The Best Safe and Natural Aluminum-Free Deodorants

white vinegar

After living to be middle aged (and maybe a little past that), I finally discovered that the best safe and natural deodorants are natural products that you can obtain right from your kitchen pantry and bathroom closet.  I wanted a product that worked, a safe product, and one that was also aluminum free as some research links aluminum to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease.  For me, the product that works the best is white vinegar!

I have been using this method now for about 5 years.  Let me tell you my story....



First of all, let me tell you that I have always been a heavy sweater.  And not only that, but with odor, too (stinky).  I think I started wearing deodorant around age 12.  Nothing ever seemed to work.  I would apply the deodorant in the morning and a few hours later my underarms would start to have some odor, and then later, by the time I came  home from school or from work (later on in life), I really smelled awful.

Over the years, I tried many different brands of deodorant and anti-perspirant combos, roll-ons and sticks, so called natural deodorants and un-natural deodorants.  Nothing did the trick.  Deodorant and anti-perspirants with aluminum in them did keep me drier, but there was still the smell problem.  To cope, I just kept my arms down, glued to my sides (as much as possible anyway).  Oh yeah, I even tried under arm pads to wear under nice shirts and dresses.  They were quite a hideous thing to have to endure!

applying vinegar to underarm

Finally,  5 years ago, I stumble on the fact that BACTERIA causes underarm ODOR.  Sweat glands under the arms secrete a substance during tense moments or stress, which is then attacked by bacteria, thus causing odor  (see Health 911 for more information).   So, in theory, if you reduce the amount or limit the bacteria in the underarm area, there should be no or limited amounts of odor.

At this point, I was not looking so much for a healthy deodorant, but as to one that would really work.  As a plus, what I found out was the following products are all natural and so naturally a healthy choice.  They are also very low in cost (cheap) so therefore frugal.

Here are a few aluminum free natural products that you can use that will kill germs and inhibit their re-growth  in the arm-pit area:

(1) Hydrogen peroxide-   I tried this and it lasts for about 8 hours -however, on me it left a smell - it reminded me of “barbeque sauce”.  I moved on…. (of course, every person is different and it may smell nice on you!)

(2) Rubbing Alcohol - it lasts around 8 hours,  I liked this a lot - no smell.  And if my pits were stinky to start - it really removes the odor.  Now I don’t use this method all the time as alcohol can be very drying to the skin.  Also petroleum is used in the manufacturing process - and I try not to use petroleum products, especially on my body.

(3) Grain Alcohol - I tried vodka thinking this would be better -but I found it to be a little sticky when I did sweat,  and a bit expensive too.

 (4) White Distilled Vinegar  - (make sure you get a brand of vinegar that lists grain in the ingredients or you could be getting vinegar  made from petroleum based alcohol).  This works for 12-14 hours.  I really liked this one the best.  I can apply some vinegar in the morning and again in the evening and be “Stink-free” all day.  Now I have to admit, when I first started using vinegar, I didn’t like the smell -I thought I smelled like a french-fry (those of you from Rhode Island will know what I mean).  Rest assured that the smell fades away in about 20 minutes.  If desired, you could add a couple of drops of lavender essential oil (or some other essential oil you like) to the vinegar.

(5) Apple Cider Vinegar - this works for odor, but it makes your pits way too sticky!

My Routine:

vinegar and cotton balls

Every 12 hours or thereabouts, I take a small squeeze bottle filled with white vinegar and apply some to a cotton ball, then rub and wipe it under my arms.  Once in a while, if I have not used the vinegar faithfully every 12 hours, I use rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and rub it under my arms to be grid of bacteria and any residual odor.  That’s it - problem solved!

 

   Benefits to Using Natural Deodorants:

• No white residue under my arms!  So, no problem putting on black or dark blue shirts. 


• No more leaving white marks on shirts when trying on clothes in department stores.


• No aluminum - some research links aluminum to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease.   (Please note that the natural stone deodorant crystals some people use are made from ALUM, which is aluminum potassium sulfate.  “alum” contains a larger molecule than aluminum -which is aluminum chlorohydrate or aluminum zirconium.  The logic seems to be that because alum’s molecules are larger, they won’t pass through our skin and enter out bodies like aluminum’s smaller molecules do.  However, some of these larger molecules may still permeate our skin.   (I have one breast that has fibrocystic lumps and they seem to hurt when I have put on a deodorant containing aluminum -- and when I tried an alum crystal, I had the same reaction.)


• Vinegar can be used for many other household purposes.  See (Using Natural Products to Clean Your Home).

I welcome any additional knowledge of other natural deodorants.  Please leave a comment about them.  Thanks!!