Homemade Deodorant

Many years ago there weren’t very many deodorant/anti-perspirants on the market. Ban and Tussy were the two I remember. Tussy was a deodorant cream that you applied using your fingers. Today, a lot of women I know wouldn’t put use a deodorant without an anti-perspirant, not to mention put it on using their fingers.  I used it when I was a kid and young teen. It worked. I perspired a bit but I smelled good.   They came out with a roll on later.

They made some pretty wild claims about it back in the day.

“Your Guardian angel!”

“Ends acid-damage to skin and clothes!”

“Stops odor all day!”

The ingredients of Tussy deodorant are:
Water; Glyceryl Stearate; Cetyl Esters; Aluminum Sulfate; Glycerin; Sodium Sulfate; Aluminum Hydroxide; Sodium Lauryl Sulfate; Cetyl Alcohol; Carrageenan; Fragrance; Titanium Dioxide; Lanolin; Mineral Oil; Petrolatum, Iron Oxides; Talc

I see several things that have are now considered dangerous or not quite healthy at the least.  It sure did work well though.

So a homemade version is in order.  Now this isn’t my original recipe.  I don’t have a clue where this came from originally, its been hanging around the internet for years and years. I’ve seen it in some old homemade type books at the library before that. So its old but its good.

Homemade Deodorant

6 tablespoons coconut oil. I used the kind that has no coconut fragrance but you could use the extra virgin for this. Coconut oil kills bacteria.

4 tablespoons baking soda.

4 tablespoons corn starch or arrowroot powder

5-10 drops tea tree oil. You could use Lavender instead. Lavender oil kills bacteria

Put all ingredients in a bowl, mash it up with a fork til its creamy.  Store in a covered tub OR you can do what I did and put it in an old deodorant container. Works well.  Roll up the bottom of the container because you won’t have enough with this recipe to fill it.  Pack the deodorant into the container and round it off with your fingers. Wipe off the container, put the lid on and let the deodorant come to room temp or if its warm, you can store it in the frig.

I discovered that when I store it in the bathroom and the house temp gets above 76*F the coconut oil melts and so does my deodorant! So I keep it in the frig. I roll it up past the edge of the container so it can be used before refrigerating it. Then after I use it, I roll it up some more because once its cold, it won’t roll up.  It looks like regular deodorant, doesn’t it?

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Remember that this is a deodorant, not an anti-perspirant. You’ll still perspire using this.  You probably know that it is healthier to perspire a little than not.  I found this to be pleasantly scented, smooth and easy to apply. It keeps me smelling nice all day. Even after working in the garden. I can honestly say that this deodorant works as well for me as the Tussy did.

Things I learned about homemade deodorant-

The coconut oil can stain clothing for some people.
Its an oil stain, so you can get it out using a dish soap like Dawn. Try allowing the deodorant to soak into your skin before putting your clothes on. Alternatively, you could use shea butter in this recipe if you don’t want to use coconut oil.

The baking soda irritates some people’s skin-
You can use about half the baking soda called for and still get a good product, that’s what I did all the other times I made this. Works well.

The cornstarch could be an allergen for some people
Just switch it out for arrowroot powder. The plus is that if you use arrowroot powder, you can really cut down on the baking soda, you could try to cut it out altogether.