Why is this happening?
Because misconceptions about deodorant ingredients have taken on a life of their own. Some of these untruths are scaring people away from commercial deodorants and prompting them to experiment with all manner of alternatives – the most common (and damaging) being DIY baking soda deodorant.
There are 2 misconceptions about baking soda that have been circulating for so long they are beginning to be perceived as truths.
MISCONCEPTION 1
Calling it 'Naturally Procured' Doesn't Make it A Different Ingredient
Baking soda is baking soda. There isn't one type that is more natural than another. Regardless of the production process, all sodium bicarbonate has the same chemical formula: Na2CO3 + CO2 + H2O → 2 NaHCO3
Even if it starts life as 'a naturally mined soda ash', it isn't milder, gentler, less effective or a different grade of sodium bicarbonate. It has the same properties, the same chemical formula, the same strength, and can therefore be equally damaging.
MISCONCEPTION 2
The Detox Hoax
Many people have somehow gotten the idea that it is necessary to go through a 'detox period' when you switch from commercially made deodorant to a DIY baking soda deodorant. This 'detox period' is described as having the following symptoms:
- rash
- redness and/or discoloration
- leathery skin
The MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for sodium bicarbonate warns of the following symptoms with prolonged exposure of baking soda to the skin:
- rash
- redness
- dry, cracked skin
Sound familiar?
If you are experiencing rash, discomfort or any other reactions to your DIY baking soda deodorant, it is NOT because your body is detoxing – it's because you are applying an unhealthy concentration of baking soda to your armpits!
You're absolutely right, but there is a reason the industry hires professional cosmetics chemists/scientists to formulate their products. They know which ingredients will work with others, which ingredients will be well tolerated and they know how to dose each ingredient.
Just for fun, let's dissect the ingredients list of a commercially made baking soda deodorant and compare it to a typical DIY baking soda deodorant.
Below is the ingredients list for Arm & Hammers Ultra Max Baking Soda Deodorant. I've listed the ingredients in descending order (read: the first ingredient is what there is most of, the second is what there is second most of, etc). I've also added a super short description after the INCI name of each ingredient.
- Dipropylene Glycol: mixture of 3 chemical compounds with low toxicity that is often used as an additive to skin and hair care products
- Aqua: water
- Propylene Glycol: a chemical made by reacting propylene oxide with water that is often used as the main ingredient in commercial deodorants. (It does not cause sensitization and it shows no evidence of being a carcinogen).
- Sodium Stearate: the sodium salt of stearic acid - keeps the product from separating and has lubricating properties
- Fragrance
- Sodium Bicarbonate: Baking Soda
- Triclosan: an organic compound that can also be synthesized – an antibacterial and anti-fungal agent. (Its safety is currently under review by the FDA and Health Canada)
- Tetrasodium EDTA: binds to metal ions which inactivates them. Helps prevent deterioration and rancidity of the product.
- Allantoin: Comfrey Root Extract
- Ext D&C Violet 2 (CI 60730): pigments/coloring
- Green 5: coloring
Note that the baking soda is listed after the fragrance. Fragrance is usually 0,5% of any product. Let's be generous and say they've really poured on the fragrance and gone up to 1%. That would still place the baking soda at or around 1% of the product.
- 75 grams (about 5 tablespoons) coconut (or other) oil
- 32 grams (about 1/4 cup) baking soda
- 32 grams (about 1/4 cup) arrowroot (or cornstarch or clay)
- essential oils of choice
This recipe has a whopping 23% baking soda. I'll lay money that it is going to cause irritation to just about every armpit it is applied to. This isn't even the worst one I've seen. Some recipes call for up to 50% baking soda.
The amount of each ingredient matters – most particularly when you're talking about active ingredients!
Cosmeticsinfo-org writes this about baking soda in cosmetics:
"The cosmetic use of sodium carbonate at high concentrations is mainly limited to products designed to be diluted before use and in products where pH is buffered to near neutrality". (find more info here)
The pH Matters Too
The pH of sodium bicarbonate is around 8.3
Neutral pH is 7
Skin friendly solutions are between pH 4.5 - pH 5.5
Still Want to Do Your Own Baking Soda Deodorant?
Check your formula (recipe). If necessary, adjust the amount of baking soda and the pH. If you introduce liquids to your formula, be sure to add a broad spectrum preservative.
And if You're Making DIY Deodorant Because You're Worried About Aluminium Salts
Aluminum is another ingredient in the scaremongers spotlight these days. I've read this same 'claim' many times and in many places: "Aluminum in deodorant is dangerous! It causes all kinds of serious conditions!"
No. It doesn't.
