Homemade Deodorant Without Baking Soda (that won’t leave you stinky!)
Want a homemade deodorant that works for 24 hours? This DIY all-natural deodorant is made without baking soda and without coconut oil. You just need one surprising ingredient for a powerful, long-lasting homemade deodorant that’s perfect for sensitive skin.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase, but you will not be charged a penny extra! And mama, I never recommend products I don’t love or believe in.
When it comes to deodorant, I thought these were my only options:
- Aluminum-filled deodorant
- Over-priced natural deodorant
- Stinking to high heaven.
But it’s not true! There’s a fourth option.
The fourth option is:
- Make your own really cheap natural deodorant that actually works.
Hallelujah!
Homemade deodorant for sensitive skin
I started making my own deodorant a few years ago and completely fell in love with this baking soda deodorant.
It actually worked very well for me…until it started to cause a painful rash. I do go back to this deodorant every so often with much success, but I can’t use it for long term.
Apparently baking soda has a tendency to irritate sensitive skin, and that’s exactly what I have. Sensitive skin.
The search for homemade deodorant for sensitive skin began.
I found my natural deodorant holy grail.
Guess what? There is such a thing as homemade deodorant without baking soda (but that actually still works–no stinking to high heaven option!).
Why should you avoid antiperspirant deodorant?
Long answer short: antiperspirants contain aluminum and synthetic ingredients that may be very harmful to your health.
- Aluminum may cause breast cancer, disrupt hormones, and play a role in developing Alzheimers.
- Antiperspirants block sweat glands to stop them from releasing sweat— but sweating is a healthy function to rid your body of toxins.
- Antiperspirants most likely contain parabens and/or artificial fragrances. Both of these substances can cause hormonal disruption that may lead to breast cancer (and think about how close deodorant is to breast tissue…nope, nuh-uh, no thanks).
- Antiperspirants that contain synthetic fragrance can impair brain development, cause respiratory illness, and is linked to kidney damage.
That’s some pretty scary stuff.
However, there are also down-sides to natural deodorant
(with the biggest down-side being the stank from them not working!).
When you go the all-natural route, here are the challenges:
- Effective natural deodorants in stores are really expensive—especially for something you’re using every day (I hope).
- They often straight-up don’t work. Not longer than 5 minutes, anyway.
- They can cause allergic reactions to sensitive skin.
All you need is one very surprising ingredient.
You can add essential oils if you want. But you don’t have to, because this one-ingredient deodorant works all on it’s own.
This single product costs me under $3 and lasts both my husband and I two-three months of daily use. It’s gentle, non-toxic, and strong enough to work for 24 hours.
You’re gonna be skeptical when you hear what it is.
I feel like there should be a drum roll or something.
All you need is *drum roll*…
Yeah…the same milk of magnesia that is often used as a laxative.
But don’t worry, it has zero laxative effects when you’re using it on your armpits!
I have been using it for over 5 months now, and am thrilled with this as a natural deodorant.
What kind of milk of magnesia should you use for natural deodorant?
You want to get Milk of Magnesia that only contains magnesium hydroxide and purified water.
That’s it.
You want to avoid added flavoring or sugar. Sugar will not be your friend in your damp pitty area.
I bought this one from Amazon, but I found a similar one for even cheaper at my local Walgreens.
Why does Milk of Magnesia work for deodorant?
Milk of Magnesia is made from magnesium hydroxide. Magnesium hydroxide is alkaline and counteracts the bacteria on the surface of the skin.
It does not stop sweating (which, again, is a healthy thing for your body to do!). It neautralizes the stink-inducing bacteria.
How to apply it as deodorant
Because it is a liquid, there are a few options for how to apply it.
- You can put it into a spray bottle and spray 2-3 squirts directly onto your armpits.
I did this for the first 3 months and it worked very well. However, my sprayer nozzle got clogged up after I left it open to refill it and forgot about it for a few hours…oops.
It might work for you if you don’t leave it out to dry.
- You can pour it into a reusable squeeze bottle and just apply a quarter size to your armpits using your hands. This is my current option.
Or just opt to leave it in it’s original bottle and pour out what you need. - You can also put it into a deodorant roller container. I have not tried this, but I plan to buy a roller soon and see if this is a better option (I’m guessing it is for a mess-free application!).
Homemade deodorant without baking soda (that actually works for 24 hours!)
What you need:
- Milk of Magnesia
- Optional: Container — you can use a spray bottle, squeeze bottle, or deodorant roller.
