Home made/Chemical free Deodorant and Toothpaste.

babyshoes

My grandmother used to use a mix of bicarb and talcum powder for deodorant. I tried it once, it seemed to work reasonably for a while but needed re-application and would probably make white marks on your clothes if you used it a lot.

I have also heard of people using bicarb and / or salt to brush teeth but never tried it myself.

Caterina

See this link:

http://macrobiotics.co.uk/homeremedies.htm

Scroll down to "Dentie", I have never tried it but macrobiotic practitioners swear by it.

Also, I wonder if it would be possible to make a tooth powder with bicarbonate or sea salt mixed with dried and pulverised sage leaves. I keep meaning to try, this might just inspire me to give it a go.

gayleygoo

For quite a while I used soap to brush my teeth. It can taste a bit soapy if you get a lot on your tongue, but I just tried to avoid getting it on my tongue and rinsing well after. It tasted better than some commercial toothpastes I've used! I used homemade soap so I knew there were no unnecessary chemicals in it (soap is made with sodium hydroxide, quite a dangerous chemical itself, but the soapmaking process makes it harmless if done right.) If soapmaking is not your thing, a handmade or organic bar would do, try to avoid synthetically fragranced ones. You just need to gently rub a wet toothbrush on the bar, and brush!

I also did oil pulling with coconut oil (which I've noticed Mr T's does quite cheaply), in an attempt to reduce bacteria on my teeth. I'd do that first, then brush afterwards, rinsing it all well with warm water. My teeth felt squeaky clean!

I have heard mixed ideas about using soda bicarb to brush teeth - it can be quite abrasive, so maybe shouldn't be used at every brushing - some sources said a couple of times a week, max.

Natural deodorants, on the other hand, I've had less success with. I have one of those alum salt thingies, and have used a HM mix of soda bicarb, cornflour and lavender oil. They work fine for a little while, but obviously not to the same extent that commercial sprays etc do. I dislike using Sure etc, but it seemed better than going out with friends and realising I was stinking after an hour! (I think some clothes in particular hold sweat even after washing, and would smell almost as soon as they were worn again.) Some people use coconut oil as a deodorant, but I've never tried that.

I make my own lipbalms, moisturisers and body scrubs. Easy and cheap once you have a supply of the ingredients. Coconut oil can be a good start for all of those. Beeswax is cheaply available for makign lipbalms or making body bars. When recipes start asking for jojoba oil and mango butter etc, the cost rises quite a bit!

frannybaby

I've been quite pleased with this recipe.

4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon beeswax
1/8 teaspoon tea tree oil
1/8 teaspoon rosemary oil
1/8 teaspoon lavender oil (optional)

I've seen many variations on this general theme but this works well. Try googling and you'll find plenty of examples/recipes.

[Deleted User]

gayleygoo wrote: »

According to the toothpaste abrasions charts (can't find the one I am looking for but there is one at sayten.com), Bicarb is not as abrasive as some commercial toothpastes. Consider also that Arm and Hammer have a toothpaste advertised with the inclusion of Bicarb as a main selling point, so maybe the terrors of using bicarb are cited everywhere by manufacturers who don't wish us to stop buying their products.

I feel personally, that those older people with great teeth who have used only bicarb or salt to clean them over the years, do not seem to have had a problem with abrasion.However, If you dilute the bicarb or bicarb/seasalt mixture before using then I can't see you would have a problem anyway. Just use small amounts for each batch and make up a new batch fairly frequently.

zippychick

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Zip