My Make Your Own Section
Below I show you how to make your own natural deodorant & toothpaste plus some tips on using natural products around the house.
If you have dark brown hair a useful tip for keeping your hair colour is to add cocoa powder to your normal shampoo. Or add to a coconut oil home made hair mask for colour & conditioning.
How to Make Home Made Natural Toothpaste (Tooth Powder)
I call this toothpaste but in reality it's a powder which you can make yourself really easily & very cheaply too! Key ingredients are arrowroot, baking soda, essential oil & chopped sage.
I used an old jar from a previously used plastic free product. Plastic free toothpaste can be very expensive so using the same jar to house my own version recycles the container & saves money at the same time.
For extra brownie points, why not ditch the plastic & use a bamboo toothbrush instead!😇
The quantities will depend on how much you're planning to make, I suggest starting small to begin with to see how you get on. Mix equals quantities of arrowroot, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) & water (sprinkle water in gently to keep the powdery consistency).
Add in peppermint oil & chopped sage.
The peppermint oil can be adjusted but do take care of essential oils as they are very strong and can burn if swallowed neat - diluted down in the powder should be fine. Feel free to experiment with quantities, base ingredients and flavours to see what works for you.
The site below has the recipe & suggested quantities at:
https://uncomplicatedrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/03/arrowroot-toothpaste.html
https://uncomplicatedrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/03/arrowroot-toothpaste.html
You can search for other recipes that use clay for instance to make a paste & some use salt but I like this one as seems less abrasive than salt and I didn't have anything clay based in the cupboard.
Here's what mine looked like. I find that my teeth do feel very smooth & clean afterwards. Use the toothbrush head to scoop up some of the powder.
How to Make Your Own Home Made Natural Deodorant
So super easy, you'll wonder why you never did this before! Uses just 3 ingredients (baking soda, coconut oil & essential oil).
Mix equal quantities of coconut oil & baking soda. I started off very small as utilised an old jar of natural deodorant that I reviewed in the past - I found just 1/8th cup of coconut oil + 1/8th cup of bicarb was enough to make up my jar which would make it super cheap & was so quick an easy.
Coconut oil is available in supermarkets or places like Holland & Barrett.
You can add whatever scent you like, I chose sweet orange, lemon grass & lavender.
Mix the 3 ingredients together (you may need to melt the coconut oil gently first, or if you have a warm kitchen just stirring makes it soften enough to mix with the other ingredients). Mix until you've smoothed out any lumps then add essential oils until you're happy with the scent.
(Please note that some people are sensitive to bicarb so I would suggest making a small batch first to trial it out. If you are sensitive arrowroot can work as a good substitute).
Also don't drown it in essential oils as too much can irritate. Essential oils need a carrier so the coconut oil should help to protect the skin but never apply essential oils directly onto the skin undiluted.
I was inspired by Dr Axe for this recipe - google searches will help guide you but here's a link to the one I used: https://draxe.com/beauty/homemade-deodorant/
The end product comes up like a paste that you apply to the underarm. You only need a pea sized amount, it should firm up once cold but warms up with the heat of your fingers for application. I found my last product in a similar sized jar lasted about 4 months so a little goes a long way & making your own is a huge saving on your pocket!
Uses for Coconut Oil
Once you've bought your coconut oil you'll find many uses for it. It can be used to soften skin, soothe irritated scalp, use as a hair mask by leaving in before washing and I even found that it makes a good furniture polish!
We rescued a coffee table from the skip and it had 8 coffee or tea stain rings on it (was rescued from an office clear out). The coconut rubbed in obliterated the stains & the oil helped to condition the table at the same time - win win!
Why not try using coconut oil as a makeup remover? We sell home made makeup wipes in our store - apply a small amount of coconut oil on face then wipe off. Rinse wipe under tap with some handwash to clean. The wipes can be hand or machine washed and then composted after they've become worn out.
Uses for Bicarbonate of Soda
I make my own loo cleaner by adding one cup of bicarb to a cup of distilled vinegar - add bicarb around toilet bowl then add vinegar to make it froth up. Close lid for 10 mins then scrub with loo brush to clean.
Beth Terry, author of the book 'How I Kicked the Plastic Habit' has some great tips on her site at: https://myplasticfreelife.com/2009/11/baking-soda-so-many-uses-so-little-money-and-plastic/
Uses for White Vinegar
Make your own orange vinegar cleaning spray (which I've also used as a fabric conditioner, you can add essential oils to this too for an extra burst of scent). Or you can use vinegar to make a loo cleaner (see bicarb section above).
I also keep a glass spray bottle with a mix of vinegar & washing up liquid diluted in water as a useful all purpose spray - even makes a good weed killer too!
Lots more you can do with bicarb & vinegar to clean your home from top to bottom. These are just a few simple tricks to make and use natural things.
How to Colour Your Hair Naturally
I hope you find some of these tips helpful. There's some great eco books out there available & of course don't forget to check out some of my reviews and other home made items.
Lovelier Planet also sells some home made products. Come on by & take a look.
Now grab a tea & celebrate your greatness!