- Optional: add 15-20 drops of essential oils of choice.
Essential oils I recommend that are gentle enough for sensitive skin, but have antibacterial properties:
Related post: How to tell essenital oils are fake
Directions:
- Pour milk of magnesia into container of choice.
- Add in essential oils, close the lid, and shake well.
- Shake the homemade deodorant before each use (milk of magnesia separates naturally).
- Apply on underarms with a light layer. Let it dry slightly before dressing.
Enjoy not stinking 😉 or breaking out in a rash!
I have been doing this for about three years. I add tea tree oil and lemongrass oil to the bottle of milk of magnesia, then I top off the bottle with distilled water. Shake well. Let sit overnight (this is just me) shake well. Pour some into a two ounce spray bottle. This stuff is awesome!!! I used to get awful rashes under my boobs and belly flap, under my under arms. . not any more!!
Cheryl, I”m so glad you left a comment! That is AWESOME to hear! Thank you for your insight about how to make it work better with the spray bottle. Brilliant.
I have just been so pleasantly surprised by how well it works! Just, wow.
Wish you could’ve told me about milk of magnesia for deodorant three years ago ha ha ha 🙂
One quick question: does this turn white under your arms and will it rub off as a white mark on your
clothes? I do know certain over the counter deoderant leave you with a white mark on tops.
Also have noticed if pulling on a dark top I get a white nasty mark!
Thanks for your great easy recipes.
Yvonne
Yvonne, great question! This can look white on the skin if it’s not rubbed in, but it has never left white marks on my clothing. It’s so great I can’t believe it’s actually this easy and natural. <3
The Amazon link says it’s unavailable. Walgreenss also has sodium hypochlorite in it. Is that ok added to it?
Bekah, I”m glad you reached out! I’ve never ever seen a shortage with milk of magnesia, but leave it to the pandemic 😉 When I purchased the Walgreens one it did not contain Sodium hypochlorite. What a bummer! They must have reformulated. I personally would not use one that has that in it, as it’s a bleaching chemical. Kroger brand does not contain sodium hypochlorite, last I checked and the Dollar General also had one about a year ago that was just magnesium hydroxide and water. Are those options for you?
Hard to find without hypochlorite. Decided to buy magnesium hydroxide in powder form will add purified or distilled water along with essential oil and see how that works.
I’ve never tried this, but I would love to hear if this worked for you!
Hi there! How many drops of oil per ml of milk of magnesia? What other essential oils work together with tea tree? Thank you!
Hello Maria! It’s really your preference to have between a 1-3% dilution rate. You can use between 6-18 drops per 30 mL of milk of magnesia.
With the tea tree oil, rosemary, lemongrass, basil, lavender, bergamot, and cedarwood are all good options. It depends on the scent you prefer. Let me know if I can help more!
Hi! Thanks for this option! Is it safe to use while pregnant? Plus which EO can be used during pregnancy?
Hello! You’re so welcome. I’m really thankful I found out about this, too.
I am not a medical professional, but this should be perfectly fine to use while pregnant.
Tea tree is generally believed to be safe (my midwife said I could continue to use it in skin care). Lavender, frankincense, peppermint, and geranium are also generally considered safe. I would recommend running them by a medical professional to decide what’s best for you and your health 🙂
I would like to save some money
Thank you, I will try this and let you know🤗
Wow really?? I plan on trying this out soon.
I HAD TO read your post as soon as I saw that it only had one ingredient bc I KNEW it had to be what I use. And yes it is. I have been using milk and magnesia for like 8 years now and it works great. I buy some little trial empty bottles from Walmart that are squeezable and fill those up, but after 2 or 3 refills the little bottles get crusty around the top and the M of M gets thick in the bottom. So you can either sit there and soak it and soak it and scrub it and scrub it or you can just get a new little bottle. But yes it’s all I’ve used for 8 years and I highly recommend it.
This totally made me chuckle. How fantastic! Thank you for sharing your experience! I still love using it, too.
the only milk of magnesium i found has potassium sorbate in it.
Is that fine?
Short answer, yes. But it’s up to you. Potassium sorbate is a preservative to prevent mold. The FDA has approved it in food to ingest, but it’s classified as a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe), which is a bit of a yellow flag. For me, it’s a lesser evil than aluminum or other highly toxic and cancer related chemicals found in a lot of deodorants in the store. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have more questions 🙂