Need to make a switch...

[TeresaT]

Another thing I'm thinking of doing is testing a "deodorant" soap. Since I've got to buy lauric acid anyway, I'm going to try adding it to lard, which has no lauric acid in it. I'm pretty sure I've got some cured lard bars in the house. If not, I'll do a batch of 100% lard when I do the lard/lauric batch. Once the soap is cured I'll compare them (one soap per pit, I guess) and see if the lard/lauric keeps me "shower fresh" longer than the lard bar.

The big question I have right now concerning lauric acid and soap is, will any of the antimicrobial qualities of the lauric acid survive the saponification? Can I make an antimicrobial CP soap. Or would it have to be HP and the lauric acid added after the cook and zap test was negative. I'm thinking the better choice in making an antimicrobial soap would be HP and adding the lauric acid and the antimicrobial essential oils after the cook (and zap test) before the soap cools down too much to mold. That is going to be a fine timeline (for me at least). Someone that does HP, and does it well, may have a better handle on getting the timing right.

Anyway, it's one more thing to add to my lengthy list of soaping to-dos.

 

[Arimara]

Another thing I'm thinking of doing is testing a "deodorant" soap. Since I've got to buy lauric acid anyway, I'm going to try adding it to lard, which has no lauric acid in it. I'm pretty sure I've got some cured lard bars in the house. If not, I'll do a batch of 100% lard when I do the lard/lauric batch. Once the soap is cured I'll compare them (one soap per pit, I guess) and see if the lard/lauric keeps me "shower fresh" longer than the lard bar.

The big question I have right now concerning lauric acid and soap is, will any of the antimicrobial qualities of the lauric acid survive the saponification? Can I make an antimicrobial CP soap. Or would it have to be HP and the lauric acid added after the cook and zap test was negative. I'm thinking the better choice in making an antimicrobial soap would be HP and adding the lauric acid and the antimicrobial essential oils after the cook (and zap test) before the soap cools down too much to mold. That is going to be a fine timeline (for me at least). Someone that does HP, and does it well, may have a better handle on getting the timing right.

Anyway, it's one more thing to add to my lengthy list of soaping to-dos.

Good questions. I would figure HP would be best but some of us do swear by adding certain EOs to our CP soaps and have had great results from it where acne is concerned. I guess it's worth a shot to do both methods and see which is more effective.

I have to ask this- Would coffee soap be useless in this? It's been a while since I used that and I wasn't testing for armpit de-funk-tions (I need sleep before I ruin more words)

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Adding a fatty acid in before the lye is gone will result in the saponification of the fatty acid - so hp would be your only option

 

[TeresaT]

Good questions. I would figure HP would be best but some of us do swear by adding certain EOs to our CP soaps and have had great results from it where acne is concerned. I guess it's worth a shot to do both methods and see which is more effective.

I have to ask this- Would coffee soap be useless in this? It's been a while since I used that and I wasn't testing for armpit de-funk-tions (I need sleep before I ruin more words)

That's what I'm thinking. But HP is such a PITA for me.

Coffee: That is an excellent idea. I didn't even consider that. I've made coffee soap one time, and added the coffee grounds to it. But it was for a "kitchen" soap to get rid of kitchen smells. So, while it gets rid of the immediate odors (and all soaps do that, if you think about it), I want to have something that leaves behind a protective barrier of some sort. I know soap is a wash off product. When we super fat, theoretically, we are leaving some of the "good stuff" behind on the skin. I want that good stuff to be lauric acid and those antimicrobial essential oils. However, back to that question of coffee, it certainly has appeal to it as long as your EO combo isn't something like clove, eucalyptus and tarragon. But if you went with cinnamon, peppermint and little clove, that would probably be appealing.

Adding a fatty acid in before the lye is gone will result in the saponification of the fatty acid - so hp would be your only option

Bubble. Completely. Burst. :cry: Gee, thanks, TEG.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Hp isn't tooooooooooo bad. For special cases like shaving soaps and so on, we just have to suck it up and cook that soap

 

[IrishLass]

Hp isn't tooooooooooo bad. For special cases like shaving soaps and so on, we just have to suck it up and cook that soap

LOL. "Suck it up and cook that soap". Thank you for causing the second belly laugh of my day. (Theresa beat you to it for the first one)

Yep- sucking it up and cooking that soap is pretty much what I have to do whenever I make my shave soap. There's no way I'm able to CP that baby with all that stearic acid in there, unless I soap really, really hot (195F+/91C+), but at that point it's pretty much HP anyway. lol


IrishLass

 

[Arimara]

That's what I'm thinking. But HP is such a PITA for me.

