Homemade Mouthwash

I’m not sure about you, but I had a love/hate relationship with mouthwash. I liked the clean feeling, but I didn’t really like the intense burning – or the weird aftertaste. I could handle the orange Listerine…except I couldn’t handle buying it. If you’ve not figured it out, I’m pretty cheap. (Note: It is OKAY to call yourself cheap. It is not OKAY to call anyone in your husband’s family cheap. Amen.)

So, in the spirit of Stacy Makes Cents, and being on my journey to more sustainable living, I decided to give it a go and make my own mouth wash. Yes, I could just swish daily with Vodka – but see above…I’m cheap. Vodka is not. It is reserved for homemade vanilla. Amen.

I scoured the internet, and didn’t really find a recipe that I liked. So, I combined a few and did a taste test to concoct my own…I do a lot of concoctions. Sometimes they don’t work out so well – this time I hit the jackpot.

I had everything I needed already at home: water, baking soda, peppermint oil, tea tree oil, and stevia. I noticed that some people liked to add a bit of vodka (about 1 teaspoon) to their mixture…but all my vodka is being vanillia-ized right now – plus, it’s not really needed.

Note: if your water is NOT filtered (we have a Berkey) then you’ll need to boil your water and let it cool to room temperature. Why? To get rid of all the ickies that might be in there. I’m not even going to tell you what the town puts in the water…this is not a horror film blog.

I used peppermint oil for the nice flavor. You could also use cinnamon, spearmint, or orange – whatever you’re looking for.

The tea tree oil is added for the antiseptic properties – to kill the germs in your mouth. Tea tree oil wages war against the ickies in your mouth. Don’t leave it out unless you’re using vodka.

Put the water, baking soda, oils, and stevia in your jar. Put on the lid and give it a good shake to combine everything.

I’m no scientist, but baking soda is awesome stuff…it’s in there to neutralize the ickies in your mouth. There are a lot of ickies in this post. Sorry about that. But really, the baking soda neutralizes the problems that give you bad breath. And yes, it’s okay to make this as a gift for any bad-breathy friends you may have…just tell them you’re experimenting.

The stevia is just for the sweet flavor. If you don’t have it or don’t want it, leave it out.

It should look a little milky, like this. You might need to shake with each use if your baking soda settles.

Yes, I do have a Texas shot glass. I like Texas. I used it to get my first swish. If your whole family is using this stuff, you might want to make individual jars (in hindsight, I should have used a smaller pint jar…oops) for each person, to cut down on cross-contamination and back-wash. Back-wash gives me the heebie jeebies.

We LOVE this stuff! Really – we like it better than store-bought stuff. It leaves no after taste except a nice, clean mouth. The baking soda saltiness is a little strange at first, but I’ve grown accustomed to it and actually like it now. Bye, bye bad breath!

Oh…and just in case you were wondering the cost savings is HUGE. It costs mere pennies to make this batch if you already have the stuff. If you don’t, tea tree oil is great for having around anyway – so invest in some.

*This post is linked at Homestead Barn Hop at The Prairie Homestead, at Hearth and Soul Blog Hop at Penniless Parenting, at Simple Lives Thursday on GNOWFGLINS, at Frugal Days Sustainable Ways at Frugally Sustainable, at Think Pink Sunday on Flamingo Toes, at Works For Me Wednesday on We Are That Family, at Make Your Own Monday at Nourishing Treasures, and at Fat Tuesday on Real Food Forager.