DIY All-Natural Detoxifying Deodorant (i.e. “The Anti-Antiperspirant”)
Body DIY Natural DIY
Looking for a safe, natural deodorant that works? This DIY All-Natural Detoxifying Deodorant is a tried-and-true favorite among Body Unburdened readers. Not only does it stop odor naturally, but it contains an ingredient that actually helps to draw impurities from the skin. Plus, it’s so easy to make with just a few simple ingredients!
I’m a multitasker…
A check-my-email-while-brushing-my-teeth, cook-dinner-while-catching-up-on-Downton-Abbey type of gal.
Which is why when I finally bit the bullet and made a homemade deodorant, I decided to take it beyond all-natural and add a powerful detoxifying ingredient that actually pulls toxins from the skin.
Yes, it’s the anti-antiperspirant.
Oh, and it works. As in no odor and reduced sweat (no natural deodorants completely stop sweat).
Here’s what some Body Unburdened readers have had to say about the DIY All-Natural Detoxifying Deodorant over the years!
“I just wanted to tell you that my whole family loves this recipe. We live in Texas so it has gotten a thorough trial and works wonderfully not only on us gals but also my husband and boys.”
“I have tried many homemade deodorants and this is my favorite so far. I didn’t even have to reapply after working out!”
“I have a hard time using commercial deodorants because they irritate my skin, and the natural ones just don’t keep me smelling sweet. I mixed up some of this and love it. It works! Feels great on my skin, no irritation at all, and keeps me smelling sweet in our hot Missouri summers.”
Bentonite clay is the all-star of this homemade deodorant recipe.
It’s one of the most effective and powerful healing clays.
It has the amazing ability to attract and bind toxins and impurities.
For this reason, it’s popularly used as a detoxification agent
Bentonite clay also has a very fine velvet-like texture, is odorless and non-staining… which are all very important qualities for a deodorant! Clays also quickly and easily absorb moisture.
So let’s get to it!
DIY All-Natural Detoxifying Deodorant
DIY All-Natural Detoxifying Deodorant (i.e. “The Anti-Antiperspirant”)
Looking for a safe, natural deodorant that works? This DIY All-Natural Detoxifying Deodorant is a tried-and-true favorite among Body Unburdened readers. Not only does it stop odor naturally, but it contains an ingredient that actually helps to draw impurities from the skin.
Ingredients
- 6 tbs or 3 oz organic virgin coconut oil — a great natural antibacterial (If you notice the deodorant is at all flaky on the skin, you may add more coconut oil as needed.)
- 2 tbs baking soda — neutralizes pH and body odor
- 3 tbs arrowroot or organic cornstarch — absorbs perspiration
- 2 tbs bentonite clay — adds extra wetness protection by whisking away sweat, and pulls toxins from skin
- 20 drops tea tree essential oil (optional but highly suggested) — a potent antibacterial
Instructions
- Put the coconut oil in a large mixing bowl. If the oil is hard (since coconut oil has a melting point of 74°F, it may be solid or liquid depending on how warm or cool you keep your home), mash it with a fork to soften it a bit. Then add all of the other ingredients. Mix everything together until you have a smooth, consistent paste. Lastly, simply transfer your deodorant into a small jar.
- To apply, simply rub your finger on the top of the paste to warm it a little, and scoop out a small amount to rub on your underarm. The paste will “melt” (as coconut oil does) right into your skin and absorb rather quickly.
- The tea tree essential oil may be a bit overpowering while mixing everything, but has just the right amount of scent when applied to the underarms. Rosemary and lavender essential oils also have antibacterial properties and so could be used with or instead of tea tree oil.
Keywords: homemade deodorant recipe, DIY deodorant
Troubleshooting: Skin irritation from natural deodorants.
Baking soda can irritate the skin by throwing off its pH.
Baking soda has a more alkaline pH (8) while the skin’s natural pH is slightly acidic (5.5-6).
So if you experience irritation this DIY deodorant recipe or from any natural deodorant that contains baking soda, that’s the likely culprit.
You have a couple options:
- Rebalance your skin’s pH with apple cider vinegar. Make a mixture of 1 part ACV to 2 parts water, and dab it on your underarms with a cotton ball.
- Reduce or remove the baking soda from the recipe. While this may affect the effectiveness, you can certainly give it a go and see if the recipe works for you even without the baking soda.
YES! Thank you so much for posting this! Whipped up a batch a couple weeks ago and I’m never going back! I’ve always tried to use natural deodorant but since I moved to Asia I’ve found it really challenging to keep this up. I haven’t found ONE woman’s deo that doesn’t have aluminum except for spray-on deo which has butane and all kinds of other nasties.
This deo is fantastic though, easy to make, feels amazing and even during the a Thailand summer that’s 100+ degrees every day with extremely high humidity I still smell nice! Still, because of said 100+ degree weather the coconut oil is NOT solid when left out so it’s kind of a gross process to apply it unless I leave it in the fridge.
However, in spite of the water-absorbing properties of the corn starch (unfortunately no arrowroot here) and clay, I still inevitably soak through my shirts which is very embarrassing. Is there anything I can add to the recipe to help with this problem?
I have noticed people complaining of various ailments when using this recipe. We should all realize that a detox element like bentonite clay will cause some issues that pop up due to all of the toxins being expelled from the body. Muscle soreness, rashes, and other issues may be due to the body being detoxed. Sometimes the detox can take a little bit of time, At the end of the detox your body will be truly clean and you will feel great. (feeling bad when detoxing is called the herximer effect). Just think about what is happening with the toxins that you may have been putting into your body for years and are now being actively removed rather than sitting in your system waiting to develop into disease. I commend all that are taking an active role in their health.
