Homemade Toothpaste: Cheap, Easy, and All Natural
By Marye Audet
There are several reasons homemade toothpaste is a great idea. There is no law that says that you have to go buy the commercial stuff at the store, and you may actually be harming your health by doing so. While commercial toothpastes have an ingredients list that rivals the items on a mad scientist’s grocery list homemade toothpastes are all natural and you control what goes in them. Best of all you can make them taste good.
Making toothpaste at home is not that difficult and really only takes a few moments. You don’t need that many ingredients and can mix it up in a small container with a cover. Store it on the medicine cabinet shelf or in a drawer and you are good to go
Potential Toxins in Commercial Toothpaste
Everything has stuff with weird chemical names in it these days, have you noticed? Do you really want to brush your teeth (or your child’s teeth) with sodium laurel sulfate? Sodium laurel sulfate is a foaming ingredient. It gives your toothpaste the ability to foam up and make you look like a rabid dog. The thing is no one ever said foaming got your teeth cleaner than not foaming and sodium laurel sulfate is known to be a skin irritant. How harsh is it? It is used as a commercial engine degreaser.
While fluoride is necessary for strong teeth during childhood it is categorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a toxic drug. Fluoride is listed as being "more poisonous than lead and slightly less poisonous than arsenic" in a 1984 issue of Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products. In fact, fluoride has been used as an insecticide as well as a rat poison. Yay.
Most people get city water which has fluoride added to it. There is no need to add to the fluoride intake by using it in toothpaste as well.
Preservatives are added for long shelf life. Usually these are methylparaben and ethylparaben. Parabens are known to cause cancer of many types.
And finally? Sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners like saccharin, thought to be a carcinogen.
All together now, “ick”.
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Homemade Toothpaste Recipes
Homemade toothpaste is inexpensive. It takes pennies to create and it has none of the suspect ingredients. If your child gets too much of it he won’t get sick and you won’t have to call poison control (Yes, many toothpaste tubes carry that warning). You won’t feel bad about all of the money that just got squeezed out of the tube.
Basic Homemade Toothpaste
- ¼ c baking soda
- 1 tbs glycerin
- 10-15 drops peppermint oil
Mix together and keep in a cool, dry place
Glycerin Free Toothpaste
This one uses stevia for sweetening.
- 2 tbs coconut oil
- 1/4 c baking soda
- pinch stevia
- 1/2 tsp rose water
- 5 drops cinnamon oil
Variations
You can vary the flavors of your homemade toothpaste by adding any of the following for the peppermint oil –
- cinnamon oil
- clove oil
- wintergreen oil
- anise oil
About twice a week rinse your mouth out with hydrogen
peroxide after brushing for healthy gums. That's it. Yep... it is that easy. Clean, healthy teeth and gums don't have to be expensive or dangerous.
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Comments
Ewwww LOVE these recipes. They are awesome and I'm going to try them out and eliminate the porpolene glycol uck. Thanks and Peace :)
I can't find a source that provides conclusive evidence of a link between parabens and cancer. The only study I could find only examined cancerous tissue. Non-cancerous tissue was not included in the study. http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/moisturi The study only includes one type of tissue.
Actually there is a link... study conducted at the University of Reading, United Kingdom, back in 2003. The study found parabens in breast cancer tissue in 18 out of 20 tumors.
sodium laurel sulfate is not used as an engine degreaser. It is used in some engine degreaseing products because it is a useful detergent and surfactant. Toothpaste is made more effective through the addition of a surfacting agent; foreign matter on the teeth can be more effectively brushed away.
Glycerin is used as a drying agent in watercolor paints, to make dynamite, and also as a component of de-icing/anti-icing fluids. Pure glycerin on the human tongue would cause blistering due to the dehydrating nature of the compound.
"Actually there is a link... study conducted at the University of Reading, United Kingdom, back in 2003. The study found parabens in breast cancer tissue in 18 out of 20 tumors"
Yes, but no healthy tissue was studied, therefore no conclusion could be drawn.
Comments on the paraben study at University of Reading:
I prefer not to take chances. There is a lot of argument on both sides...I don't eat high fructose corn syrup either...I have jumped out of planes but other than that I am not a risk taker.
Never thought about making my own toothpaste before. Great Hub.
Thank you for a great tip.
Great idea, and good info, thanks for allowing me to abandon toxic substances!
No More Fluoride!
John
Great HUB, but I've taken it a step further, or maybe a step back. I'm not into all the tasty tasty and smelling good things, but always wanting to keep it simple. Baking Soda is a base, vinegar is an acid.
For a time I used arm and hammer tooth paste but have gotten a warning from my dentist a few months ago that I needed, or would need, root canal work if I didn't have fluoride treatments as well as other 'Dr. goodies' As I've stated in other hubs - I always question authority especially from people in white coats. (taking their track record in consideration)
So I started to brush my teeth with plain old Baking soda, then flossing, then I 'fire-up' my water pic with half water and half vinegar. I'm always amazed how squeaky clean my teeth feel at the end of my regiment. But nothing was more amazing than the report I got from my dentist six months later. It seems I won't need root canal after all.
Funny, my dentist hasn't mentioned a thing about his prior plans for my mouth.....nothing! Didn't even ask what I'm doing. Maybe he smelled my vinegar breath and decided not to go there. "It's all in the money, huh doc?"
PS- don't cha just love the Crest ad at the top of your hub !~)
Good recipes! I'll have to try some; the all natural ones at the store are so expensive. Besides, I'm sure these are way better for your health.
We buy the natural toothpaste, which I really do notice seems to make my teeth feel better than they did with the commercial brands.
I d like to try that hydrogen peroxide one, but am unsure if it is dangerous to the palette.
I've been using homemade toothpaste for a few months. I originally started using it because I was looking for any way I could possibly save money (I make my own deodorant too, but the homemade soaps and shampoos didn't turn out so well). Now I use homemade toothpaste because it makes my teeth feel cleaner and I don't have to worry about what I'm putting in my mouth. I think my recipe calls for coconut oil and baking soda as the main ingredients, and sweetened with stevia. I read somewhere that stevia naturally contains fluoride, but I haven't done any research to confirm it. I like the coconut oil because it gives it more of a pasty consistency, and coconut oil has many of its own benefits.
I will definitely try these. I am allergic to something in the commercial pastes. This fits in well with the make-your-own lifestyle I am trying to develop. So far, I make my own laundry and cleaning supplies. This is a natural progression. Thanks for an interesting read!
hehe.. LOL.. I have read an article about a beautiful Korean girl, Ji Hyun Ji and her bad habit. She don't want to brush her teeth from the last ten years. I think, after Ji Hyun Ji read this hub, she will say that stop brushing teeth is cheaper, easier, and more natural...
Anyway, thanks for your hub. This is good and useful for me.
I applaud your hub! Well written and holds the truth about toothpaste ingredients. Being a person who tries to live organic and natural, I am going to try your recipes. My mother often used baking soda to brush her teeth and peroxide occasionally.. guess she had something going there. Thanks.
I make a variation of this using coconut oil, baking soda, honey, kosher salt and peppermint extract. It is very salty which I'm not too sure about but I love how clean my teeth feel. I won't be returning to store bought. Great hub! Voted up!
Rochelle Frank 2 years ago
Interesting recipes. When I was a kid we often just used a little baking soda.
Did you know that ancient Egyptians used hippo entrails and ground ox hooves for toothpaste? I found that out when I researched my toothpaste hub.
Your mixtures sound so much better, and (as you may have noticed) there are no more ancient Egyptians.