Earth Clinic Mobile: Home Remedies for People and Pets

Body Odor

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Castor Oil for BO

L.t. (Birmingham ) on 03/09/2024
5 out of 5 stars

Castor oil rubbed under arm pits works great for body odor.

Golden Raisins for Body Odor

Brian (NV) on 10/30/2022
5 out of 5 stars

I've found golden raisins to be a miraculous remedy for bad body odor and strong smelling stools. I find the jumbo golden raisins to be moist and taste very good. I find them at Sprouts in the bins. (Whole Foods might have them also, but I haven't checked.) The black raisins work also, but not quite as well.

Rubbing Alcohol and Not Living in an Old, Moldy House for Body Odor

Thomas (Texas) on 01/09/2022
5 out of 5 stars

Body odor remedy:

Rubbing alcohol, shower with soap, rubbing alcohol

(I just poured it on a paper towel and rubbed it on)

I think that cured me. Now it is just back to soap and deodorant.
—

But let me give a long rant as to why I got this way as hopefully it'll help prevent you from getting in my situation.

In Arizona, my sister's boyfriend would always have a lingering smell after he used our bathroom. We would make fun of him for it (in a loving way as we were close, though I'm sure he was self-conscious of it as we all would be). I never really thought of why he had that problem until I got older as I found out he lived in a really old house...

About 10 years ago I joined the no soap, no deodorant group. It worked. Click the "Stop using soap" in the body odor page to see testimonials back from the 2000s. When I did sweat it smelled sweet, it smelled good. I'm not joking. And being vegan at the time, my bowel movements were very clean. Actually, that area had zero smell when I didn't use soap, verses when I used soap and ate meat there was a little bit of funk on my hands after cleaning that area that I couldn't get rid of no matter how much soap I used (which makes sense since soap only strips the oils off your skin, not the actual bacteria and bacterial waste that causes those smells, and by not using soap your skin builds a protective layer against all that literal crap). I just had to wait for that smell to go away on its own (but now I know rubbing alcohol was probably the answer). No longer using soap, I no longer had that problem.

It was very zen like to go into the shower and only use water to clean with (I had stopped using shampoo and shaving cream too). Trust me, I lived with people who would complain if I smelled in the slightest and they never complained.

There wasn't such a thing as soap in the caveman times, yet we all lived together somehow...

To do this no soap method, you just use friction and water. You have to allow the good bacteria colons to build up on your skin. This isn't always a guarantee so sometimes you have to use soap and start all over again. But after having to use soap once or twice, I never had to use it again once the good bacteria had taken over. While I never wore synthetic fabrics back then, I would risk it if you decide to use this method.

All this changed about 3 years ago when I went to live with my grandpa in his old house.

It was all falling apart. Being his grandson I felt compelled to help. Mold and mildew everywhere in the house. Rat shit in the garage and barn. I used a lot of bleach (unfortunately). Still, I couldn't really get it clean as it got to a point that you really needed a professional. His attic (which I couldn't walk in for my own safety as I might have fallen through) with a ton of black mold had an A/C unit with holes in it sucking in that filthy air, and he refused to pay any money to get it fixed. Whenever I found something new to clean like window curtains, all this yellow stuff would start to come out of it as I washed it. I hate to say this, I should have just left. His boys (my uncles and my dad) should have put him in a home a long time ago (he doesn't have the mental capacity to take care of himself). It wasn't fair to me to put up with these living conditions. Besides, all he bought was white bread, sugary foods, and meat to eat. So, yeah, a very unhealthy environment.

Going outside to get away from it wasn't even an option as his concrete backyard was full of all his greasy motor vehicle junk and dying tress covered in mold, algae, and slimy mushrooms. His immediate neighbors were just as bad with rotting fences full of fungus...

Anyway, I spent 3 years cleaning up his place and trying to fix his health. Pressure washing, painting, pulling up dying bushes, throwing out old food, etc. I was fine at first. The first six months wasn't an issue in regards to my health. After getting into an argument with one of his neighbor friends and my grandpa refusing to talk about it or even acknowledge what his neighbor did to me, I left. I should have stayed gone. But I originally went to my grandpa's to get away from harassment in my parent's neighborhood (I swear I'm not a troublemaker, I think it's just the issue of a bad community not wanting a good person to be in their neighborhood... the world is strange like that). After getting harassed again at my parent's neighborhood, I went back to my grandpa's as it was just one neighbor I wasn't getting along with and his sons, the only people he'll listen to, took my side in the situation as they wanted me to care of him for free...

But at about the 1.5 year mark is when weird things started to happen to my body: chapped lips (even the summer), heel cracks, a lot of body hair loss, bowel movement problems, and BO.

And my grandpa would make fun of me for all of this, but NOT in a loving way. He had some real metal/self-hatred problems. He beat his wife in the past and tried to commit suicide twice (his sons wouldn't get him any mental health help unless it was free from the government). Later, I found out my grandpa suffered from all of this health problems but he learned how to thoroughly take care of the symptoms but not the cause. And the cause seemed to be bacteria/fungus from his nasty, old house.

(I also got gray nose hairs, a long gray hair on my forearm, a lot of belly fat, and my face started to look old. But I think that had more to do with my grandfather's abusive behavior. And, yes, he made fun of me for those features as well.)

