de-funk de pits

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Yes, please tell what you are hoping to get out of the beeswax addition to the formula. BTW: since it has been so cold lately, the deodorant is hard as a rock and not quite so easy to apply at the 50/50 oil/magnesium hydroxide combination. However, I keep the bathroom door closed at night so it stays warm in there for my morning shower and the deodorant is the perfect softness to apply after being in there. For those having issues with it being too hard, try putting it near your heater or vent overnight or while you shower. I know when the weather gets warmer, I'll have no issues at all with the product being too hard. I might have to add some beeswax myself during the summer months.

I did this exact combo with the added Beeswax - Im in Florida and I wanted it to be a stick deodorant. So I added the BW. Its too hot here and it gets super mushy.
 
If the babassu and MH is very hard, Dahlia, do you expect the beeswax to make the mixture softer perhaps? Or is there an advantage to the beeswax that I'm not thinking of?

DeeAnna, I want to try to add the beeswax cause with skin contact babassu leaves grease on tube, outside of tube and beeswax may keep it together. I will try cause babassu and MH is working like a charm. Maybe cera bellina is better option
 
Oh, I get it now. So you're focusing less on firm vs mushy (like Redhead) and more on the texture of the solid product.

I know you live in Ontario and I'm not so far south here in Iowa (in fact some parts of Ontario are as southerly as I am), so I didn't think the issue of firm vs mushy was going to be too much of a problem for either of us 10 or 11 months of the year.
 
Redhead, so adding the beeswax helped keep the product from getting mushy? What ratio did you use? Dahlia, I know exactly what you mean. If I don't wipe the product off the tube when I use it in the sticks, it gets in the threads and the lids won't come off. I have to run it under hot water to let it melt a little. I just ordered a bunch of deo tubes that don't have the screw tops. They're also 2.6 oz instead of .33 oz, so that will be nice, too. Since this formula works so well, I think I'm going to start scenting the deodorant with my fragrance oils. I can use a different fragrance every day, depending on my mood or wardrobe!
 
I finally made a test batch for myself. I went with 50:50 babassu:magnesium hydroxide by weight. Added EO at 1% of the product weight. I used a blend of 2 parts lavender, 1 part rosemary which is sweetly herbaceous to my nose -- not overpowering. I chose lavender and rosemary because they are also antibacterial.

I put the mixture into a used but carefully cleaned deodorant container -- the large oval kind that you twist up to get more product. My house is 65 to 70 degrees F and the product at these temps is a firm waxy solid that softens a bit when rubbed on the skin. I'm going to remember Dahlia's objection about the product being a bit messy -- if I think that's a problem with this type of dispenser, I'm pondering a few ideas for future recipe tweaks.

As far as controlling BO, so far so good, but it's only been a couple of days and the weather is still cool. I haven't used antiperspirant for decades since I was a college undergraduate learning that shaving my legs and underarms, plucking one's brows, and wearing deodorant or antiperspirant were personal choices, not laws of nature. (I was very naive as a young woman from a small western Iowa town, and I had a lot to learn about life!)

One thing that contributed to my becoming less naive in my undergrad days was that I was getting badly plugged sweat glands in my armpits. Every so often they would become painful and infected cysts. When I finally tumbled to what the problem was and stopped wearing antiperspirant, the problem promptly went away. I've tried antiperspirant a few times since those days and the problem comes right back, so deodorant for me is a matter of health as much as a personal preference. (I also learned back then that shaving my armpits also helped reduce BO, so I shave for that reason.)

Thankfully I don't usually have a huge BO problem, so Tom's of Maine deodorant works for me pretty well most of the time. But occasionally on days with lots of stress or on hot summer days, good ol' Tom fails me. So I'm curious to see how the babassu-MH blend works for me.
 
I like DeeAnna have not real problem with sweating but when stressed up I do , and then I need a good one. I have Jason but I do not like it, I wonder what container Teresa ordered? I had not done yet the one with beeswax cause I have not more containers. They are coming, :) I think the one with beeswax tiny bit may work
 
I'm using the recycled version of this. It seems to be working so far, but I don't have a lot of experience yet, especially during warm weather, so my opinion could change.

0805-37.jpg

Source: https://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin8am.html

***

Teresa talks about a container with a screw-off top. Maybe like this?

