As I have recently been working on a Toxic Home Makeover handout for my clients, I have developed a severe phobia of every single household cleaner and personal care product. The more I research, the worse it gets.
To magnify this phobia, I have a very sensitive daughter who reacts to everything. Long story short, minimizing toxins and chemicals in our life is top on the list right now.
First stop: Toothpaste
Why? Because I was reading the ingredients in the toothpaste that my daughter got from her dentist and saw sodium laurel sulfate. Oh no, the evil SLS. Is it really evil? I don’t know, but after finding some super easy homemade toothpaste recipes, I figured why not use something that is homemade and has 5 basic ingredients, all of which I know what they are!
I remember my grandmother used to brush her teeth daily with baking soda. She just dipped in the box and brushed away! I wish I could be as hardcore as she was, but the taste is a little too much for me.
I slightly adapted this homemade toothpaste from the Wellness Mama recipe (If you don’t follow her, you should. She rocks!) I decided to add xylitol after my holistic dentist was telling me how amazing xylitol is for your teeth, and does just as good of a job as flouride.
It took me a while to get used to the taste, but I was amazed that my teeth felt so much cleaner!
Homemade Peppermint Toothpaste (for me)
¼ cup coconut oil
1 tbs baking soda
1 tsp xylitol
15 drops peppermint (more or less to taste)
5 drops grapefruit seed extract (optional)
1. Start with slightly softened coconut oil (fully melted is a little trickier).
2. Add all ingredients and thoroughly mix. If the oil was liquid, than you will need to keep stirring as it solidifies.
3. Pour into a glass jar (I used an old horseradish jar).
4. If you are sharing, you can use a small spoon to put on your toothbrush, or make each family member their own toothpaste and they can dip right in!
Homemade Kid Toothpaste
The peppermint didn’t go over well with my little munchkin. So for her, we used the same recipe as above, but with DoTERRA On Guard (Wild orange essential oil, combined with clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary ) instead of the peppermint.
This seemed like a perfect choice since cloves relieves sore gums and toothaches, is a deodorizer and anesthetic, and cinnamon is also deodorizing, antiviral, antifungal, and slightly anesthetic. I am sure that orange has amazing benefits as well, but we just really like the smell and taste!
What if your toothpaste is in a hot car for 24 hours and melts into a soupy goo?
Yes, this happened to me and then when it solidified the baking soda and oils had gone to the bottom and the coconut oil was on top. No need to panic, just re-melt and keep stirring as the liquid is solidifying.
What other personal care products do you like to make yourself? Please share your favorite recipes in the comments below!
Want to save this recipe for later? Pin this here!
