de-funk de pits

I decided to start this thread because it's really rude to hijack someone else's thread. I'm sorry Marie. However, I must also thank you. You got a great thread started and that in turn got my wheels spinning. So, if you're just joining in, please read mzimm's thread here: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=59818

I have discovered that babassu oil works much better than coconut oil at deodorizing the pits. On Monday, (7/25) I concocted a "pit detox" (something I had never heard of until I read the thread) made with bentonite clay and water. Since I added too much water, I had to add some kaolin clay to thicken it up a bit. I put that on my armpits for about 30 minutes. It was too long. I didn't mean to leave it that long, but I was doing laundry and watching Netflix. Oh, well. I rinsed it off with a warm wash cloth, dried well and put a little powder on there to make sure any residual moisture was absorbed.

I haven't used deodorant since then. I just shower, dry off really well, and put a little powder on to make sure any residual moisture gets absorbed. This has actually worked well for me. And I am shocked because (if you read mzimm's thread) I stink. Seriously. Bad. Thursday night when I went to bed (I think it was Thursday, they're all a blur) I didn't have the a/c set to 72, it was on 80 and I was sweating all night. I woke up stinking. After my shower, I was fine. And I was good all day: however, I did notice that my shirt smelled bad. The armpits of the t-shirt I was wearing absorbed the sweat (and therefore the funk); but when I smelled my skin, there was no funky odor. Just the shirt was funky. So, basically, the detox worked. As long as the sweat (and therefore the bacteria) are not on my body, I don't stink (badly).

I don't want to use an antiperspirant again. I don't mind sweating. It's the stinking that I mind. Besides, my antiperspirant wasn't doing that great of a job in the first place, ya dig? The antiperspirant is made to plug up the stink glands (uh, sweat glands) under your arms so you don't sweat and feed the bacteria. It's the bacteria that make you stink, their waste products, actually (I think). So, kill the bacteria and you kill the stink. Which leads me to today's experiment.

I was hoping to stink, so I left the a/c on 86 last night and sweated my butt off. I also had Max in bed with me as well as Chase and Ivy. Max usually sleeps in his crate, so Friday & Saturday nights he gets a break and I get no sleep. I have 67 pounds of Max on one side of me and 52 pounds of Ivy on the other side of me. Sweat city. PERFECT!! Boy did my pits make my eyes water today. I didn't even have to lift my arms high to catch a whiff. Can you say, "Gag a maggot."

I grabbed a sliver of babassu oil out of the fridge and melted it in my palm. That was taking too long so I just rubbed it onto my left armpit. The oil absorbed quickly and the stench disappeared within a minute or two of application of the oil. Impressive!!

I grabbed the jar of (melted) coconut oil and dipped a clean (very important!) finger into it and rubbed it onto my right armpit, trying not to gag. The oil did not absorb well and my finger stunk. (TMI?) The thing is, 5 minutes later, I grabbed the jar and dipped four (clean!!) fingers into it and tried again. This time I rubbed the oil into my skin for a longer amount of time. The oil did not absorb well into the skin and 15 minutes later I got the babassu oil and rubbed it onto my right armpit.

My left armpit is not greasy or oily and does not have a strong odor. There is a slight odor, but it is not detectable unless I really stick my nose in there. I would definitely go out in public and not be bothered at all. I'm confident not one could smell me but me. (And I've got to stick my face in my pit.)

My right armpit still stinks. It's not quite as bad as it was before; but it is bad enough that I would not be comfortable going out in public. It's probably not so bad that people would confuse me for being a hippie or homeless, but I'd be self-conscience about it. Mind you, this is even though I used significantly more coconut oil on it compared to the babassu on the left AND actually used babassu as well. I think the babassu was not able to penetrate through the coconut oil to get to the bacteria causing the odor. I'm going to go wipe all of the oil off of my armpit with a dry paper towel and try the babassu again.

So, although it is in no way scientific, I believe babassu oil is definitely the best oil to use for a deodorant. It certainly proved this morning it has antimicrobial activity. It absorbs well into my skin and is not at all greasy. I don't even think that I'll need to add arrowroot or cornstarch to this if I made it into a stick deodorant.

