Yummy Homemade Toothpaste!

If you are like me and use flouride-free toothpaste without SLS and other yucky ingredients, you are likely paying a lot for toothpaste. Any of the brands we have found that meet the criteria we are looking for cost about $5.00 per tube, for a not-so-family-sized tube. (If you don't understand why someone would want toothpaste without flouride, then you may want to do some homework on your own. When I found out that Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Austria, France and The Netherlands have banned fluoride, I figured it was something worth looking into. Here are a few articles to get you started: Weston A. Price  Foundation articles and Dr. Mercola's site .)

Because I have been focused obsessed with "bringing back home" (making/creating/growing our own or even eliminating our "need") all the items that I reasonably can, and our family has been making concerted efforts to end our own consumerism, I was intrigued to find instructions for making your own toothpaste on the MOMYS digest.  The fact that it is potentially cheaper is also a bonus, although I haven't yet crunched the numbers.

Here's the recipe I used~

Mix together:

~2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil (I buy this from Mountain Rose Herbs - $121 for a 5-gallon bucket.)

~3 Tablespoons of Baking Soda

~5 drops Peppermint Essential oil

~5 drops Spearmint Essential Oil

~a pinch of Stevia powder

I have used baking soda to brush my teeth before (and felt a bit like a martyr because the taste was less-than-desirable), but this was incredible! I am so thrilled at how well it turned out! The coconut oil gives it a creamy consistency, and holds the Baking Soda together, while the Stevia and essential oils gives it a yummy flavor. (I chose to use part Spearmint instead of all Peppermint because the Spearmint doesn't have that "hot" mouth feel that Peppermint does. This is important to little people!) Note: I feel safe allowing these essential oils to be used in a situation where they could possibly be ingested because 1) the amounts are so small, and 2) both Spearmint and Peppermint essential oils are on the FDA's GRAS (generally recognized as safe) list.

It doesn't have that foamy effect that commercial toothpaste has, but I actually appreciate that - it doesn't get the bathroom sink so dirty, and it doesn't gag this pregnant woman like the foamy kind does. I was amazed at how well it turned out, but the best part was how quick it was to mix together. It literally took less than five minutes including the time it took to gather the oils from another room. Our stores change brands of toothpaste so quickly, that I couldn't have picked out toothpaste in the store as quickly as that because of reading labels. We mixed it in a tiny wide mouth half-pint canning jar, and just dip dry toothbrushes in it. Don't get grossed out... remember coconut oil is anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, so it will even keep the toothbrushes more sanitary.
This business of bringing stuff back home is so much fun!