Coffee: That is an excellent idea. I didn't even consider that. I've made coffee soap one time, and added the coffee grounds to it. But it was for a "kitchen" soap to get rid of kitchen smells. So, while it gets rid of the immediate odors (and all soaps do that, if you think about it), I want to have something that leaves behind a protective barrier of some sort. I know soap is a wash off product. When we super fat, theoretically, we are leaving some of the "good stuff" behind on the skin. I want that good stuff to be lauric acid and those antimicrobial essential oils. However, back to that question of coffee, it certainly has appeal to it as long as your EO combo isn't something like clove, eucalyptus and tarragon. But if you went with cinnamon, peppermint and little clove, that would probably be appealing.



Bubble. Completely. Burst. :cry: Gee, thanks, TEG.

Hp isn't tooooooooooo bad. For special cases like shaving soaps and so on, we just have to suck it up and cook that soap

This and one more thing: I can only speak as one who has used a soap with EOs. It did amazing things for my face and ingrown hairs on underarms thanks to crappy Venus shavers (I have disposables). When I do decide to use EOs, clove will be out of the question. Eucalyptus... I'll leave that for winter when I will be at risk for my usual URIs or worse. You can tell I could use a diffuser, right?

 

[Dakotah_SoapWorks]

I just want regular deodorant and they don't even sell that for women. I don't need antiperspirant since I don't sweat that much and if I do, it's cause it's super hot and it helps cool me down anyway. Men have many options for just deodorant. It kinda sucks.

Arm & Hammer makes a deodorant.

 

[kthomas50]

Natural Deodorant

I have been making and using my own deodorant for several years. In the beginning, yes, you stink like a sailor, and the reason is a detox process. All the crap that we eat, and chemicals we wear, etc...it all comes out the armpits...that's what armpits are designed for. Anyhoo, if you get some clay (I use dead sea mud) and pack it onto your pits like a mask, and then lie down and think about life for about ten to fifteen minutes, and wash it off, you will not stink any longer. You may have to do this initially, and then maybe once a week or every other week during the first month or so of switching to a natural deodorant. Mine is the wellnessmama recipe, except I did react to the baking soda, so I cut it out and use a little diatimacious earth. Any clay would work too. I keep mine in an old roll on deodorant tube, or a jar. Works a charm!

 

[navigator9]

Just an FYI for anyone who may be interested...still using the milk of magnesia, and it's still working just great. No odor, and I think it even keeps me somewhat dry. I couldn't be happier with it.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I confess that I haven't read the whole thread, but have you folks compared your natural deodorants to nothing at all?

A couple of years ago a new scent of antiperspirant/deodorant caused an allergic reaction in me that forced me to go without anything while it healed. After the healing was complete, I was fed-up enough with the whole subject to attempt nothing at all. After the first few weeks (six maybe?), during which the smell was noticeably strong, the smell just went away. And I'm sure I didn't "just get used to it" as my wife has the nose of five pregnant bloodhounds and absolutely NO qualms about telling me straight. Showering daily, there simply wasn't any of the typical "BO' smell, and that state continued for a good four months before I abandoned the experiment. The problem was that even though there was no stink, using nothing did nothing to deter the sweat itself, and I just couldn't handle soaking through shirts and jackets at the pits. So I went back to a conventional, commercial antiperspirant with an aluminum base. In my experience, though, you may not need anything if your only goal is not to stink.

 

[tammy sue starks]

Just an update...since reading this, I decided to give M.O.M. a try, and I have to say, it's been working great. Not quite as convenient as a stick or roll on, and you do have to wait for it to dry, but it's been hot and muggy around here, and I just stuck my nose in my armpit and...nothin'! So far, no irritation either. Now, I'm looking for a little squeeze bottle to put it in, to make it a bit more convenient than trying to pour out just enough from the big bottle. So if you've been wanting to give it a try, and wondering if it really works, I'd say go for it.

glad to hear, I may figure a roll on way to use it

 

[cmzaha]

After a tremendous amount of testing and tweaking I finally have my deodorant sticks refined enough that I am completely happy with them. I have been selling them for a couple of yrs and while they performed well I never liked how they held up in the tubes. They are now much better and actually perform much better with the addition of Zinc Ricinoleate. I became sensitive to fragrance in mine so I use fragrance-free and they perform just as well. Go figure, I get them perfected and no markets, but I have had a few orders by text messages.