What I am going to do is use plain babassu oil as a deodorant on one armpit for the coming week and just powder the other (as I've done since Tuesday morning). I'll see how the babassu compares to the powder. The powder I've been using is the Dollar General version of Shower to Shower deodorant powder. I've been using that for years after my shower, especially in the summer when it's so humid.

T- A very "telling" experiment. But also very interesting thank-you

TeresaT said:

It's the bacteria that make you stink, their waste products, actually (I think). So, kill the bacteria and you kill the stink. Which leads me to today's experiment.

So, although it is in no way scientific, I believe babassu oil is definitely the best oil to use for a deodorant. It certainly proved this morning it has antimicrobial activity. It absorbs well into my skin and is not at all greasy. I don't even think that I'll need to add arrowroot or cornstarch to this if I made it into a stick deodorant.

What I am going to do is use plain babassu oil as a deodorant on one armpit for the coming week and just powder the other (as I've done since Tuesday morning). I'll see how the babassu compares to the powder. The powder I've been using is the Dollar General version of Shower to Shower deodorant powder. I've been using that for years after my shower, especially in the summer when it's so humid.

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Your post cracked me up. The problem with BO is the bacteria feeding on our waste products that are secreted through the skin and converting them into stinky compounds. I think your experiment proved that you can alter the food source that the bacteria uses and in the process eliminate the offensive odor. Even if babassu oil killed the bacteria, it couldn't eliminate the offensive compounds. You need to convert them into something that we can't smell. It's more likely that the babassu oil activates enzymes in the bacteria that eliminate the funk. I wonder what is in babassu oil that isn't in coconut.

I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to try this experiment.

If the powder you use contains talc, consider using something else.

LOL, Theresa your posts always make my day by putting a smile on my face and a hearty laugh in my belly. Line of the day, "I was hoping to stink..."

I'm curious- does the babassu cause any shirt stains for you? I'd like to try some of my babassu out, but I don't take kindly to underarm stains being left behind on my shirts. The last natural deodorant I tried last year (from Wholefoods) had coconut oil, cornstarch, cocoa butter, and shea butter in it, as well as that deodorant additive that BB sells, and it horribly stained 2 of my favorite blouses, which had me steaming mad. Thankfully I was able to get them out with my homemade concoction of Dawn Ultra and vinegar, but I'd rather not have to deal with it again. Maybe I'll try it out while wearing one of my 'play' shirts that I wear when working around around the house. Hmmm....


IrishLass

I wonder if a babassu based lotion/cream would work without staining shirts? I've got some of the BB deodorant additive and it's water soluble so I'm thinking about adding it to the water phase in a lotion. But I'm also worried since the additive contains enzymes that the heat & hold will kill all the useful properties. Anyone tried this?

I have not used any type of underarm anything for three years. Your body gets used to it and doesn't produce the smell. You are suppose to sweat to cool your body off. Strictly soap to shower with and I don't stink or at least everyone tells me I smell good. Ha Ha

When I saw the thread title "de-funk de pits" I just knew it had to be you Teresa! Honestly, you just kill me sometimes (in a good, LMAO kind of way). As I was sitting here LMAO, I had 2 dogs and 3 cats sitting a safe distance away from me and staring. I could just see them thinking "is she losing her ever-loving mind?" Well, that might be true but not from your post.....

Anyhoo, very interesting experiment you're doing! I've tried and tried to get away from commercial antiperspirants but nothing has worked. Tom's burned me enough I couldn't use anything on my pits for several days. I may have to give your babassau concoction a try.

Thanks T, for the post and the giggle.

First of all, thank you everyone for your wonderful comments. I am so glad you are enjoying the humor as well as the information. Please continue to add to the conversation in any way you think is worthy. Diverting onto different tangents is welcome and encouraged. I do it all the time and some of my best ideas come from...OH LOOK! A squirrel....

