You all know I'm a big cheapskate, right? Well, if you don't, you haven't been reading closely enough.
We're out of toothpaste.
I'm not buying more.
I'm making my own toothpaste.
Its cheaper. And its healthier.
Two simple ingredients: Baking soda
. Peppermint extract
.
Baking soda is pretty cheap. Ok, not dirt cheap, but I see you can buy it on Amazon.com for as little as 2 dollars a pound.
Baking soda is a pretty good cleaner. Its useful for so many things. Brushing your teeth with baking soda is a known trick, or at least it is on the internet. Aside for being a cleaner, baking soda works as a whitener and a deodorizer. (You can read more about baking soda toothpaste here.) It also doesn't have fluoride, which may be an issue to you, but I view it as a perk. (I prefer to not ingest extra flouride, because of the danger of fluoridation). But the biggest benefit of all of baking soda is its cheapness.
You use baking soda to brush your teeth either by mixing it with a bit of water to form a paste, or by sprinkling it dry on your toothbrush.
The one downside of baking soda as toothpaste is that it doesn't leave you with that fresh, minty taste that we all associate with a cleaned mouth. That's where the peppermint extract comes in.
This extract is wholly unnecessary. However, as peppermint extract is so strong that you only need one tiny little drop of extract per large amount of baking soda, it still ends up being a worthwhile, cheapskate addition to homemade toothpaste. Just add that tiny drop of extract when making your baking soda water paste, and brush away.
By the way, you can probably get cheapo toothbrushes to go with your cheapo toothpaste at your local dollar store. I got 2 toothbrushes for a dollar. I am definitely not convinced that more expensive toothbrushes with flex handles and who knows what else actually clean your mouth better.
We're out of toothpaste.
I'm not buying more.
I'm making my own toothpaste.
Its cheaper. And its healthier.
Two simple ingredients: Baking soda
. Peppermint extract.Baking soda is pretty cheap. Ok, not dirt cheap, but I see you can buy it on Amazon.com for as little as 2 dollars a pound.
Baking soda is a pretty good cleaner. Its useful for so many things. Brushing your teeth with baking soda is a known trick, or at least it is on the internet. Aside for being a cleaner, baking soda works as a whitener and a deodorizer. (You can read more about baking soda toothpaste here.) It also doesn't have fluoride, which may be an issue to you, but I view it as a perk. (I prefer to not ingest extra flouride, because of the danger of fluoridation). But the biggest benefit of all of baking soda is its cheapness.
You use baking soda to brush your teeth either by mixing it with a bit of water to form a paste, or by sprinkling it dry on your toothbrush.
The one downside of baking soda as toothpaste is that it doesn't leave you with that fresh, minty taste that we all associate with a cleaned mouth. That's where the peppermint extract comes in.
This extract is wholly unnecessary. However, as peppermint extract is so strong that you only need one tiny little drop of extract per large amount of baking soda, it still ends up being a worthwhile, cheapskate addition to homemade toothpaste. Just add that tiny drop of extract when making your baking soda water paste, and brush away.
By the way, you can probably get cheapo toothbrushes to go with your cheapo toothpaste at your local dollar store. I got 2 toothbrushes for a dollar. I am definitely not convinced that more expensive toothbrushes with flex handles and who knows what else actually clean your mouth better.