Fact: Even if you applied a deodorant containing aluminium salts every single day of your life, you would still be getting less aluminium through your deodorant than you get naturally through your food and water. Read more about aluminium and deodorant here.
It's All About You
Going the natural route and doing DIY products is great. But please please gorgeous and wonderful people – before you start experimenting with your health – check and double check your facts.
If in doubt – ask.
If still in doubt – ask again, and then once more to be sure.
When you think you're ready – proceed with caution.
It's YOUR health – and you deserve the best and safest care.
Thanks for listening to this 'old mother hen'.
Now, take good care of yourself!
Other posts about deodorant ingredients
No sweat - how does deodorant work
No sweat - the basic makeup of deodorant
No sweat - Potassium alum
No sweat - about baking soda deodorant
No sweat - Lemon ester
The amount of each ingredient matters – most particularly when you're talking about active ingredients!
Cosmeticsinfo-org writes this about baking soda in cosmetics:
"The cosmetic use of sodium carbonate at high concentrations is mainly limited to products designed to be diluted before use and in products where pH is buffered to near neutrality". (find more info here)
The pH Matters Too
The pH of sodium bicarbonate is around 8.3
Neutral pH is 7
Skin friendly solutions are between pH 4.5 - pH 5.5
Still Want to Do Your Own Baking Soda Deodorant?
Check your formula (recipe). If necessary, adjust the amount of baking soda and the pH. If you introduce liquids to your formula, be sure to add a broad spectrum preservative.
Aluminum is another ingredient in the scaremongers spotlight these days. I've read this same 'claim' many times and in many places: "Aluminum in deodorant is dangerous! It causes all kinds of serious conditions!"
No. It doesn't.
Fact: Even if you applied a deodorant containing aluminium salts every single day of your life, you would still be getting less aluminium through your deodorant than you get naturally through your food and water. Read more about aluminium and deodorant here.
Going the natural route and doing DIY products is great. But please please gorgeous and wonderful people – before you start experimenting with your health – check and double check your facts.
If in doubt – ask.
If still in doubt – ask again, and then once more to be sure.
When you think you're ready – proceed with caution.
It's YOUR health – and you deserve the best and safest care.
Thanks for listening to this 'old mother hen'.
Now, take good care of yourself!
Other posts about deodorant ingredients
No sweat - how does deodorant work
No sweat - the basic makeup of deodorant
No sweat - Potassium alum
No sweat - about baking soda deodorant
No sweat - Lemon ester
30 comments:
Right on the money! Thanks!
You are most welcome Bajan Lily :)
I'm willing to make some DIY products, but deodorant just isn't one of them. I'll leave it to the people at Dove when it comes to deodorant.
Hey there Karen. You are right about this. Deodorant is actually not all that easy to get right. It is one of the things that took me longest to develop.
lise, thank you for the reminder to think! :) it's funny how sometimes we need that.
this is a tangent, but still related to baking soda use. i have been using a "sorta-poo" for a few months now: 5 mL coconut milk, 15 mL castile soap. i have hard water, so i started adding 0.625 mL baking soda as a water-softener (following this advice: http://www.bubbleandbee.com/shampoofaqs.html). that comes out to ~3% baking soda, but it does get rinsed out plus followed by a diluted acv rinse, however my scalp is itchier/has more dandruff. (my hair is soft/healthy/shiny, though!)
let me admit right now that i have never felt comfortable with chemistry and i am getting all of these molecular formulas from wikipedia. :)
hard water ~= Ca(2+) + 2HCO3(−) + H2O
soap ~= C17H35COO(-)Na(+)
soap scum ~= (C17H35COO)2Ca
i get how hard water + soap = soap scum.
baking soda = NaHCO3... how exactly does that prevent the calcium ions from joining the soap molecules? i am about 99% sure that Ca and Na will not bond together (could have slept through that class :P), but adding baking soda doesn't seem to add any new players to the mix, just more carbonate and sodium ions...
let me distill my confusion into a question: does baking soda work as a water softener / soap scum preventer? how?
also, sorry about the ridiculously long, only slightly on-topic comment. :)
Yay Alicyn! I love long and complicated questions! You have put me to work on this one, and I will probably have to do a blog post on this..
Meantime, here's the short answer.
Calcium, magnesium, iron and manganese are divalent minerals in water (divalent = can bond with either other ions or molecules). They are usually also associated with scale formation and 'hardening' of the water.
To soften water, these mineral ions need to be replaced with 2 sodium or potassium ions. This process creates a byproduct .. are you ready? It's baking soda!
If you add baking soda to water of any hardness, it will feel soft.
:)
Woah! This is so fantastically timely!
I have been digging around the internet for the last few weeks trying to not only figure out a good DIY deodorant recipe, but sift through all the "aluminum will KILL YOU" posts floating around. Thanks for posting this!
