda.
Nevertheless, it works so good that I am willing to take the burn.
I'd like to add to the rest of these comments and say that I've been using baking soda ( without aluminum ) for a few weeks now and it works great. Much better than alot of other so-called natural brands and definitely better than the toxic ones. Make sure to buy your baking soda from an organic or natural foods store and to make sure there is no aluminum in it, otherwise you might as well use the toxic stuff.
Just so you know, baking soda doesn't contain any aluminum- baking POWDER contains some because it's a mix of things for baking. Baking soda is just sodium bicarbonate- that's all.
I use a mix of coconut oil, baking soda and cornstarch and am still playing around with ratios and different add-in's like lavender and shea butter- but none of the versions have let me stink!
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