I’ve gently broken into the world of natural, homemade products and have recently been (profoundly) inspired by Lauren Singer, a blogger who writes the blog called ‘Trash is for Tossers‘. Too funny.
So, besides being ULTRA incredible, she makes her own toothpaste. And my fave blogger (you all know by now, Wellness Mama), well she makes her own too. So I compared recipes and read a bunch of reviews and did a teeny bit of research and have decided to give it a go. Disclaimer: I’m not busy writing medical journals or my biochemistry PhD thesis so I have no rock solid scientific backing behind any of this. Just bear that in mind.
I’ve used natural toothpaste before and from the outset – you need to expect it to be different from the usual foamy, beautifully flavoured and freakishly-perfectly-striped Aquafresh or Colgate experience. And while we’re on that – the magic that makes your toothpaste all flavoursome, foamy and beautiful-to-look-at, is not the stuff you really want in your mouth, or your body, or your home. Ever thought about that? I recently tried Earthsap’s toothpaste and it was great. It wasn’t nearly as textually satisfying as the usual bubbly, spearminty, smack-your-lips toothpaste from a regular grocery store, but going green means changing the way you think. You can’t expect to change your ways and use different products and have your experiences stay the same… If they do, something must be wrong…
We use toothpaste every day, and most of the toothpastes we use contain sulfites, sulfates and/or flouride (apparently more toxic than we’d like to know – a controversial topic…). Ermmm.
We now have more than enough reasons to rethink this one. Shall we?
Lauren’s recipe is ridiculously simple:
Zero Waste Toothpaste Recipe:
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
25-30 drops Organic food grade peppermint essential oil (totally depends on how flavoursome you want it – that seemed like a LOT of essential oil to me, so we used less)
Mix all three ingredients in a glass dish (I use a mason jar).
To use, scoop out a little bit with a spoon and put it onto your toothbrush. Add more or less peppermint or coconut oil depending on your textural preference. Voila!
The outcome: Great! Besides it being preeetty salty (which our new bestie Lauren does warn you about), it works well! My friend Marcelle (who I made this with while we fed our children hot chocolate and marshmallows) liked it too. It is definitely an adjustment to regular toothpaste, but remember change is good.
Wellness Mama’s recipe includes stevia powder, which, while it might be a nice addition, if it is not necessary I’m going to keep this one simple and avoid going to the shops for another hard-to-find item. If you’d like to view Lauren’s YouTube toothpaste demo (where you can see she’s beautiful, normal and not a weirded out hippie creature), you can view that here.
IMPORTANT: Pregnant or nursing mums should avoid using peppermint essential oil, as well as babies and children. Also, if your teeth start getting super sensitive then maybe just calm down and get your pearly whites checked – we don’t want enamel issues. With the kids, I’ll stick to Pure Beginnings’ Baby Berry Toothpaste (Clayden can eat this like ice cream, which is okay, because he now loves brushing his teeth and it’s not full of junk) and Pure Beginnings’ Kids Vanilla Toothpaste.
If you’re not keen to go all Suzy Homemaker on us and want to make a change but don’t have the time, energy or inclination to don the old apron and get your hands messy, well fair enough. Why not try Earthsap’s range or Pure Beginnings’ Fresh Mint Toothpaste?