Hi Bubblefairey
Thank you so much for your kind words. I have been so saddened to experience how many people are being harmed by DIY baking soda deodorants.. I had to post this.
Hi Lise,my armpit got irritated when i used deodorant,there's a product called rexona and i've been using that for a year but i noticed that my armpit became reddish,right now i am using dove.Have you ever use Tawas?
Hi Liza - I'm afraid I haven't used any commercial deodorants for years and years, so the only way I would be able to comment on what might be causing an irritation would be if I could see the complete ingredients list. Also, you may have a reaction or sensitivity to something as 'simple' as perfume. (It's not really simple, but it's often overlooked).
If you send me more detailed info, I'll be happy to take a look. :)
Our whole family plus our children and many of our friends have used homemade baking soda deodorant similar to the one you posted without any negative effect. Actually, my grandmother told me about using baking soda, and its been used for a long time as a BO buster. It really depends on your body chemistry... some people use magnesium, some potassium, and I think you're blowing this way out of proportion. For us, it really is the most effective deodorant we've ever used. Also, there are people who use magnesium and baking soda for facial cleanses and whole body baths.
Also, your reference to the data sheet you provided "SKIN EFFECTS: Non-irritating to intact skin. Minor irritation may occur on abraded skin". It can be a problem after shaving, but one should never put anything on your skin after shaving.
Hi Anonyomous - thanks for your input. I'm glad to hear you have never had problems with baking soda deodorant. You are one of very few I have heard from who can say that. As I wrote in one of my earlier posts, there are some folks that are able to use baking soda deodorant without problems, but these do belong to a minority. You say it depends on your body chemistry, but it also probably has a whole lot to do with proportions in the mix being applied as well.
I wrote this post because I have had a worryingly huge amount of questions from people who have had all kinds of negative reactions to DIY baking soda deodorant, so I can't quite agree with your comment about me blowing this out of proportion.
As for your reference to the MSDS, I am referring to the listed potential health effects on page 2:
"POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS: Direct contact with the product causes irritation of the eyes and continuous contact may cause skin irritation (red, dry, cracked skin)."
You mention using baking soda as a face cleanser. I have seen this many places on the net, and have actually been meaning to do some research into the pros and cons of it. You may just have inspired a new blog post. :)
Aluminum combine with parabens cause CANCER (to be more specific breast cancer and prostate cancer)! This fact bin proof by sients. If you do not believe in it, or you do not read alternative research results it does not mean Aluminum safe for everyone. Skin and digestive system two different organs of our body, so they absorb and digest things different ways. Prepaid science, prepaid bloggers, veb. Booo
Hi Booo,
Your statement about parabens and aluminum is incorrect. It sounds very much to me like you are quoting some of the misnformation that has been circulating the net. You are correct about aluminum not being good for everyone. There are some people who are allergic to it. I'm not quite sure what you mean by prepaid science and prepaid bloggers, so I'm afraid I can't comment on that.
You believe that "There are far too many people experiencing problems and serious skin reactions from homemade deodorant. What studies can you cite to back up "too many". I would say that too many people are actually circumventing the big corporations by using baking soda. Yes, some people rash, some people rash a little, sometimes, some people rash and can't user baking soda. The rest of us - and who knows how many? It isn't like anyone would make money on a study of the safety of baking soda. By the way, The Material Safety Data Sheet on propylene glycol says that it "May cause mild skin irritation" just the same thing it says about baking soda. However, the propylene glycol MSDS - first ingredient you list in Arm & Hammer, says somewhere that it "may be toxic to central nervous system".
Hi Anonymous,When I say there are far too many people experiencing skin reactions from using baking soda deodorant, I am referring to my first hand experiences: I have gotten a disturbingly huge amount of communications from readers detailing skin rashes and reactions to baking soda deodorant that prompted me to write this post.
My point with this post is to advise DIY'ers to pay attention to amounts and proportions in their recipes. Just because an ingredient can be found in the kitchen cupboard doesn't necessarily make it safe to apply to the delicate skin of the armpits in a large dose. Baking soda is an active ingredient. Putting 23% of any active ingredient into a product for application to the skin is an outrageous amount by any measure.
If you read the comment from Anonymous from Oct 18 along with my answer, you will see my comments as to what the MSDS on baking soda says about potential health hazards.