Stinky pits are a problem we all face. (Err, perhaps face isn't the word I want to use, who wants to "face" stinky pits?) However, someone's gotta be brave and take on the funk. And post explicit details about it. Sharing is caring. I have decided to stink, so you don't have to. And, it helps with my antisocial tendencies...

IrishLass said:

LOL, Theresa your posts always make my day by putting a smile on my face and a hearty laugh in my belly. Line of the day, "I was hoping to stink..."

I'm curious- does the babassu cause any shirt stains for you? I'd like to try some of my babassu out, but I don't take kindly to underarm stains being left behind on my shirts. The last natural deodorant I tried last year (from Wholefoods) had coconut oil, cornstarch, cocoa butter, and shea butter in it, as well as that deodorant additive that BB sells, and it horribly stained 2 of my favorite blouses, which had me steaming mad. Thankfully I was able to get them out with my homemade concoction of Dawn Ultra and vinegar, but I'd rather not have to deal with it again. Maybe I'll try it out while wearing one of my 'play' shirts that I wear when working around around the house. Hmmm....


IrishLass

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I don't know yet, because I've only tried it today and I've worn a cami all day. I doubt it will, though because it has completely absorbed into my skin (just checked) and there is no residue of oil left. There's also no funky odor unless I stick my face in my pit (or touch the fingers that I used to check for greasiness to my nose--not a pretty picture, huh?).

I'm disappointed about the right pit, though. I've definitely got some odor going there. (I'm not even checking for greasiness!) I haven't showered yet today (it's Saturday and I've been home and lazy all day). Once I do that, I'm going to try the babassu on both clean pits. I'll put a white t-shirt on after I do that just to check for staining and post about it.

doriettefarm said:

I wonder if a babassu based lotion/cream would work without staining shirts? I've got some of the BB deodorant additive and it's water soluble so I'm thinking about adding it to the water phase in a lotion. But I'm also worried since the additive contains enzymes that the heat & hold will kill all the useful properties. Anyone tried this?

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I just read about the deodorant on the BB website. I didn't know what it was and wanted to check ingredients. It sounds amazing. However, I wouldn't use it for a deodorant product because it is water soluble and I don't want to have to use germicides in the product. It does state usage rate for hard soap is 1%, but doesn't specify if it's safe to use in CP because of the heat issue. I read the reviews and one reviewer stated she used it and it got rid of the onion smell from when she chopped onions in the kitchen (but didn't say if she used CP or HP). So, there's a possibility of using it in my soaps (instead of the lauric acid that I had mentioned in the other thread).

I'll definitely be interested to find out how the deodorant additive works in a lotion. If you already have a lotion recipe you like could you make a small batch substituting coconut oil (if you use it) with babassu and add the deodorant additive and see how that works? I'll be more than happy to be a tester for the product and make a donation toward any supplies you have to purchase to make it. The idea of a lotion as a deodorant is kind of nice, since we don't pamper our pits the way we pamper the rest of our skin.

soaring1 said:

I have not used any type of underarm anything for three years. Your body gets used to it and doesn't produce the smell. You are suppose to sweat to cool your body off. Strictly soap to shower with and I don't stink or at least everyone tells me I smell good. Ha Ha

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They lie!! :twisted:

KristaY said:

When I saw the thread title "de-funk de pits" I just knew it had to be you Teresa! Honestly, you just kill me sometimes (in a good, LMAO kind of way). As I was sitting here LMAO, I had 2 dogs and 3 cats sitting a safe distance away from me and staring. I could just see them thinking "is she losing her ever-loving mind?" Well, that might be true but not from your post.....

Anyhoo, very interesting experiment you're doing! I've tried and tried to get away from commercial antiperspirants but nothing has worked. Tom's burned me enough I couldn't use anything on my pits for several days. I may have to give your babassau concoction a try.

Thanks T, for the post and the giggle.