0809-01.jpg

Source: https://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin8ai.html
 
That second one is more like the one I got, although mine are more translucent so I can see the level of product inside. I just ordered the most affordable one I could find online with a screw top lid and I am happy with the result. Teresa did include a link to the ones she ordered, I think, in a previous post.

My niece was collecting used up deodorant containers to use for a roll-on baby-bum productb she planned to make, so re-using them certainly is something people do. I would have done so myself, but I didn't have any on hand.
 
DeeAnna, yes. You are correct, that's what they looked like. I didn't purchase my screw top tube from S&K, I bought it from another company. I won't use them again, though (poor customer service). However, I purchased those new tubes from S&K. I haven't used them yet. Here are photos. You can see in the first how gunked up the screw tubes get, so I wouldn't be using that type of container again. The only benefit I can see for that is a travel product. If you fly a lot, that would be ideal for your deodorant and any other type of solid lotion because the cap wouldn't come off under the pressure of the plane's cargo hold. That's happened to me, so I usually carry that stuff in my overnight bag. The container is small enough to be in the overnight bag, so I'm not sure if there would be any benefit to that. S&K might have larger sized deodorant containers with the screw on lids; but that's not something I would want for the gunking up reason. Then again, there may be people that actually wipe their containers off. I'm not that neat or conscientious about things. The second photo shows the difference in size of the two containers. The first deodorant containers I purchased were truly "testers." I checked my notes and they were only 1.35 oz. The white containers are full sized 2.6 oz deodorant containers. I bought a case of 48 with caps. I also bought shrink bands for them. I've decided to add fragrance oils to the deodorant, partly because I'm totally addicted to Carolyn's Dragon's Blood, and partly because I've got so many of them that I want to see if using FO in the deodorant makes any difference in how it works. I'm still not having any stinky pits issues, but it might be nice to have coconut lime deodorant when I shower with coconut lime soap or dragon's blood when I shower with dragon's blood. I already make powder that I'm able to fragrance with whatever I want to, why not have multiple deodorants with complimentary fragrances so I can do that layering thing? I'm thinking of delving into making lotion, too. Actually, I have to, I've already bought the bottles for the lotion (and for liquid soap). I've either got to make the stuff or sell the bottles. I'll be glad when summer gets here and I'm over this state of constant exhaustion that winter brings me.

gunked up.JPG


comparison.JPG
 
First of all, I'm loving reading this thread, thank you!!

Second, after an extended bout with painkillers, I have "mint flavor" Milk of Magnesia in my cupboard just gathering dust. I'm inspired to use it as more than a dust collector, though I'm wondering if it will make my armpits feel minty fresh.

Minty fresh, non-funky armpits might be fun once we get into summer... I'm thinking 50:45:5 (babassu/magnesium/beeswax) with the beeswax to harden the mixture with that much MOM.
 
The mag hydroxide powdered works fine when mixed with babassu (and I'm sure it will work if beeswax is included), but liquid MoM might not work so well. Being a water-based liquid, the MoM will want to separate and weep out of the fat and wax mixture unless you also use an emulsifier. Beeswax alone does not emulsify. People have trouble with honey weeping out of their beeswax-based lip balms at just a percent or three of honey. I'd think MoM liquid at 45% of the recipe would be a real mess. Also, I'd probably want to think about a preservative with a water-fat blend.
 
The mag hydroxide powdered works fine when mixed with babassu (and I'm sure it will work if beeswax is included), but liquid MoM might not work so well. Being a water-based liquid, the MoM will want to separate and weep out of the fat and wax mixture unless you also use an emulsifier. Beeswax alone does not emulsify. People have trouble with honey weeping out of their beeswax-based lip balms at just a percent or three of honey. I'd think MoM liquid at 45% of the recipe would be a real mess. Also, I'd probably want to think about a preservative with a water-fat blend.

Put this way, it makes a lot of sense why Milk of Magnesia would be a bad idea in this particular recipe. I'll keep it around as a dust magnet until I find further use - or until I have further reason for opioid painkillers (hopefully no time soon! Knock on wood..)

Thank you, DeeAnna!
 