I am thinking of putting together kits and selling the kits.

 

[AliOop]

I make a variation of a recipe from Tina Moenck’s Homemade Natural Deodorant ebook that I purchased awhile back. Her recipes are really good, and she explains what each ingredient does so you can tweak it for your preferences. She offers many bicarbonate-free and coconut-oil free options. Some are sticks and some are creams. I’ll never go back to store-bought.

 

[atiz]

I have tried quite many store-bought natural deodorants and none of them really worked. I'm not a super sweaty person, but cycling 20 minutes to and back from work in the summer does have some effects.

Since the natural store-bought things did not work, I was *very* skeptical of the home-made stuff. (If a lab can't figure out how to make a working one with 15+ fancy ingredients then surely my 2-ingredient one will be a disaster.)

BUT, it does work!
I just made it last week. Followed Irish Lass's simple 60:40 recipe (MgOH + babassu), just to keep it simple and cheap for the test. And it's great -- passes the "bike to work" test in the midwest summer, doesn't stain my cloths, smells good (added just a bit of EO), and it does not even bother me that I have to apply it as a cream.
I really really should have tried it sooner! Esp. since it's so easy to make.

So thanks all, and to the contributors of the de-funk thread, for all the suggestions!

 

[Gaisy59]

I adapted a recipe from the Wellness Mama blog. We love it because it works. Apparently some people can't use baking soda though as it irritates them, but we find it ok. If you have issues with it I believe the Wellness Mama has an alternative recipe on the blog.

This is my adaptation of her recipe: (I subbed cocoa butter for the shea as I found the shea too soft - cocoa butter stays harder in a deodorant stick)

30g Cocoa Butter
45g Coconut Oil
30g Arrowroot
45g Baking Soda (150g ingredients altogether)

Gently melt cocoa butter and coconut oil (I do in microwave).
Add arrowroot and baking soda and mix well.

I then add 2 grams of peppermint oil (we love the fresh smell) - but you can use any EO you like or leave it plain.

You can put this in a jar with a lid and apply with fingers OR ... I pour it into a push stick and wait for it to set. When you apply it, as soon as it touches your skin it goes very soft. Yesterday I made some and added a bit of beeswax to see if it would help but I didn't add enough so I'm still experimenting with this.

Hope this helps

Try cera bellina wax. I have been using that and it works beautifully

 

[cmzaha]

Today was over 100 and very humid and my new tweak worked fantastic even un-scented. Too bad, I have no markets now that I finally nailed the deo. This has taken around 2 yrs of tweaking.

 

[Gaisy59]

I make a variation of a recipe from Tina Moenck’s Homemade Natural Deodorant ebook that I purchased awhile back. Her recipes are really good, and she explains what each ingredient does so you can tweak it for your preferences. She offers many bicarbonate-free and coconut-oil free options. Some are sticks and some are creams. I’ll never go back to store-bought.

I looked her ip after you posted...her ebook is 30.00!!

 

[TashaBird]

Has anyone tried this stuff? I’m also going to try making my own deodorant soon. Also, I love this ladies facebook group. Odor Neutralizer Pellets

“Benefits:

• Works in that it chemically traps and absorbs odor molecules formed during bacterial decomposition of perspiration
• Does not inhibit transpiration and is therefore not an antipersipirant
• Has no bactericidal or fungicidal properties and therefore does not interfere with the natural flora of the skin

Use: Can be melted together with the other oily components of the oil phase, preferably at 80°C/176°F. Emulsify as usual. Typical use level is 1-5%. For external use only.

Applications: Deodorant sticks or emulsion type deodorants.

Country of Origin: USA

Raw material source: Castor oil and zinc

Manufacture: Zinc ricinoleate is the zinc salt of ricinoleic acid which is obtained from castor oil.”

 

[AliOop]

I looked her ip after you posted...her ebook is 30.00!!

It is worth the price, IMO. Her recipes are good, but more importantly, she explains how to tweak them to fit your own body chemistry. Also, every time she makes an update, anyone who has ever purchased the book gets the update, as well.