How To Make Natural Deodorant At Home (With Video)

I’ve been sick of using commercial deodorants and toiletries for some time now and took to washing my hair with baking soda and vinegar. However it has taken me until recently to start actually making my own deodorant and I am surprised at just how easy it is.

Normal deodorant gives me sore armpits, so I have been using natural varieties, mainly Toms of Maine which gives me no problems but can be expensive. It’s also been bought out by a larger company and I preferred giving my money to the littler guys.

Like any self respecting frugal blogger would, I thought I would make a video and write out the easy process in this post. After the recipe and video I’ll talk about the costs and where it may be improved.

Homemade Natural Deodorant

By Forest Parks
Published: May 29th 2012

This is a very simple and affordable recipe for a basic homemade and natural stick deodorant.

Prep time: 10 min
Setting time: 24 hours
Total time: 24 hours and 10 minutes
Yield: A little more than a full stick (250ml)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 5 heaped tbsp coconut oil
• 5 drops eucalyptus oil
• 3 heaped tbsp chopped lavender

Equipment

• mixing bowl
• fork
• spoon
• plate
• old stick deodorant container or similar

Directions:

How much does this recipe cost?

I’m in New Zealand right now so would expect that ingredients would be cheaper in the USA. Also I purchased in relatively low quantity as these first few batches were just tests.

The most expensive ingredients were the coconut oil (500g) and the eucalyptus oil (500ml) which both cost me about $7 NZD ($5.35 USD). I estimate the coconut oil is enough for 3 batches. The eucalyptus oil could last for over a year, essential oils for these kinds of recipes are an expensive outlay but you use them slowly.

The corn starch was about $1 NZD ($0.77 USD) for 1kg, this will last about 8 batches. Baking soda is about $4 NZD ($3 USD) per kilo, again a kilo would last about 8 batches.

The lavender was free (I guess really it was stolen as I didn’t ask like I should have!) from outside of a doctors surgery.

I would pay about $8 NZD for Toms of Maine, my usual deo, here so as you can see it is a huge saving for me.

How can I improve the recipe?

I really like the lavender pieces but they do fall out (maybe chopped finely would work better) and of course I could always add a few more essential oils such as Tea Tree. Thyme oil is another some people use but literally any essential oil will have benefits and a good scent.

It’s slightly more powdery than store purchased deodorant so can get on clothes a little easier. A higher ratio of coconut oil could help but the cost would rise a little. I am also yet to try using virgin cold pressed coconut oil, which is much more expensive.

Hopefully you’ll be inspired to give this a go yourself. I came to my recipe after reading several recipes over the last few months and then just concocting something of my own. For me, it keeps me fresh and is comfortable to wear, the two basic things I need from a deodorant.

I’d love to have your comments, questions and further ideas.