Thats a good post Lise, thanks for that...i've been using baking soda (baking soda only, dip wet finger to baking soda and apply to clean dry armpit) as deodorant for 6th day...the main reason i change from my normal deodorant to DIY deodorant is not because of aluminium etc...i've tried many deodorant before, they work for few weeks than off, i start getting stinking (deodorant + sweat, imagine that smell), and countless ruined shirt...from my 6 days experience, the good thing using baking soda is, even i sweat, but it wont smelly (big plus for me), and i no need to worry about my shirt getting stain. well, like other people, i do experiencing skin rashes and reaction especially on the 1st day (thats how i found this post)..than i start putting some BHA cream + talc on clean armpit at night to reduce the rash...and its getting better (still experience slightly rash sometime). Its there anywhere to make baking soda's pH more friendly to human skin?
Hi Maxie thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm afraid there is no other type of baking soda that is more skin friendly.
Have you ever tried natural deodorant crystals? These are solid potassium alum and often sold as 'natural deodorant stone'. They are not antiperspirants, but will keep the smell away (some say for longer than others). Just a suggestion you may want to try.
:)
Thanks Lise, i will buy a small bottle to gv it a try!
I'm very glad that this article gives a clear warning about the side effects for those sensitive to sodium bicarbonate. However, there are also many who are not sensitive to it!
I have used PURE sodium bicarbonate and water paste in my armpits for about thirty years. It has no smell, and kills the bacteria that cause odor. Once those bacteria are gone, a very small maintenance amount of sodium bicarbonate paste, once a week, is enough to continue the complete prevention of any underarm odor!
Again, let me emphasize that I one of those (are we in the majority or minority?) who have no skin reaction to sodium bicarbonate.
Hi David - Thanks for your input. I am glad to hear you have never had problems with sodium bicarbonate. You are a member of a minority, but it is nice to hear that some people can actually use it without irritation.
Hi, I found your post really interesting. I have been using pure baking soda for months and months now, and so has my husband. We just mix a little bit with water in the palm of the hand and apply it as a thin film. I don't think he has ever had any irritation. I have only had irritation when my armpits were shaved, and especially if they were freshly shaved. Since it's winter time I have been lazy about shaving my armpits, and I have to say this has meant zero irritation. When I was shaving, I found that if I avoided putting it on freshly shaved skin, and also was careful not to use too much, I did not have noticeable irritation. anyhow, just sharing.
Hi Nyx - Thanks for sharing! It is obviously not everyone who is sensitive to baking soda, and I'm pleased to hear it works for you. :)
If I put too much on and got a horrible reaction what should I do? Is there a way to cure my underarm rash or do I just have to wait it out?
Hi L.A.
A rash can be everything from a slight itchiness and redness to a more serious reaction that needs the attention of a doctor. It's hard for me to say what the best thing to do is, except to tell you not to ignore a skin reaction from DIY deodorant with baking soda. If it is a slight/small reaction, just waiting it out may be enough. For itchiness, aloe vera can offer some relief. I hope this was some help
Hi, Have you heard of Apple cider vinegar deo? I mean you put small amount of the vinegar to a cotton ball then you dab it onto your underarms. I've been a rexona user forever and i'm just sick and tired of the strong awful smell whenever i sweat hard and the chemicals from rexona somewhat reacts to the sweat and i stink very badly. That's why i decided to try those DIY deos.(i just bought the baking soda deo ingredients a while ago).After using the apple cider as an alternative (i just started using it 3 days ago actually),It really helped me lessen the sweating and it really eliminated the awful smell. (I'm gald!) But i was planning to try the baking soda until i saw this. I'm afraid i will have that kind of allergic reaction since i am born with a super sensitive skin. Should i proceed on using the baking soda deo? should i test it on my wrist first? What should i do? thanks!! i'm ica btw
Hi Ica, Thanks for your input! It sounds like you have found something that is working for you with the ACV. I've never heard of anyone using it solo like that, but if you are not reacting to it, then it must be working for you. As for baking soda: I'd be very cautious if I were you. There are some people who can use it without problem, but it is not a majority. I would suggest trying the deodorsant stone (potassium alum, also known as deodorant crystals). This is deodorizing and tolerated by even the most sensitive skin. Let me know how it goes!
So I wish I had read this sooner! I HAVE a rash from using DIY deodorant purchased from an all natural company. I didn't have any itching but I looked any my armpits have turned black and the skin is leathery! How do I get them back to normal? ??? I'm freaking out!!!
HI Felicia,
I'm so sorry to hear you have had a reaction to using baking soda deodorant. First: stop using this deodorant immediately. If possible, you should really have your doc have a look to be sure it isn't serious. Sometimes the reactions can develop into more serious matters. Meantime, try and stay completely away from deodorant while your skin is healing. If you have itching, you can try and apply pure aloe vera after gently washing with a very very mild soap. - or just water water and more water. You should consider contacting the company that made this product to tell them about your reaction. This kind of reaction should most definitely NOT happen with any commercially made deodorant! Please do let me know how you get on with this.
Post a Comment