de-funk de pits

[IrishLass]

I'm glad you brought scenting up, Earlene. So far, I have not added any scent to my concoction, but the other day I was debating with myself whether it would be a good idea or not. After reading your post, I'm leaning towards probably not such a good idea (at least for me anyway).

Re: then staining: Do you think it was the lemongrass EO in the artisan deodorant you bought that stained your shirt or the deodorant itself?


IrishLass

 

[earlene]

I'm glad you brought scenting up, Earlene. So far, I have not added any scent to my concoction, but the other day I was debating with myself whether it would be a good idea or not. After reading your post, I'm leaning towards probably not such a good idea (at least for me anyway).

Re: then staining: Do you think it was the lemongrass EO in the artisan deodorant you bought that stained your shirt or the deodorant itself?


IrishLass

I believed it was the oils used in the deodorant, but of course cannot be positive. Sadly the ingredients list wore off and I can't now read what those were. I meant to utilize the ingredient list in case I ever wanted to make a deodorant stick myself, but because of the staining lost interest.

 

[Gaisy59]

Defunk the pits

Ok so my recipe is 100 gm babassu oil and 30 ml magnesium hydroxide.
I had to melt the babassu oil as it is rock solid and not at all as soft as coconut oil. Once melted i added the magnesium until it was well incorporated and poured it into my jar.

OMG it is rock solid lol. I am going to have to scrape shavings off to use on my pits

 

[Gaisy59]

Defunk the pits

Received some Babassu from the vendor you recommended TeresaT thank you for the suggestion, they were a pleasure to work with.

About 3 days ago I mixed up a small batch of Arrowroot and baking soda, when it was done I matched the dry volume with Babassu and added the mix of EOs I noted earlier. Cooled it in the fridge taking it out every few minutes and whipped it with a wisk, it took on the consistency of a whipped body butter. Plopped it in a container and here we go. Over night it got harder than Superman's chest, so much for the whipped texture. The powder is nicely suspended in the blob I have and a gentle rub with a couple of fingers easily produces enough to apply as needed. So far it has been working better than the powder alone. Tomorrow starts the work week and the true test.

Hey there Marshall i would like to know how you can manage a couple of swipes of the babassu deodorant. I made a batch with babassu and magnesium and this product is rock solid. I have had to scrape it to get enough to put on. Im thinking i will have to shred my whole jar. Any suggestions to make it less solid?

 

[DeeAnna]

Ok so my recipe is 100 gm babassu oil and 30 ml magnesium hydroxide.... OMG it is rock solid lol....

Irish Lass talked about using 16 parts babassu to 1 part MOM. Yours is roughly 3 to 1. Your recipe seems based on the "if a little is good, more is better" theory. Maybe back off on the mag hydroxide just a bit?

 

[Gaisy59]

Irish Lass talked about using 16 parts babassu to 1 part MOM. Yours is roughly 3 to 1. Your recipe seems based on the "if a little is good, more is better" theory. Maybe back off on the mag hydroxide just a bit?

OK I will add more babassu and mix it up again. Hopefully that will help soften it up a lot. I swear it is like cement, but the babassu I ordered is just as hard. I called the company and they said that is how the product is.

 

[DeeAnna]

Yes, my babassu is very firm too, but it melts easily at body temp.

If you still want a softer product yet, you might have to add a liquid oil to soften the consistency. You don't want it too soft, so I'd guesstimate to try adding 5% oil and see how that works. My top pick for this kind of thing would be fractionated coconut oil, since FCO is much more likely to wash out of fabric easier than an oil like olive.

 

[IrishLass]

When refrigerated, my babassu is totally rock-solid hard, but goes completely liquid when my summer/early autumn ambient room temp is kept at 78F/26C (via air conditioner). And like DeeAnna said, it also melts very easily at body temp. Mine starts melting right on contact with my skin when taken straight from the fridge.

The past few days, though, we've hit a bit of a cooling spell in my area and we were able to turn our air conditioning off without sweltering. Right now as I type, it's 72F/22C in my house and my normally liquid babassu/magnesium hydroxide mixture that I keep in a small jar in my bathroom has now firmed to a soft, semi-solid consistency just like Vaseline- very easily spreadable/workable.

How cold is it in your house?


IrishLass

 

[TeresaT]

I haven't been here in a bit. I leave mine on the bathroom counter. It is usually semi solid because it's still warm Here. We did have a bit of a cold spell and it became rock solid, but the bathroom was like a meat locker before I turned on the heater. If you have a candle or mug warmer plate, you could probably turn that on to warm up your container while you are in the shower if it's rock hard. I added a little bit of neem the last time I made it, so it doesn't to get as hard as just the babassu and EOs. IL, I'm so glad it is still working for you!! I have actually been thinking of using some of the fragrance oils I have IF I can get a deodorant to work that is unscented. So far, the deodorant is fine, but not very long lasting. I definitely need to try the magnesium hydroxide; it's on my list of things to buy.

