Ever since we went zero waste, we have learned to make pretty much all of our own cleaning and body care products while keeping everything as simple and time-efficient as possible. Heck, I even wash my hair with white rye flour! However, if we had to pick our favorite recipe, we would probably go with this deodorant recipe! Yes, even though I am one of these lucky people with odorless sweat. I know, it's so not fair. Blame my mom for it.
Hanno, however, isn't as lucky. He always says, and I quote: "This is the best deodorant I have ever used!" And I can attest to that!
When it comes to homemade products, I usually have to explain that, yes, oftentimes they are less effective. Our DIY dish soap doesn't cut grease as well as its aggressive cousin. BUT the over-the-top effectiveness comes at a price. These products are usually chemical cocktails with many harmful substances. They are overachievers on steroids. And these steroids are neither good for our health nor the environment. And I rather use a less effective dish soap than use the doped one that will cause my sensitive to break out again.
This deodorant, however, will blow your store-bought selection out of the water!
It is better in every aspect! Making it is easier and quicker than going to the store. This deodorant is also ridiculously wallet-friendly. It is neither harmful to you nor the environment. Best of all, it is super dooper uber mega effective!
So how does this work?
Baking soda is known to neutralize odors. It changes the PH value on your skin, making it more uninhabitable for the bacteria that are to blame for the pungent smell. The tea tree oil in this deodorant has a similar effect. It is antibacterial. So instead of just covering up the bad smell with some fragrance, this deodorant actually nips the cause in the bud. Furthermore, the lime oil helps to prevent these unsightly white sweat marks, which is quite the bonus in my humble opinion.
I got the recipe off this brilliant German DIY blog Schwatzkatz. Jasmin is one the radiant people who truly inspire me. She is a walking encyclopedia for homemade goodness and remedies. She explains everything so well and gosh, don't get me started on her fabulous style and her refreshing personality!
If you happen to understand German, head over to her blog! You should also check out her article on this deodorant, she explains it so much better than I ever could! And this isn't her only deodorant recipe! Click here to check out all of her deodorant recipes on her blog. But since Hanno and I are lazy asses and are all thumbs, we stick to this recipe for dummies LOL.
Recipe for a Super Dooper Uber Effective Alumininum-Free Spray-On Deodorant
you need
1–2 teaspoon baking soda
100 ml (⅓ cup + 4 tsp) lukewarm or cold water, boiled (for sterilization purpose) and cooled down to lukewarm (baking soda reacts when exposed to temperatures >50ºC/122ºF)
8-10 drops of essential lime oil (you can substitute for sage or lemon oil, with sage oil being more effective)
2 drops of essential tea tree oil
1 spray bottle
1 funnel
instructions
Dissolve the baking soda in the water. Use the funnel or some supernatural fine motor skills to fill the mixture into your spray bottle. Add the lime and tea tree oil and shake it baby!
Also shake before each use.
THIS IS IMPORTANT THOUGH: Your clothes should be free from any residues of store-bought deodorant! You can remove these kinds of residues by soaking your clothes in a mixture of citric acid and warm water. Citric acid is also our base for our homemade all purpose cleaner, and we use it as a rinser in our dish washer and as a fabric softener.
Rob Alberts says
I never use a DEO.
kind regards,
shia says
Well, not using any deodorant at all is probably the truly zero waste way LOL
Carolina Perez says
Will definitely try. Love using rye flour for my hair thanks to you. Just have to find a bottle.
shia says
Do let me know how you like it :)!
melanie says
love it. very similar to the one by goingzerowaste. the only difference is she uses himalayan salt also. ox
shia says
Cool, I will have to check that one out then <3!!
Louise Bellis says
So simple! Can't wait to try it out! But where did you get your spray bottle from? Is it upcycled or store-bought? 🙂
shia says
I wish it was upcycled, but it is not :(. We bought the bottle in a pharmacy after we asked all of our friends and went to several drug stores. We thought they should have tons of empty spray bottles from all the samples, but they all said they immediately throw all empty samples into the trash :(. I am sure it is possible to get your hands on a pre-used spray bottle with enough patience though. We just started our search too late...
Louise Bellis says
That's really sad. I can't believe how much perfectly good stuff people view as trash..
But thanks for your reply - my search will commence!
Silvia says
Why is it that all clothes should be free from residues of store-bought deodorant? That's kind of hard to ensure for me, having used store bought ones on and off with probably most of my clothes...
Thanks and keep up the good work!
Miss Lani Make Do says
Do you think it would be possible to use solely tea tree oil as your essential oil? Having trouble tracking down places to buy essential oils!
melanie says
miss lani make do: i would assume that is totally fine. 🙂
ox
Miss Lani Make Do says
Thanks Melanie, much appreciated 🙂
Sara says
I use the same deodorant recipe and love it, with one problem though - baking soda clogs the spray on the bottle. I never realised I have to boil the water for the baking soda to react, maybe it will do the trick and my spray bottles won't get clogged again 🙂 Thanks!
shia says
Warm water helps to unclog it 🙂
Cecilia says
Does it leave any stain on the clothes? Since it has a bit of oil, I don't know if it will.
shia says
It doesn't 🙂
Sharon says
How long does it keep once made? Should it be refrigerated?