New Wonder Drug: Baking Soda Health Tip

Baking Soda as Deodorant??

Yes, I too was a bit surprised a few weeks ago when an aquaintance of mine suggested that I try baking soda as a deodorant.  “It’s actually the best deodorant I’ve found in terms of effectiveness,” she informed me, “Better than every chemical and natural deodorant I’ve tried, and I’ve tried many over the years.”

An Experiment

As a longtime consumer of natural, organic, non-toxic personal care and hygiene products, I was intrigued.  I had tried a wide variety of deodorants and antiperspirants.  I tried them in the usual solid format, and in the spray varieties.  While I had mixed success, the products I tried either didn’t last long enough, or just masked the odor without neutralizing it.  And there is definite expense involved in the experimentation process, sometimes between $4-5 for the organic deodorant varieties.
So I tried out the baking soda.  Lo and behold, after applying about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to each underarm, at the end of a busy day, I literally smelled like nothing.  You might reasonably expect some sort of odor after that amount of time and activity.  However, nothing was there.

A Low-Cost, Natural, Non-Toxic Alternative to the Alternatives

After repeating my experiment for several days, I became convinced of the effectiveness of straight-up baking soda as a deodorant.  My acquaintance recommended that I mix the baking soda with coconut oil, which apparently has anti-microbial properties, and makes it easier to apply to the underarms.  I haven’t tried that yet but will consider it for the future.
When you consider the cost differential between baking soda and natural deodorants, baking soda, at $0.79 per box, wins hands down, and is at least 5 times cheaper than its competitors.

The Online Community of Baking Soda – as – Deodorant Users

Check out Jeanne Haegele’s blog post on her usage of baking soda as deodorant on her blog, Life Less Plastic.  See the many comments below her post for ideas about how to successfully use baking soda as deodorant in everyday life.
Enjoy!