 

[Marshall]

Hey there Marshall i would like to know how you can manage a couple of swipes of the babassu deodorant. I made a batch with babassu and magnesium and this product is rock solid. I have had to scrape it to get enough to put on. Im thinking i will have to shred my whole jar. Any suggestions to make it less solid?

Last batch I made was a mixture of Arrowroot powder (2 parts) fine ground Baking soda, I use BSoda from Bob's Red Mill, it seems to be finer ground (1 part) and added Babassu to closely equal the dry ingredients. As the oil began to cool I kept whipping the mixture with a whisk almost like making body butter and as it started to really thicken I poured/packed it into an empty Altoids tin.

I have been using this mixture since the post you noted. I simply rub 3 fingers around in the tin until I have some melted off on my fingers and rub it in. This has been working great for me, no odor at all. There are times at work when I will begin to sweat a bit, but not bad and never with any odor.

My wife has tried it and likes is but in not digging the whole finger rub deal. I have ordered some empty deodorant containers and will give that a shot, but not done yet.

To your question directly ... I noticed the second batch I made (described above) is softer than my first, the first batch which i used up was as you describe, I applied it with my fingers as well. The only difference is a little more Babassu was added, not a lot more at all so be careful.

Hope that helps!

 

[Gaisy59]

Hmmm not sure if my last reply to IrishLass went through but our house is 70F/20C. I tried adding arrowroot powder to break up the babassu but it is still rock solid. I dont want to add oil as that is why i am trying to get away from coconut oil...staining. I will try adding more arrowroot but i am thinking it wont work, but this batch is a train wreck anyway so it cant hurt.

 

[IrishLass]

Gaisy- you should have no worries about the babassu staining. I've used it straight on my underarms without anything mixed in with it, and there's never been any staining on any of my shirts or blouses. Other oils and/or butters have stained my shirts/blouses, but not the babassu.


IrishLass

 

[TeresaT]

Hmmm not sure if my last reply to IrishLass went through but our house is 70F/20C. I tried adding arrowroot powder to break up the babassu but it is still rock solid. I dont want to add oil as that is why i am trying to get away from coconut oil...staining. I will try adding more arrowroot but i am thinking it wont work, but this batch is a train wreck anyway so it cant hurt.

No staining here either and I've got neem mixed with mine as well as several essential oils. In fact, I was wearing a white dress shirt on Friday and didn't let the deodorant absorb completely when i put my shirt on. Bad move on my part, but there's no stains on the shirt. I was actually surprised at that.

 

[Gaisy59]

I just dont understand why my babassu is so rock solid! Im so frustrated!

 

[BeesKnees]

I'm appreciating very much the way the babassu oil-magnesium hydroxide is performing. No irritation, no staining.

The babassu oil had to be scooped out of the bottle because it had been outside (during shipping) and had to be melted in the microwave but when softened mixed fine with the magnesium hydroxide. I didn't completely melt it, softened was fine with me. My pits are happy so far.

 

[TeresaT]

I just got my magnesium hydroxide in (I bought 500 g) and I'll be melting down the 2 oz deodorant I've got now and adding some to it. There's neem in it, so I guess that's cheating a bit; but, I've been using this particular iteration of it for a while. I'm familiar with how well it works. Adding the magnesium hydroxide will actually be good, I'll be able to tell right away if the MH improves the action.

 

[TeresaT]

I just dont understand why my babassu is so rock solid! Im so frustrated!

Is is cold where you are? That could be a contributing factor. When mine is hard like that, I just pop it out of the container and rub it on the underarms. If I get too much product on there, I just rub it in with my fingers. At first, I found this to be annoying because if I was going to use a solid form, I didn't think I should have to rub it in. However, I've just gotten used to it by now and it's NBD. Once I figure out exactly what combination of babassu and other ingredients are that works best for me, I'll use the deodorant sticks. I'll have to refrigerate them in the summer, but that's kind of refreshing if you think about it.

 

[Gaisy59]

Teresa T you have done it again!! Yes it is cold here, I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and we have hit winter! But you are amazing! I will shave down the sides until it fits into my container and just pop it out and rub it on. I love you!!!

To everyone else following this thread, I have been using the babassu and Mg hydroxide and it works!. I have de funkiest pits without deodorant, but this is working great and now thanks to Teresa I will do a little magic and pretend it is a stick. Not sure what will happen in summer, but I think it will stay harder than where you folks live, and if camping I will keep it in cooler.

Last question, would essential oils stain? I know Teresa uses neem, but I am thinking about other scents. I have no problem with unscented but my daughter would love a scent.

Thanks to all!

 

[TeresaT]

Gaisy, yay!! problem solved. Glad it's all worked out. I'm thinking about adding fragrance oil(s) to the combo when my current supply ends. I've got 85 or so different ones to choose from, so why not?

 

[BattleGnome]

I add tea tree and lavender to my concoction, partly for extra antibacterial defense and part because I like the scent. So far I have no issues with clothing colors but I do not wear much white. I have a lot of dark colored shirts and there is no residue that I can tell.