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Awesome, that had me laughing. Try that detox thing first. If you're using an antiperspirant and not a plain old deodorant, then the antiperspirant is plugging up the sweat glands under your arms. My theory is with constant use, they never get a break. Do you ever notice a film on your pits when you go to shave? I did, even after washing. I started using a pouf and rubbed my skin raw. There had to be a better way to get clean. But I couldn't figure it out. I went back to the wash cloth and just dealt with it. Then I read about the detox thing and the hijacking of a thread occurred.

I refused to "waste" perfectly good honey on my armpits so I tried the clay. I would not leave it on that long; set a timer. If you don't have bentonite clay, I'm guessing any clay that you use for a face mask will work. I received a sample of an activated charcoal face mask from Soap Making Resources. I'll bet that would work well, too.

(Just went and grabbed the sample and info.) Some of the other ingredients are bentonite clay, lavender, patchouli, and bergamot mint EOs (on the list of antimicrobial essential oils I posted a few links for on mzimm's thread) and finally ROE. The recipe for the AC mask is here (http://www.soap-making-resource.com/activated-charcoal-facial-mask-recipe.html) and the sheet that came with the sample states "if you are going to be making and selling this product" so there's apparently no problem doing that if anyone is so inclined.

Once you detox your armpits, you just need to make sure you are completely dry after your shower/bath. That's why I used the powder, but I'll bet corn starch or arrowroot will work if you don't want to use talc. Since I don't have either one, I can't say for sure. (I think I'll go buy some cornstarch just to see if that will work.) You should give it a try on the weekend or during a time when you're not going to be around a lot of people if you're uncomfortable about the idea of going out in public with no deodorant/antiperspirant.

Me? I don't care. If you're close enough to smell me, you're too darned close!! Back up! I don't want to have to hurt you. :evil:

I guess I bored you all enough for one session. I'm going to wash my dishes.

I haven't used deo for a couple years. Just like soaring1, I was pretty sure I didn't stink. And anyway, I walk dogs for a living, I don't have to see people! But then I went to Colorado and did an 8-hour hike up a mountain. Then two days later I walked 12 miles in a scorching high-desert park. The friend I was staying with told me (a year later mind you) that she 'noticed' my BO at that time but was embarrassed to mention it to me. Well, yeah, I'd done a whole lot of exercise in high heat conditions those days! I do stink though, most especially on days where my arms are clamped to my sides all day (as in wearing dressy clothing) and especially if I am at all nervous during that day. So I made up a CO/grapeseed oil/lemon EO blend with a tiny bit of baking soda in it. For a long time it was sort of crunchy and CO-hard, but then one day this summer it all melted when I forgot to put it back in the fridge after applying. So while it was a liquid I used my emulsion blender on it and popped it back in the fridge. Holy smoke, that concoction is divine now! It's so smooth and melts instantly and it only takes a bare smidgen on my fingertip. And seriously I don't smell at all using it!

Guspuppy said:

I haven't used deo for a couple years. Just like soaring1, I was pretty sure I didn't stink. And anyway, I walk dogs for a living, I don't have to see people! But then I went to Colorado and did an 8-hour hike up a mountain. Then two days later I walked 12 miles in a scorching high-desert park. The friend I was staying with told me (a year later mind you) that she 'noticed' my BO at that time but was embarrassed to mention it to me. Well, yeah, I'd done a whole lot of exercise in high heat conditions those days! I do stink though, most especially on days where my arms are clamped to my sides all day (as in wearing dressy clothing) and especially if I am at all nervous during that day. So I made up a CO/grapeseed oil/lemon EO blend with a tiny bit of baking soda in it. For a long time it was sort of crunchy and CO-hard, but then one day this summer it all melted when I forgot to put it back in the fridge after applying. So while it was a liquid I used my emulsion blender on it and popped it back in the fridge. Holy smoke, that concoction is divine now! It's so smooth and melts instantly and it only takes a bare smidgen on my fingertip. And seriously I don't smell at all using it!

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That is hilarious!! Totally priceless. It's an embarrassing situation all around. Kind of like who wants to point out the huge booger hanging or the spinach on your teeth? Nobody but your bestest friend in the entire world will say anything. (Or me. I'll hand you a tissue and say, "Here, you might want to use this." The spinach? No. I'll let you suffer on that one.)

right?!

