DIY Thursday: Toothpaste

I use Tom's of Maine toothpaste. I like it, but it's never on sale and it's a little expensive. Other than it's now owned by Colgate, it's still all natural and still so much better than the alternatives.

The DIY Natural website, of course, had a way to make my own and their cost analysis used Tom's of Maine toothpaste as their example. Basically, my savings was over $4.00 per tube. Even factoring in the time (longer than they claimed, but it was my first attempt) I still consider that a win.

I used an old jelly jar for the paste and stored it like I normally would in my bathroom. No, I don't know how I'm going to travel with it. It's not exactly a small travel tube of toothpaste, it's on the large-ish side and well, glass. I may just bring along the jar and be done with it, we'll see when the time comes!

Cost Breakdown & Savings

Here is the breakdown in cost analysis for 5.33 oz of homemade toothpaste (same amount as one tube of our old toothpaste):

• baking soda @ 16 oz = $1.00 | 2/3 cup is 5.33 oz which = $0.33
• fine sea salt @ 22 oz = $2.00 | 1 tsp is .17 oz which = $0.02
• peppermint extract @ 1 oz = $3.00 | 2 tsp is .33 oz which = $1.04 | Better yet, use peppermint essential oil @ 1 oz = $13.00 | 15 drops = $0.28!

I used the essential oil because I had some from the homemade hand sanitizer I made for Christmas.
Prior to making our own, we were using Tom’s of Maine Spearmint Gel® costing an average of $5.00 for a 5.2 oz tube.  Based on the calculations above the same amount of this homemade toothpaste will cost between $0.63 and $1.39 for 5.33 oz, depending on how much flavoring is used.
The cost savings will be between $4.37 – $3.61 per tube!

Simple Ingredients

• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 tsp fine sea salt (optional – direct application of the minerals in sea salt is great for teeth, but can be left out if the taste is too salty)
• 1 – 2 tsp peppermint extract or 10-15 drops peppermint essential oil (or add your favorite flavor – spearmint, orange, etc.)
• filtered water (add to desired consistency)

Mix together baking soda, optional salt, and peppermint. Add a little water at a time, stirring after each addition, until paste reaches desired consistency.