Buying healthy products can be very spendy. I have found myself spending close to $5.00 on a tube of toothpaste in my search of finding one that wasn't filled with a long list of chemicals. Then I came across a recipe for homemade toothpaste and have been making it and saving money ever since! It's simple and quick to make and it tastes good.
To make your own toothpaste, just use a fifty/fifty ratio of coconut oil to baking soda. Start with a small batch and use a few tablespoons of each. If you like, add a few drops of an essential oil, like peppermint or spearmint, for flavor. You can add a bit of stevia for sugar-free sweetness. After mixing your toothpaste, keep it in a glass container with a lid. Then just spoon some out for use.
The mixture doesn't need to be refrigerated and because coconut oil is antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal, it will help keep your toothbrush clean and sanitary too. Baking soda is a mild abrasive that provides a gentle cleansing and it's alkaline, so it neutralizes acids in your mouth that are often at the root of tooth decay. Baking soda also absorbs odors and helps produce sweet breath.
By Patricia from Maple Falls, WA
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I have used baking soda for years on my teeth. Quite honestly, I gag on toothpaste.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for posting this tip. I have been searching for a frugal and natural toothpaste and have been unsuccessful in finding one. The ones at the health food store are outrageously expensive. So thanks for saving me a bundle.
How cool. I'm going to give this a try right now! :)
I use plain baking soda. Mint in toothpaste makes me cough a lot all day. I don't like any of the flavors of commercial or health food toothpastes. I like the "sweetness" of baking soda.
While growing up and being raised by a single Mother with three children, she taught us to use equal amounts of baking soda and table salt to brush our teeth. After years of using commercial toothpaste with not good results, I've went back to what Mother taught. It works and is much cheaper!
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After reading about the recall of toothpaste, I thought I'd pass along this "natural" tip. A good homemade toothpaste is a mix of a little baking soda and a little hydrogen peroxide.* Doesn't have a great flavor but it cleans and whitens and is safe! From now on, I'm not buying any more toothpaste regardless of flavor.
*Or just use baking soda if you don't want to use the HP.
By Pam from RI
You need to find out if this is actually very abrasive and can damage your teeth.
Editor's Note: Baking soda for tooth powder has been recommended for as long as I can remember by dentists. It is very safe. Peroxide added to it to make a paste are the ingredients in many toothpastes these days. I've had using hydrogen peroxide also recommended by my dentist. (06/21/2007)
By Holly
Mix 8 Tablespoons of soda and 4 tablespoons of glycerin, add peppermint oil for flavor.
(01/02/2008)
I have been using this baking soda, glycerin, and peppermint oil recipe for at least 2 years with no problems. I used to be plagued with canker sores, but since I don't use store tooth paste but baking soda mix no more sores! There is an abrasive bad chemical in store toothpastes sodium laurel sulfate. Bad stuff! (05/21/2009)
