If you suffer from itchy, irritated pits whenever you use baking soda (USA / Canada) powered homemade deodorants, you are going to love this soothing aloe pit toner. It’s a lightly acidic, soothing toner that helps pH correct your armpits so the basic nature of baking soda (USA / Canada) doesn’t leave your underarms up in arms (groooooan). I got the idea from Crunchy Betty, and while I’ve been directing readers to her simple recipe for ages, I thought I could amp it up to be soothing and healing as well as balancing. And here we are!
The base of this pit toner is a aloe vera juice, which is a fantastic healing and soothing ingredient. I’ve amped that up a bit with some allantoin (USA / Canada) (a natural soothing skin protectant that’s often found in diaper creams) and silk (which helps boost healing and manage moisture).
Because the whole point of this pit toner is its acidity, we’ll obviously need to add something acidic. I’ve chosen apple cider vinegar because it’s readily available and inexpensive. I know some people loathe the smell of it, so for those folks it’s super easy to just use a bit of powdered citric acid instead for the same effect, bit with no vinegary scent.
Last but not least, essential oils of chamomile and lavender boost the healing, calming, and soothing properties of this pit toner, plus making it smell pretty. I used polysorbate 20 to emulsify them into the water, but you could use Turkey Red Oil instead.
The final mixture is decanted into a small spray bottle. To use, mist your clean pits, let ’em air dry, and apply your favourite baking soda (USA / Canada) powered deodorant over top. BAM.
Soothing Aloe Pit Toner
1/32 tsp allantoin powder (optional) (I use these tiny measuring spoons for tiny measurements like this)
1/32 tsp silk powder, peptides, or amino acids (need a substitute?)
50mL | 1.7 fl oz aloe vera juice (not gel!)
5mL | 1 tsp apple cider vinegar or 0.25g citric acid + 5mL water2 drops roman chamomile essential oil
7 drops lavender essential oil
~10 drops polysorbate 20 or Turkey red oilBroad spectrum preservative of choice (why?)
A 60mL (2 fl oz) mister bottle
Use a funnel to measure the allantoin (USA / Canada) and silk into the mister bottle, and then add the aloe juice and apple cider vinegar. Cap and shake to combine. The reason you want to send the powders through the funnel first is so they don’t stick 🙂
In a small dish, count out the drops of the essential oils and add an approximately equal amount of your emulsifier. Add your preservative, and stir to combine. Pour that mixture into the mister bottle, cap, and shake again to combine.
Voila!
To use, mist the pit toner over your clean pits, let ’em air dry, and apply your favourite baking soda (USA / Canada) powered deodorant over top. If you find this too acidic, you can dilute it by adding a bit more water (try 10mL/2 tsp to start with). If it doesn’t seem to be effective, add a bit more apple cider vinegar (start with 2.5mL/½ tsp). Take notes so you know what works for you so you can re-create it next time 🙂
I use your deodorant recipe exclusively and have been suffering from this rash. Instead of using this toner, would there be a way to make your deodorant without the baking soda?
Hey Cindy! The baking soda is the thing that makes it deodorant… no baking soda, and it’s just body butter :/ I have seen some recipes out there that are essential oil powered, but I have never tried them and cannot vouch for their efficacy. LisaLise has one, and she’s good!
Hi, Marie: What preservative did you use, and how much did you use? I’ve read your FAQ about preservatives, but I feel I still need to research more. Thanks!
I’ve been using Liquid Germall plus at the recommended 0.5% (by weight) rate 🙂
My sister makes her deodorant with arrowroot rather than baking soda. She attempted to send me a stick, but it for some reason didn’t clear customs. Maybe because ingredients weren’t listed?
I sent you an email twoish weeks ago about a spray on deodorant and looking at this recipe and my limited knowledge on deodorants, what about lavender+cedar+vanilla as the essential oils for a longer lasting anti-stuff going on? Do you think adding these essential oils would help in odor prevention?
Hmm. Everything I know about arrowroot makes me wonder why anybody would choose arrowroot over baking soda as it has no (at least no meaningful) deodorizing properties—it’s more of a moisture manager/filler. They’re both white powders, but that’s about where the similarities end :/
I honestly have not experimented with baking soda free/EO powered deodorants, so I’m afraid I really can’t say. Let me know if you start to play with it 🙂
Thanks Marie!
I haven’t gone the homemade deodorant route yet due to the baking soda/irritation thing. I think on this rainy afternoon I shall.
I used to use something natural from stores..had the word crystal in it. I liked it but not so much in the summer. Georgia humidity. I sweat like a man down heeya.
I’m ready to try something new now. I trust your recipes.
I hope it works for you, Cristie! I have tried the crystal deodorant as well—it seems to work well as long as you’re squeaky clean pre-application, which makes it pretty rubbish for midday touch ups if you don’t have access to a bathroom!
I look forward to hearing what you think 🙂
So ~~ could you simply add the powdered citric acid straight into the baking soda deodorant recipes to balance them out???
Sadly no—that’ll just deactivate the baking soda so it won’t work (which doesn’t happen when they are applied separately and the acid has a chance to dry pre baking soda application) when the two react on your skin when you start to sweat and they both get wet, which would be like an armpit bath bomb!
So glad you posted this as I am experiencing this for the first time ever. Where in Canada do you buy/find your ingredients? I am near N.F in Canada . We have nothing close by to get some ingredients you list.
Hey Laura! I get everything online, it’s a must. Check out my giant list of places to shop for loads of options 🙂
Can you add more citric acid to the recipe? I find it works fine for me but my friend finds its strong enough for her so switched back to apple cider vinegar.
For sure! Just work slowly and take notes 😉
I’d like to comment on the aloe juice. I have bought aloe juice from New Directions in Australia, it is made from aloe powder, water and preservatives. So I am paying for shipping of mainly water. The alternatives might be: 1. make your own ‘juice’ by dissolving the powder in water (though not sure of the ratios and concentration), or 2. juice your own aloe leaves. Marie, have you tried either of these approaches? The brand that you provide a link to doesn’t appear to contain water, so juicing your own might create a comparable product, I feel. Obviously you’d have to add preservative to the final product… Also, does aloe juice from a cosmetic ingredient supplier vs supermarket/human consumption make little difference in terms of lotions etc (if both are over 90% aloe with some preservative and nothing else)?
Michele
I’ve noticed the same thing, so I prefer to purchase the powder where I can—though it is typically quite a bit more expensive than the juice, the math works out and the powder is a savings. I don’t recommend juicing your own leaves; working with fresh, watery botanicals like that makes for products that are nearly impossible to preserve unless you’re making bar soap—there’s just too much in there for a preservative to protect. Commercially made stuff is refined to make it easier to preserve, though most sources still recommend relatively low usage rates. I would worry a food aloe juice would have similar preservation issues as people treat foods as much more perishable than cosmetics, but that is just a hypothesis 🙂
HI Marie, I was searching the web for a way to neutralize sodium bicarbonate, and I saw that simply spraying a citric acid solution could prevent bacterial proliferation on armpits – hence no odor. I tried (and ask my husband, a construction worker, to try too) and well, it’s effective enough save for a very intense workout. So that toner was good, but replacing aloe with rubbing alcohol.
I’m glad you’ve found something that works for you! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