Thanks, Bailey. Yep, I have it in the post 🙂
I haven’t read through all the comments but wanted to make sure your readers are informed that you can not use metal to mix or store bentonite clay. It might be good to add a note to your post. This. Ight be why some are having issues with their recipes. Thanks for all the great info!
Had anyone tried replacing baking soda with aloe Vera gel?
How long does this exact recipe last you? what size of container would perfectly hold it? 4 ounce?
I must thank you so much for this recipe I have been searching for the perfect toxin free deodorant for a while now and I love that I can make this myself. Not to mention that fact that it is an anti-antiperspirant and actually works! I made some for my mom because she told me that her lymph nodes have been hurting and she said they were hurting less with just one use!
YAY that makes me to happy to hear 🙂
Hi Nadia- I’m excited to give this a try, but after reading some of the comments regarding the pH level of baking soda, and the warnings against it, what are YOUR thoughts?? I didn’t see any comments from you responding to some of these other remarks- but I would like your opinion. Thank you!
How much beeswax would you use. My husband doesn’t like to use his fingers to put it on and either do I.i love this stuff
To the commenters who noted that the baking soda and/or arrowroot powder burns their skin: I experienced the same problem! I’ve tried the recipe with only arrowroot, only soda, a combo of both, adding Shea butter to the mix, increasing the amount of coconut oil, and so on. It never fails that my armpits are on fire after a few days (even when I went without shaving, thinking it was increasing my skin’s sensitivity). Has anyone found a solution? The only way I’ve had any success is to alternate days between the deod and plain virgin coconut oil (the latter of which only kind of works). If anyone has a better alternative, please let me know!
This is great stuff. I have a hard time using commercial deodorants because they irritate my skin, and the natural ones just don’t keep me smelling sweet. I mixed up some of this and love it. It works! Feels great on my skin, no irritation at all, and keeps me smelling sweet in our hot Missouri summers.
Hi Nadia–
I have been making my own deodorant for about a year and a half now, with shea butter as my base, and then adding coconut oil and essential oils, cornstarch, etc for the non stinky stuff. Have you tried that? I find the shea butter to be a little….slimy ? I guess would be the right word, but it soaks right in like lotion. I’ve also found that between the shea butter and coconut oil, my clothes NEVER have pit stains anymore, and even after a long, stinky day of working and sweating, the odor from pits and deodorant rinses out of my clothes and is gone for good. I guess my question is, is it slimy and runny?
I wanted to mention thieves oil– some ladies had reactions to the baking soda or cornstarch. I actually did, too, for the first 6 months. I assume now that it was my transition from years of antiperspirant and chemical laden deodorants. I used a home made thieves oil, which is highly anti bacterial and very good for the body, with coconut and olive oils, some shea butter….clay would have been a great addtion… and while it made the deodorant a little slicker, I didn’t stink, though I smelled like Christmas spice all year…. 2 years later, though, the little bits of baking soda have made their way back in to my recipe and no longer make me rashy, break out, etc.
It seems logical that the clay would thicken up the deodorant, yes? I live in a place that’s 90 degrees or hotter for 8 plus months out of the year. Coconut oil is only ever solid at the air conditioned store. I don’t mind the deodorant being runny, but currently, with the shea butter, it’s like a really creamy conditioner / paste and I don’t have to wait for it to totally soak in before dressing. Is that what the consistency of your deodorant is like? I’m going to try it, either way. Worth it.
Thanks for the posts. I came upon your blog today after reading ourheritageofhealth.com’s post, and LOVE it. Thanks again. The recipes are so easy to follow.
I’m not sure but I’d imagine red clay would stain your clothing big time.
Do you know if any other clays would be just as effective, such as moroccan red clay or sea clay?
Will baking powder work instead of soda? I have good aluminum-free baking powder.
LAURA, THANK YOU! I HAVE been wondering why my left pit has more odor than my right (I’m right handed) and I figured it was because my left side had more toxins in it, but that eventually, eating better and not using conventional (toxic) deodorant, it would catch up to the right side, but now I see your answer and it makes so much sense. So, I have to work at getting it caught up to the right side. 🙂 Thank you, again!
The cool thing about all the natural deodorants is that many things work as antibacterials, so whenever I find myself in a place where I need some deodorizing I can just look in the kitchen cupboards and often find coconut oil, baking soda, essential oils, alcohol, vanilla, honey etc. These can all be used plain in a pinch. Just rub them on then wait a bit and wipe blot/wipe them off. Kills bacteria, neutralizes odor, and you start fresh again.
Looking forward to whipping up a batch of your diy deodorant at home though. Just wanted to say that getting rid of odor is a multi pronged group of lifestyle choices. It starts with eating a great diet and hydrating your body. After I started supplementing with Magnesium my body odor went down to near zero. Washing with water mostly and not with harsh soaps also helped. Finally I started dry bushing and using lymphatic massage to remove toxins in my lymph nodes (lots of these under the armpits) All these practices combined with minimal use of natural deodorant cream makes my body odor non existent.
PS If you are right hand dominant you might find you left armpit stinks more. I asked my naturapath about this during a breast exam and she said that you tend move your dominant hand/arm more so you get more toxins out on the dominant side. This is the proof to me that movement of the lymph is important to get toxins out. It’s also good for our breast health because there are so many lymph nodes in the breast/armpit area.
This is the first natural deodorant I’ve used that works really well. I’ve tried several different brands and homemade concoctions with no real success. This mixture keeps my underarms dry and fresh. So excited!
I just have to say a HUGE THANK YOU! Been using this for 2-3 weeks now. My left “pit” had a stinker smell to it for the past 6 months (not sure why) but this has cleared it up! Very happy because all the natural deodorants I purchase never really worked.