Redhead, so adding the beeswax helped keep the product from getting mushy? What ratio did you use? Dahlia, I know exactly what you mean. If I don't wipe the product off the tube when I use it in the sticks, it gets in the threads and the lids won't come off. I have to run it under hot water to let it melt a little. I just ordered a bunch of deo tubes that don't have the screw tops. They're also 2.6 oz instead of .33 oz, so that will be nice, too. Since this formula works so well, I think I'm going to start scenting the deodorant with my fragrance oils. I can use a different fragrance every day, depending on my mood or wardrobe!

Theresa - I have used 2% but have gone as high as 5%. It doesnt need much to firm up a bit. It is starting to get very hot here in Miami so Ill see how it holds up. 5% is more to my liking. The air conditioning is always on here and I keep my house relatively cold so it has stayed pretty solid. The babassu as you know is very solid as well. I know it did help make it a nice stick.
 
The mag hydroxide powdered works fine when mixed with babassu (and I'm sure it will work if beeswax is included), but liquid MoM might not work so well. Being a water-based liquid, the MoM will want to separate and weep out of the fat and wax mixture unless you also use an emulsifier. Beeswax alone does not emulsify. People have trouble with honey weeping out of their beeswax-based lip balms at just a percent or three of honey. I'd think MoM liquid at 45% of the recipe would be a real mess. Also, I'd probably want to think about a preservative with a water-fat blend.

DeAnna - I have been using honey in my lip balms lately and whipping it with my mini blender until it blends in. Like the way honey butter is made. I let my recipe firm up a bit so I can blend it in. Then Ill heat it a bit after to make it a little more pourable. I have some test batches sitting for a while to see if it weeps or separates. So far so good. But time will tell. Its only a tsp in a 6oz batch but Im still experimenting.
 
Minty fresh, non-funky armpits might be fun once we get into summer... I'm thinking 50:45:5 (babassu/magnesium/beeswax) with the beeswax to harden the mixture with that much MOM.

Like DeeAnna said, you'll probably need an emulsifier. I have an idea for making a babassu/MOM lotion but need to pick up babassu first.

I currently use unflavored MOM and dont have any complaints about my scent. Before I switched I did the honey detox mentioned earlier in the thread somewhere and plan to do it again soon (it's been six months). If you want to trust the mint flavor and possible sugar you could give it a try for a weekend, but I don't know how the flavor will interact with things.
 
Redhead -- Even if you're lucky enough to avoid separation, are you concerned about microbial growth? IMO, the added sweetness is not worth the risk to me. I harvest beeswax from my own hives, so the wax still has that warm sweet beeswax aroma. That and a touch of essential oil make a really nice lip balm without the risk and without preservatives.
 
Like DeeAnna said, you'll probably need an emulsifier. I have an idea for making a babassu/MOM lotion but need to pick up babassu first.

I currently use unflavored MOM and dont have any complaints about my scent. Before I switched I did the honey detox mentioned earlier in the thread somewhere and plan to do it again soon (it's been six months). If you want to trust the mint flavor and possible sugar you could give it a try for a weekend, but I don't know how the flavor will interact with things.

honey detox... Hmm.. in my insomniac state I don't even remember anything about a honey detox.

I do like honey though.
 
Redhead -- Even if you're lucky enough to avoid separation, are you concerned about microbial growth? IMO, the added sweetness is not worth the risk to me. I harvest beeswax from my own hives, so the wax still has that warm sweet beeswax aroma. That and a touch of essential oil make a really nice lip balm without the risk and without preservatives.

If get my beeswax from a local farmer here and agree it has the sweetness. nice! As far as the microbial growth - I dont sell it, strictly for myself and family/friends. But thanks for reminding me of that. :)
 
Random thing I learned while looking into this: magnesium sulfate is in Epsom salt and Milk of Magnesia. Magnesium chloride is the supplement people take when they're low on magnesium because it stays in the body longer. Assuming that one doesn't have medical conditions where they should avoid extra magnesium, magnesium chloride might be absorbed nicely through the skin and used as both a supplement and a de-funkifier in combination with Babassu.

Though there might be a period where it is important to slowly introduce the magnesium, in order to avoid camping out in the bathroom while getting adjusted. :think:

Treating pit stank, slow digestion, and arthritis since 2017...
 
Last edited:
Back
Top