Back to Basics: Homemade Toothpaste

Here are the homemade toothpaste/tooth powder recipes I’ve promised from last week’s Back to Basics post, regarding why store-bought toothpaste is not as beneficial as you may think it is.

Remember, you want to steer clear of harmful store-bought toothpastes that contain: Fluoride, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Saccharin, glycerin, and any artificial colors (such as: FD&C Blue 1, FD&C Red 3, FD&C Red 40, FD&C Red 33, and Yellow 10 Lake), and any other chemical ingredient. Research the ingredients in your hygiene products! 

First, let’s look at the ingredients I choose to use to make homemade toothpaste & why:

  • Baking soda:  Cleans teeth, whitens teeth, and freshens breath. Going “back to basics”, baking soda has been used as a teeth cleaning agent for years, and is still used in today’s commercial toothpastes.  Baking soda is also alkaline and will neutralize the acids that are lingering in your mouth & on your teeth from consuming acidic foods/drinks.  Acidity can erode enamel & causes cavities.
  • Sea Salt: Natural anti-septic, used for years.  Kills bacteria that cause plaque, and cleanses teeth & gums.
  • Xylitol:  A natural, non-fermentable sugar that not only sweetens the toothpaste, but protects against cavities as well. Xylitol has the opposite effect of traditional sugar.  While sugar helps bacteria grow & thrive by creating an acidic environment, Xylitol cannot be fermented, and therefore protects against the growth of bacteria and helps to prevent cavities, helps with the re-mineralization of teeth, & eliminates plaque.
  • White Kaolin Clay: Earth’s clay has been used for years by our ancestors for various cosmetic and healing purposes.  Clay has been known to cleanse & purify the skin by pulling toxins and pollutants from the skin when used as a mask, and have also been used in toothpastes and mouthwashes for the same purpose.  When clay is used in the mouth, it purifies, cleanses and rids the mouth of bad bacteria. Kaolin clay is also known to polish the tooth’s surface, while gently removing surface stains and plaque.
  • Eggshells: Probably the best natural source of calcium, since eggshells are calcium & other trace minerals.  The composition of eggshells are very similar to our bones & teeth.  Eggshells are easily absorbable.  Finely ground eggshells make calcium powder.  However, only use organic, pastured-eggs, not store bought (factory farmed) eggs.  Factory farmed/store bought eggs are not very nutritious…if the chicken does not get proper nutrients, the eggshells will not be filled with all of the nutrients we need, and instead will be weak & easily breakable (therefore, have less calcium).  If you don’t have healthy eggshells available, use calcium powder instead.
  • Coconut oil: Great for the gums and is anti-bacterial.  Coconut oil kills bacteria that causes tooth decay and gum disease.
  • Aloe Vera gel (in it’s pure, liquid form): Aloe has been used for centuries as a home remedy.  For toothpaste purpose, it cleanses and soothes teeth and gums, as it is also anti-bacterial.
  • Myrrh Essential Oil:  Great for the mouth & gums!  This oil has been used for cleaning and purifying since ancient times and is known to keep gums healthy & eliminate mouth sores/infections. It is antiseptic by nature, and also stimulates circulation, which is great for the mouth and gums.
  • Peppermint Essential Oil:  Anti-bacterial and provides a minty fresh scent to breath, and a minty taste to homemade toothpaste.

After much research and thought, here is the toothpaste recipe I like to use: (you can feel free to add or remove ingredients based off of your own research, and change measurements as you see fit.  I use measurements of my own based off of research and personal wants/needs, and personal opinion).

1/2 cup baking soda (finely ground*)
1/4 cup finely ground* sea salt
1/4 cup finely ground* xylitol
2 tablespoons Kaolin clay
2 tbs finely ground* eggshells (organic, pastured-eggs from a farm.  I wouldn’t do this with factory farmed, store bought eggs.  You can replace the eggshells with calcium powder if necessary).
Essential oils (I use myrrh & peppermint)

To use as a toothpowder, use recipe above and sprinkle onto toothbrush & brush gently.  If you’d rather have more of a paste consistency like I do, use the following:
A few tablespoons coconut oil (I used 2 tbs)
1-2 tsp aloe vera (pure aloe vera, in it’s liquid form/aloe vera juice)

Store in small glass jar or bowl if you made paste (the wet Kaolin clay CANNOT be stored in plastic, as it will absorb the toxins from the plastic.  As a tooth powder (in dry form), it can be stored in plastic).

