Here it is–the ultimate toothpaste recipe! I personally LOVE Redmond Clay’s clay toothpaste, but it is a bit pricey. I also like Young Living’s Thieves toothpaste, but it, too, is a bit too pricey. So after a bit of trial and error, I devised my own toothpaste recipe that brings together the best of both worlds–clay AND the Young Living Thieves Vitality essential oil blend!
This toothpaste can also be flavored using pretty much any edible, flavorful essential oil–just make sure the oil is authentically therapeutic grade (which, according to my research, would only be the Young Living brand). To make it easy to identify which oils are edible, Young Living has dubbed them Vitality {for example, Lemon Vitality, Orange Vitality, etc.}. Some good choices for making this toothpaste yummy include: Cinnamon Vitality, Tangerine Vitality, Orange Vitality, Grapefruit Vitality, Lemon Vitality, or Spearmint Vitality.
Here is a breakdown of the ingredients I used in this recipe and why I selected them:
- Bentonite Clay. This does the bulk of the cleaning.
- Coconut Oil. This helps loosen food particles and makes up the substance of the toothpaste. Extra virgin {or the purest quality} coconut oil is recommended.
- Baking Soda. This whitens teeth and neutralizes bad breath.
- Xylitol or Liquid Stevia. This is an optional ingredient and mainly just sweetens the toothpaste so it tastes better. If using xylitol, be sure it’s fine like a powder first. You can achieve this by running it through a coffee grinder.
- Essential Oil. This is to used for flavor and to make the breath smell fresh and clean. I recommend the Young Living brand. You could use other essential oils instead (such as those I listed above).
- Thieves Vitality Essential Oil. Thieves does really well at thoroughly cleaning your mouth.
A few important things to note about this toothpaste:
- It doesn’t foam up like store-bought toothpaste does. That’s because store-bought toothpastes contain unhealthful detergents (yes, detergents!) like sodium lauryl sulfate and this homemade toothpaste does not.
- The texture and consistency may take some getting used to since it’s not just like store-bought toothpaste.
- You’ll need to store it in an airtight, glass jar or container. It MUST be glass–just about any other material will eventually be “eaten away” by the essential oils.
- It is made with all edible ingredients, so you could eat it if you want. I personally wouldn’t do this because, first of all, why? and because you’d also swallow the germs from your mouth. However, the fact that it’s safe to eat makes it great as a training toothpaste for kids.
- Yes, it’s grayish in color, not bright white with red or blue stripes. That because the clay is kinda grayish and there are no artificial colors. You could add food coloring if you really want to, but I’m pretty sure that combined with its natural gray appearance would make it an even funkier color.
Homemade Clay and Thieves Toothpaste
Ingredients
- 1/4 c. Bentonite clay
- 1/4 c. + 2 tbsp. purified water, boiling
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp. aluminum free baking soda
- 1/2 to 1 tsp. xylitol, finely ground OR 2 to 4 drops liquid stevia
- 1/4 tsp. Real Salt
- 15 to 25 drops Peppermint or Lemon essential oil
- 4 to 6 drops Thieves essential oil
Instructions
- Mix together all ingredients. If it is too thick for your preference, add more water 1/2 to 1 teaspoon at a time until the desired consistency is attained.
- Store in a glass (must be glass), airtight container.
- To use, put a pea-sized bit on a toothbrush and brush teeth as normal.
Some of the essential oils used in this toothpaste recipe come with the Premium Starter Kit!
I have been using Earthpaste and I love that I can recreate it with your recipe. I have used coconut oil and baking soda before and found that the coconut oil got inside the electric toothbrush head and tended to grow bacteria. The inside was a bit hard to clean. Any suggestions on cleaning the coconut oil off?
Hi, Katie! 🙂 Do you mean like on the base of the brush deep inside the bristles (I have a regular toothbrush–can’t stand electric ones because it feels like they jar my head, lol)? I’ve noticed Earth Paste does that and, yes, my homemade toothpaste. I alleviate it by rinsing it off with hot water when I’m done brushing. I will also regularly run my toothbrush through the dishwasher (probably once/week) and that removes anything I missed. If the head pops off of yours, you could do that too (pending there aren’t any electrical elements in it). Hope this helps. 🙂 Let me know know what happens.
Great idea about the dishwasher. I haven’t had the problem with Earthpaste or baking soda alone.
Finally made your recipe! How thick/thin should it be without the additional 2 tbsp of water? Mine was pretty runny (pasty), while yours looks very thick.
Yeah, mine came out too thick (I actually watered it down after taking the pics and trying it for a couple days). It should be approximately the same consistency as store-bought toothpaste. You could add clay a bit at a time so it thickens up.
woah I didn’t thought DIY toothpaste is possible… Thanks for the write up
Where do you buy bentonite clay?
Hi, Barabara. We live out in the country where many things are hard to come by, so I buy ours online. I stick to the Redmond brand. 🙂
Can you use Kaonite clay instead? I already have it on hand and I’ve heard they’re similar
Hi, Gloria! Do you mean kaolinite (aka kaolin) clay? If so, then yes, it should be fine. 🙂
Will the coconut oil clog up sink?
No it should not. To be safe you use hot water. Coconut oil turns into its liquid form when the temperature rises.
What is best to stir in bentonite clay and essential oils? I know you can’t use a metal spoon with the clay or wood or plastic spoon with oils. Help I’m not sure how to blend it.