TeresaT said:

I just read about the deodorant on the BB website. I didn't know what it was and wanted to check ingredients. It sounds amazing. However, I wouldn't use it for a deodorant product because it is water soluble and I don't want to have to use germicides in the product. It does state usage rate for hard soap is 1%, but doesn't specify if it's safe to use in CP because of the heat issue. I read the reviews and one reviewer stated she used it and it got rid of the onion smell from when she chopped onions in the kitchen (but didn't say if she used CP or HP). So, there's a possibility of using it in my soaps (instead of the lauric acid that I had mentioned in the other thread).

I'll definitely be interested to find out how the deodorant additive works in a lotion. If you already have a lotion recipe you like could you make a small batch substituting coconut oil (if you use it) with babassu and add the deodorant additive and see how that works? I'll be more than happy to be a tester for the product and make a donation toward any supplies you have to purchase to make it. The idea of a lotion as a deodorant is kind of nice, since we don't pamper our pits the way we pamper the rest of our skin.

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You must be reading my mind girlfriend! I will happily send you a tester of the pit lotion if it turns out. I have a lotion recipe that normally calls for shea, coconut & sunflower but I want to substitute mainly babassu and maybe some kokum butter (because it's drier feeling than shea). I'm thinking the BB deodorant additive plus some odor-eating EOs would be nice as well. I've got plenty of supplies so no donations required . . . you supplied the inspiration so I think that's a fair swap! And just to hijack your thread a bit I'm working on those Mexican cocoa bubble scoops as we speak you stinky enabler you

for those worried about staining their clothes you can add a little powder (arrowroot, cornstarch, etc) after applying the oil so it won't be directly against your clothes. also, rather than using too much oil, which might stain, add essential oils to it to enhance its effectiveness. tea tree, lavender and lemongrass are great. while citrus oils are phototoxic i don't think they should be a problem in deodorant as we don't normally raise our arms much in the sun. just be aware of it though if you do try something like lemon, bergamot, grapefruit and proceed with caution. sweet orange isn't supposed to be phototoxic but check your essential oil brand's info sheet to be sure. different brands have different cautions.

also, i think it's best not to scrub pits as they just get irritated and raw, jmo. you can even use half a lemon on each pit to deodorize them. i haven't tried it but some even use that daily for a deodorant. to me that is wasting too many lemons unless one has a huge lemon tree.

definitely do a pit detox (see other thread) before switching to these kind of crunchy deodorants or using something like Tom's. they aren't usually as strong as antiperspirants so killing off a lot of the bacteria, or whatever the detox does, really makes a difference in the effectiveness of the deodorant.

doriettefarm said:

You must be reading my mind girlfriend! I will happily send you a tester of the pit lotion if it turns out. I have a lotion recipe that normally calls for shea, coconut & sunflower but I want to substitute mainly babassu and maybe some kokum butter (because it's drier feeling than shea). I'm thinking the BB deodorant additive plus some odor-eating EOs would be nice as well. I've got plenty of supplies so no donations required . . . you supplied the inspiration so I think that's a fair swap! And just to hijack your thread a bit I'm working on those Mexican cocoa bubble scoops as we speak you stinky enabler you

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I am totally excited about that!! Oh, and the pit lotion. :wink:

Theresa, I just wanted to let you know that for the past 3 days I have been rubbing a little bit of babassu oil on my pits just after showering and right before I apply my usual deodorant (a 'natural'-type from the health-food store). Before I go on, I need to make the qualification that it's been an extraordinarily hot summer here which has been very taxing on the effectiveness of said deodorant. It's gotten to the point that I have to re-apply it a few extra times throughout the day to keep my pits smelling pretty.

Well...... for the past 3 days of applying babassu before applying the deodorant, I have not had to reapply the deodorant at all, even though on top of the heat it's also been very humid here the last 3 days, which has caused a fair bit of sweating.

