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At last! An all-natural homemade deodorant recipe that actually works! This easy DIY natural deodorant is affordable and very effective using ingredients that are probably already in your pantry.

cardboard tubes and a jar of homemade deodorant on a white board with flowers and beeswax

Can you melt things in a jar? Congrats, you can also make your own deodorant. It’s really that easy. Scavenge your pantry and let’s get to it.

Why Make Homemade Deodorant?

Two ingredients in many conventional deodorants are aluminum and parabens. I don’t tend to be a one to leap to scary conclusions, but if we can all make affordable and effective deodorant without potentially sketchy ingredients, why wouldn’t we?

What Ingredients Are in Homemade Deodorant?

You really only need three things (baking soda*, coconut oil, and cornstarch or arrowroot powder*), but I like to add a few other things to take it to the next level. Your pits deserve you being extra. A few optional ingredients that I like to use are beeswax, sweet almond oil, and bentonite clay. You can also add essential oils if you’d like.

Many of these same ingredients can also be used in my Lotion Bars recipe and Homemade Chapstick recipe.

beeswax, coconut oil, and other ingredients for a homemade deodorant recipe

*Arrowroot powder will be in the baking aisle, or if you have a grocery store with a decent bulk bin section, you can usually find it there. A $2.50 bag from our bulk bin section made 10 jars of deodorant. It is not an expensive ingredient by any means.

**If you have a reaction to the baking soda, wait until the redness has gone, and try again. If the reaction persists, you could try all arrowroot powder, or replace the baking soda with cornstarch. However, I have not found the final product to be as effective as the original recipe. Many readers have commented that they prefer using food-grade diatomaceous earth instead of baking soda.

What If I Can’t Use Coconut Oil?

Coconut sensitivity or allergy? No problem. Feel free to sub in sweet almond, avocado oil, or shea butter.

Can I Make it Vegan?

Don’t use animal products? You can replace the beeswax with candelilla wax but decrease the amount by half. You can also leave wax out completely and replace it with shea butter.

What Essential Oils Work Best?

Personally, I’m not a fan of using them because I find my skin is too sensitive for direct contact. But, if you’d like to add them, 20 drops total would be a good starting point. Lavender, tea tree or bergamot essential oils would be wonderful. I would not use lavender in deodorant meant for males as it can be an endocrine disruptor.

How to Make This Homemade Deodorant Recipe:

*You’ll find a printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

  1. In a double boiler or a large mason jar, melt the oils and beeswax.
  2. Add the powdered ingredients, and stir to combine. If using essential oils, add now.

    two process steps for making an effective homemade deodorant recipe
    I use this double-boiler for all my DIY products that include beeswax, so there is always some residue around the sides. Oh well, most of the ingredients are the same anyhoo.

  3. Pour into your containers of choice and allow to cool/set for a few hours.melted homemade deodorant in a double boiler and mason jars

How to Use Homemade Deodorant

  • Apply a small amount with your finger to your underarms. You only need a tiny bit. If you add the bentonite clay, excessive use may cause slight staining on light-colored clothing.
  • Pour some of this homemade deodorant recipe into an empty chapstick container and stash it in your purse or work bag for emergency applications.

Recipes Notes/Pro Tips

  • In a pinch, you could use any melted wax if you can’t find cosmetic-grade beeswax. It’s a perfect use for odds and ends of candle stubs.
  • I store this in a 4 oz mason jar because I have loads of them, but an empty deodorant tube would work too! The reusable cardboard tubes in these photos can be found here. Heck, even old baby food jars would be awesome. Each batch makes about 8 oz.
  • In the summer, the consistency may be more liquidy depending on the temp inside your house. Coconut oil is solid in temperatures under 76 degrees F. You could also ramp up the beeswax by 1 tsp to make it more solid, or store in the fridge.

Life is too short to smell. Life is also too short to shell out $5 for a tube of chemicals that you are rolling under yo’ pits. Homemade deodorant is pretty much one of the easiest things you can make for yourself and is bonkers cheap.

cardboard tubes and a jar of homemade deodorant on a white board with flowers and beeswax

MORE HOMEMADE DIY IDEAS

5 from 5 ratings

Natural Homemade Deodorant Recipe {That Works!}

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
jars of deodorant with flowers, beeswax, and cardboard tubes
A simple a natural homemade deodorant that actually works to keep you dry and stank-free! Adapted from a recipe by Shelley Stonebrook.

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • In a double boiler or a large mason jar, melt the oils and beeswax.
  • Add the powdered ingredients, and stir to combine. If using essential oils, add now. 
  • Pour into containers of choice and allow to cool/set for a few hours.

Notes

I store this in a 4 oz mason jar because I have loads of them, but an empty deodorant tube would work too! Heck, even old baby food jars would be awesome.
 
If you have a reaction to the baking soda, wait until the redness has gone, and try again. If the reaction persists, you could try all arrowroot powder, or replace the baking soda with cornstarch. However, I have not found the final product to be as effective as the original recipe.
 
Don't use animal products? You can replace the beeswax with candelilla wax but decrease the amount by half.
 

Additional Info

Course: DIY
Tried this recipe?Mention @sustainablecooks or tag #sustainablecooks!

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About Sarah

Helping you serve up budget-friendly sustainable recipes with a side of balanced living.
Come for the food. Stay for the snark.

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36 Comments

  1. I can’t wait to try this recipe!!!! I love the paper Brown containers in the picture, just wondering if anyone has used these without them leaking? All the reviews I’ve read said they leak when you pour liquid into them.

    1. I didn’t have any “leakage” when I used them. But I bought mine 2(ish) years ago so perhaps they have changed the structure of the tubes?

  2. If anyone is bothered by the baking soda, detox the armpits with bentonite clay and apple cider vinegar a few times a week until baking soda is not bothering anymore. Use aloe after the detox to soothe the skin.

  3. Just wanted to personally shout out to this recipe. I’d been making my own deodorant for years, and decided to give this recipe a go. I did some modifications (I don’t care for the smell of coconut) and it works a treat plus no fire pits! (if you know, you know!) I’ve never had trouble with staining of my clothes (even white t-shirts) and my hypersensitive skin isn’t changing colors from this recipe. (It did for most commercial brands and products from a company whos name rhymes with shush) Most important – it works!!! Commercial deodorants left me smelling like a goat at the end of the day (lucky me) and this one keeps me fresh.

    If you are on the fence about homemade deodorant, try this! (Also, Sarah… a request! Would you do an updated garden tour? Inquiring minds! xoxoxo)5 stars

    1. Well, this is a lovely testimonial for this recipe – thank you, Jennifer!

      Yes to the garden tours, but later in the season. Right now it’s like “here are some weeds I need to pull and here is a bunch of dirt where we are hoping things grow”. 🙂

      1. Sweet!!! We’re setting up our very blank canvas backyard up right now for veggies and fruit trees (omg two apple trees ordered! they are supposed to arrive in one week!) and I’ve been showing my husband some of your old posts. Cause we want to grow grow grow and we’re on a super tight budget. 🙂 (and I hear you on the weeds what is up dandelions!?)

      2. If raspberries, mint, or strawberries are on your “to grow” list, the first thing to do is to find friends or neighbors who already grow them. You can take cuttings from all of those and grow your own for free!d

        The raspberries we grow were extras that had come up in my aunt and uncle’s raspberry patch. They gave me 6, 3 died, and the other 3 multiplied and created this raspberry patch for free. Ironically, my cousin (their daughter) is coming by tomorrow to get extras I have pulled out of MY garden so that she can plant them. “it’s the ciiiiiiiiiiircle, the circle of life”.