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Can you save money with homemade toiletries?

Our money-saving columnist takes on home-made deodorant, shampoo and toothpaste to see if she can save some cash…

Some of the ingredients needed for homemade toiletries
Some of the ingredients needed for homemade toiletries

“Oooh, what are you cooking?” asked my husband hopefully, as I busied myself with a pot of boiling water.

“Deodorant,” I said. He masked his disappointment well and left the room quickly.

That’s right, this week I have been investigating whether there’s money to be saved by making toiletries at home; including deodorant, shampoo, conditioner and toothpaste.

The internet is filled with websites claiming that you can save money and reduce your exposure to chemicals by making your own products at home, often using ingredients you already have in the house.

I picked some of the simpler methods and had a go to see how hard they were and whether or not I could save some money…

Deodorant

Don’t worry; I will try to keep talk of armpits to a minimum. I was amazed at the number of home-made deodorant recipes available online. There were entire blogs dedicated to it, and forums filled with shared recipes and tips.

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My favourite tip was that rubbing sage leaves under your arms could reduce perspiration, and that drinking sage tea would also help. Reluctant to smell like a Sunday lunch, I instead used a recipe called ‘Home-made deodorant that really works’  as that sounded promising.

The ingredients were simple; virgin coconut oil, shea butter, bicarbonate of soda and cornflour. I melted the oil and butter, and then thickened with the soda and cornflour, before popping in the fridge after it cooled.

Later I rolled the product into the world’s ugliest dumpling and, ah, applied. It did not roll on terribly easy, the instructions were to let it ‘melt in’.

Then I went for a three-mile run on the hottest day of the year (I am nothing if not dedicated).

Could this save cash?

Although I had to buy large tubs of oil and butter, I only used a fraction in the recipe. I estimate the ingredients in this ball cost me no more that 75p (the shea butter was the most expensive), and the remaining ingredients can be used to make the next batch.

I normally pay £3.19 for solid-block deodorant, which has the same kind of mass as my deo-dumpling (should I trademark that name?). If my creation lasts like standard deodorant then I would have saved £2.44.

The dumpling deodorant
The dumpling deodorant



Did it work?

Yes, to an extent. While I wasn’t as fresh after my run as I would have been with my standard deodorant, I was in a better state than if I had run with nothing at all.

Shampoo

I buy shampoo for curly hair that costs around £5 a bottle. My hairdresser begs me to buy salon-quality shampoo to ‘save myself from frizz’, which is priced at £12 for a smaller bottle. But the internet says I can wash my hair with a cup of water with a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda mixed in – and you can buy 200g of that for £1.29.

I did this and my hair felt clean… but it didn’t smell freshly washed. So I tried this next recipe, made up of coconut milk, liquid castile soap, olive oil and essential oils.

Could this save cash?

Although I only used some of the coconut milk, I can’t store it for future use so that cost me 95p. The liquid castile soap wasn’t cheap (£6.50), but I bought a large bottle and that will keep, so I estimate I used 50p’s-worth. The olive and essential oils were only small ingredients that I already owned, costing perhaps 30p at the most, making this shampoo about £1.75 in total. That is a saving compared to £5 a bottle, but…

Did it work?

Yes, my hair was cleaned and smelled good. And I liked being able to choose which oils I added. But I have dry hair with a strong tendency towards frizz and without curl-specific shampoo I tend to look like an untrimmed Airedale Terrier by lunchtime.

Perhaps my mistake was combining this experiment with home-made conditioner; simply a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar diluted in a cup of water. I didn’t smell of vinegar (my main fear) but my hair felt unconditioned and unmanageable.

If you have more manageable hair then this is probably worth trying, it can certainly save some money.

Some of the ingredients needed for homemade toiletries
Some of the ingredients needed for homemade toiletries

Toothpaste

It is so easy to make toothpaste! I found this recipe (okay, it was an experiment for kids from the British Science Association, but still), mixed up bicarbonate of soda, cornflour, a pinch of salt, glycerine, peppermint and food colouring (I went for blue). Then I added water to get the consistency right.

Could this save cash?

I already had those ingredients in my cupboard, but I doubt the individual components cost more than 40p and the resulting product was probably about a third of a tube of toothpaste. You can buy a big-brand toothpaste for £1, so I didn’t save money with this one.

The homemade toothpaste
The homemade toothpaste

Did it work?

My teeth certainly felt clean and the peppermint I added meant I had that same fresh feeling (although the paste had a very different texture to shop-bought toothpaste). However, I had some concerns about whether this could be an effective alternative.

The Colgate website warns that bicarbonate of soda doesn’t contain fluoride, which helps strengthen teeth and prevent cavities from forming, which did put me off.

Will I do any of this again?

I might well use the toothpaste recipe again, but probably more as a fun activity with my children than as a money-saving tip.

There is no doubt that some people can save money by making these products at home, but those are the people who turn this into an art form.

If you can rustle up a Lush-style soap impregnated with oils and rose petals then you’re going to save money, especially when it comes to making gifts.

If, like me, you can make a slightly shoddy alternative that you accidentally dye dark blue because the bottle gets away from you – this may not be the money-saving tactic for you. I suspect that home-made toiletries are a hobby and a craft. Unskilled amateurs, like me, risk disappointment.

Have you ever made toiletries at home? Did you succeed? What recipes did you follow? Have your say using the comments below.

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