Oh, and it has not stained my shirts (so far). It easily absorbs right into my skin just like you yourself experienced. Color me impressed!


IrishLass

IrishLass said:

I'm curious- does the babassu cause any shirt stains for you? I'd like to try some of my babassu out, but I don't take kindly to underarm stains being left behind on my shirts. The last natural deodorant I tried last year (from Wholefoods) had coconut oil, cornstarch, cocoa butter, and shea butter in it, as well as that deodorant additive that BB sells, and it horribly stained 2 of my favorite blouses, which had me steaming mad. Thankfully I was able to get them out with my homemade concoction of Dawn Ultra and vinegar, but I'd rather not have to deal with it again. Maybe I'll try it out while wearing one of my 'play' shirts that I wear when working around around the house. Hmmm....


IrishLass

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IL, I wanted to use it for a couple of days while wearing shirts with sleeves. So far, no, I have not had any stains on the shirts.

I have discovered something interesting, though. I thought it was just my imagination, but I googled it and others have the same issue: one pit smells worse than the other. (http://hosbeg.com/why-one-armpit-smells-worse-than-the-other/) Of course, this is not a scientific paper and I couldn't find any scientific data to back it up, but it actually makes sense to me. So, I'm buying it. (Anyone else have that issue?)

So, I've been using the oil on the right pit and nothing on the left pit. I still do not stink. It's not that there is no odor at all, but I don't stink. So, I'm convinced that (1) the detox really helped (2) using a solid antiperspirant/deodorant stick was actually making me stink because bacteria was growing on the stick (3) babassu oil works well to control/inhibit bacterial colonies on the skin.

It is something that you definitely need to do on clean skin. Babassu oil cannot be used as a "freshen up" between showers like a deodorant (aka perfume cover-up) can be. It will not actually remove any odor that may be there, so there's really no way to tell if it is killing those little critters. For example, I shower in the morning, not at night. If I used a commercial deo before I went to bed tonight, the slight odor I have right now would be covered up and gone by the time I fell asleep. If I put some babassu oil on before I went to bed tonight, I'd be moisturizing my pits. I'd probably inhibit any bacterial growth during the night and kill anything there already, but I'd wake up smelling the same, and maybe even worse than I do now.

I'm thoroughly satisfied with the experimentation of the plain babassu oil over an 8 day period to know that it is something that will work for me personally; so I am going to melt down some oil, weigh it and add a few drops of lemongrass essential oil to it. I want to start using the babassu with the lemongrass on the right (and nothing on the left still) to see if there is better odor control with the addition of one essential oil known to kill 22 bacteria and 12 fungi. I'll give it at least as long as the oil alone. Then I'll change to a different essential oil (probably peppermint or clove) and do the same thing.

Oh, I told one of the agents at work (he is a soap tester) about my detox and babassu experiment and said, "Wanna smell?" For some unknown reason he declined. I just can't figure out why he didn't want to stick his nose in my pits, can you?

^^ Do you REEALY need an answer? LOL I only stick my nose in my daughter's pit if not mine. Poor little girl is starting to get a little smelly. The tester I made will be scrapped but I must say, I like my deo way better without the baking soda.

You made me remember this quote, Lady.

I've never heard of Zora Neale Hurston. I'm going to have to look her up. However, that is an AWESOME quote. I saved that photo. I'm going to have to print that out and put it on my "wall of fame" at work.

TeresaT said:

Oh, I told one of the agents at work (he is a soap tester) about my detox and babassu experiment and said, "Wanna smell?" For some unknown reason he declined. I just can't figure out why he didn't want to stick his nose in my pits, can you?

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are you CIA? oh wait, soapy intelligence? what is that?

TeresaT said:

I've never heard of Zora Neale Hurston. I'm going to have to look her up. However, that is an AWESOME quote. I saved that photo. I'm going to have to print that out and put it on my "wall of fame" at work.

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Harlem Renaissance was her time in the lime light. She was a well known writer. Still, my absolute favorite quote is this: "I prefer not to." Put that on a shirt and those who get it may have a chuckle.