*For ingredients marked “finely ground”, I literally grind these ingredients (in small portions) into a fine powder in a small coffee grinder (Krups Electric Coffee Grinder, $19.00).  It works fabulously.  The reason for grinding these ingredients is simple:  They’d be too abrasive on the tooth’s enamel otherwise.  Although some people do use baking soda whole and brush strictly with baking soda alone, I feel that it is too abrasive to use on a daily basis (in it’s whole, un-ground form).  Some dentists say it’s fine and good for your teeth, others say it’s okay to use, but maybe only once a week instead of daily, while other’s disagree completely and say it is too abrasive. Well, to be safe, I grind all of my “too abrasive” ingredients, including baking soda, to a fine grind.

I make this recipe, which allows me to have more than I need for one small jar (think baby-food jar), which is probably about 2-3 tablespoons of the tooth powder (dry) mixture.  Then I mix about equal amounts of coconut oil, and 1-2 teaspoons of aloe vera to form a paste.  I store the extra dry ingredients that are already mixed together in a zip lock bag so when I run out of toothpaste in the future, I just have to mix together a few tablespoons or so the dry ingredients with the coconut oil and aloe vera, and I’ll have a new jar of toothpaste.  Quick & easy.  I could also always use the dry ingredients as a powder, of course, but for now, I’m sticking with the paste.

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*I obviously am not a dentist or a professional of any kind, & all of the information I have is based off of my own research & opinion and is not meant for treating or curing any hygiene disease.  I simply make homemade products for my own personal use, and I’m offering the recipe for my homemade toothpaste for those who would like to make and use their own all natural toothpaste.  That doesn’t mean you will be cavity-free!

Back to Basics: "Why you should choose Sodium Lauryl Sulfate free hair and body care"

SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) is a chemical found in the majority of our store-bought personal care products today (unless, of course, you a buying a truly all natural product).  SLS is added toothpaste, facial cleansers, body wash, soap, shampoo, and laundry detergent as a inexpensive foaming agent.  Basically, without this toxic chemical, your personal care products would not have those lathery bubbles that make you think your teeth, hair, skin, and clothes are getting an extreme clean.

In reality, tooth, hair, skin, and laundry cleansing products CAN be made (and actually DO exist) without the toxic chemical that forms the bubbles and lather that we’ve grown to relate to “clean”.  And although SLS-Free products may not lather as much (or at all) when they are used, they absolutely still clean the same (probably BETTER) than the chemical laden products we are used to.

SLS was a chemical that was originally used for industrial cleansing purposes and was never meant to be used in such close contact with our delicate skin.

SLS is a major skin-irritant and actually strips your skins natural moisture, drying out skin in the long run, and destroys the skins natural barrier to outside elements (it also dries out hair follicles and will eventually make your hair lose it’s natural shine).  Without the skin’s protective barrier, toxins from outside the body can easily enter the body.  The toxic chemical SLS itself can also penetrate the skin (and scalp), and enter the bloodstream, accumulating it’s toxic properties internally, as well.

Because of it’s ability to penetrate the skin and enter the body, SLS is often used as a way to allow the “vitamins”, “minerals” and “moisturizers” of the product to enter be absorbed into the deepest layers of the skin.  The problem is that SLS itself is a toxic chemical that is being absorbed into the skin and the body, and it is also allowing all of those chemical laden ingredients of the product that you use into your skin and body as well (and believe me, the ingredients list is FILLED with chemicals…check it out for yourself!).

SLS accumulates in your body over time and is often found in the brain, heart, liver, and other organs.  So even if every product you use has SLS in it as a LAST ingredient (which means it is used in the product the least…although there are no measurements/specifics listed on labels), just think of how many products you use on a daily basis (some multiple times a day) that have even the smallest amount of SLS in it.  — SIDENOTE: SLS is often a first or middle ingredient! — Not to mention all of the other chemicals and preservatives that product is filled with in addition to the SLS (which helps those other toxins be absorbed into your body!)

Avoid these chemical laden products WHENEVER POSSIBLE  (especially if you see SLS on the list!!) and stick with your truly ALL NATURAL products (or make your own cleansing products when possible…recipes for homemade laundry detergent, toothpaste, and others, coming soon as future Back to Basic posts!). 

PS:  For clean hair, don’t forget that going “no ‘poo” is always a healthy and inexpensive alternative to expensive all natural shampoos, and chemical-filled conventional shampoos.  Click here to read my post about why you should go no ‘poo and how to do it, and here to see the pictures that go with it.