Easy coconut oil deodorant recipe

So you want to use a natural deodorant? It is really easy (and cheap) to make your own using the simple recipe below. No complicated or hard to find ingredients required. And the essential oils are optional.

I was fortunate enough to only need to try a couple of DIY deodorant recipes before finding one that really works for me. This recipe came to me sort of by word of mouth – via a Facebook discussion group. I have tweaked it only a little – by reducing the amount of essential oils – but they are not an essential ingredient.

This is a deodorant rather than an anti perspirant so it won’t stop you sweat, but it will stop you being smelly.

You can see the recipe above but for clarity the ingredients are:

• 2 tablespoons of either cornflour or arrowroot – my card box from Waitrose did have a plastic liner but I believe you can buy it in Lidl without. Either way the box will last for quite a while.
• 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda – I bought this card box from Wilco but you can also find it in most hardware stores.
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil – this glass jar was from Aldi and much cheaper than buying from a health food store.
• Plus a few drops of essential oils. I chose tea tree oil for it’s antibacterial properties, and because I happened to have some already. I also added a few drops of lavender to my most recent batch for fragrance. Just be sure to choose oils that are skin safe.

If the coconut oil is a little too hard to mix in easily you can soften it slightly either in a bain marie or for a few seconds in a microwave. Then stir in the other ingredients until well blended and spoon into a suitable container. I reused an old hair wax tin to store mine but I have also used glass jars for smaller amounts for travelling or gifts – use whatever you happen to have. If you have an old stick deodorant you may be able to refill that.

To use just apply to the underarms with your fingers taking care to rub in before dressing to avoid transferring any oil to your clothes.

You will find that in a summer heatwave it may turn to liquid – you can just keep it in the fridge for a while before applying but it should still work well. I find it fine for travelling during colder months but do have a back up bought tub of Trust deodorant for hot summer holidays just to avoid any leakage in transit.

Please let me know how you get on if you try it.