Even when describing my bowel movement problems to him, he got an evil look on his face and was able to describe the rest of my symptoms exactly cause he had/has them and was enjoyed seeing someone else suffer with it. I'm talking about being constipation for days, having to strain really hard to go (and I'm the guy who would only eat colorful fruits and vegetables and easily go in one minute), wiping to no end, and the bathroom just smelling for half an hour to an hour afterward (sorry if this is really gross for you all to read).

Now it made sense why he used the small bathroom in the house (the only one with a vent) and hosed it down with freeze, used baby wipes, and stayed in there for half an hour cleaning himself; why he always had ChapStick around; why he wore socks and used a ton of moisturizer (to prevent heel cracks); and shaved his ENTIRE body (he walked around naked in the house more than once...). But I never really figured out what he did for his armpits besides shave his pits.

But I thought I fixed my BO problem by just starting to use soap and deodorant (I use the stuff you'll find at a health food store as the typical deodorant has a chemical smell I can't stand).

(I think I screwed up when going no soap, no deodorant at his house cause I would use his head and shoulder on the essential areas as "insurance" but apparently soap removes your acid mantle and your protect oils. Still, I never had such a horrible smell problem with no soap, no deodorant until I started living at his house. One day, it had a VERY slight sour milk smell to it. I knew something wasn't right with my body. Later, on a holiday of all day, I wore a shirt, that I thought was all cotton, with some synthetic fibers outside while bringing food in from the neighbors. It wasn't a good situation.)

My grandfather passed recently. After moving back with my parents a few months before that, everything fixed itself for the most part up. My heel cracks went away on their own (even though I still wear sandals all the time), my chapped lips went away, my bowel movements went to back normal after three months (more on this later), and, like I said, I had fixed my BO problem back at my grandpa's (so I thought...)

While my bowel movements got better at my parent's apartment, it didn't completely go back to normal (a horrible smells that lingered for about 30 minutes even with the vents on) until I started working at a warehouse. I had to walk for about 10 hours a day (cardio stimulates your immune system which 80% is in your gut), got sick the first week and got put on an antibiotic, and I took Saccharomyces boulardii (a yeast probiotic that fights candida, SIBO, and FIBO).

Personally, I think I had an overgrow (either fungal or bacterial) into my small intestine which blocked my bile from being reabsorbed. Bile kills off bacteria (not all or else it would naturally take care of your SIBO problem for you) and makes your poop slimy and greasy, so that's probably why my poop was hard to pass and smelled so bad: your poop it supposed to have live bacteria in it not dead bacteria. It's hard to say what worked the best, but I would guess it was the antibiotic first, then the special probiotic, and then the cardio.

Basically, my system needed a kick start to get my system back to normal (as I definitely didn't want to wait another 1.5 years for digestive health/bacteria to change again).

So that finally brings me back to my body odor problem.

Like my digestive problems, I needed a kick start to help get rid of all the bacterial colonies that was there from that nasty house.

This battle against bad bacteria is something I learned about in my no soap days, and apparently normal soap alone wasn't strong enough to kill whatever I got.

While soap and deodorant seemed to work, if I really dug my finger into my armpit, I would definitely get a smell. Not straight up BO, but it was a funk. On Christmas day of all days, my mom is yelling at me (needlessly) to hurry up as I'm getting out of my shower and I yell back forgetting to put on deodorant in the rush. Then I decided to wear that polyester shirt my dad gave me cause it looked really nice with my new jacket that is very tight on me (but it was pretty much a warm day for being Christmas cause we live in Texas) and I haven't had a BO problem in a long time and my sister keeps her house cold. But I ended up being outside for a long time and I was later stuck at my sister's house all day while smelling. :(

I knew I had to fix this. Like my bowel movement problem, I needed a little bit of help. Rubbing alcohol was the first thing I tried. The smell got really intense, both the alcohol and the BO, so I knew something was happening. Then I took shower. Did the alcohol again but this time no smell at all. The next day after returning back to my normal routine (same soap and same shampoo), I really rubbed my finger into my armpit and smelled it. This time, no smell whatsoever. I also noticed that the slight tannish stains in my armpit were gone (got them after using a coconut oil based deodorant, pretty sure it had absolutely nothing to do with the smell problem though).

So that's basically it.

But this is the real reason I got in this situation:

I feel like a lot of my major problems in life (health, relationships, finances, etc.) came from not respecting myself and not sticking to my principles. Because if I had I wouldn't be in those bad situations to begin with. Lord knows that I would have never of stayed in such a nasty house if it wasn't for my grandpa. While it might have been noble of me to stay with and help him, I should have drawn the line when he showed his true colors. I see this same pattern in my life over and over again.

Not only did my grandpa become abusive to me when I came back, the rest of the family when from having an excellent opinion of me cause I was taking care of him and wanting to be my friend to hating and making fun of me (even though I hadn't changed as a person at all).

Just about every major problem I had could have been prevented if I didn't ignore people's bad behavior. Instead, I would justify it by saying he's my grandpa or parents and I have to do this or that despite the bad feeling it gave me and intuitively knowing the situation is wrong.

You don't need to know if the person is a narcissist or whatever, you just need to know that this behavior shouldn't be tolerated and do what you gotta do. And if you can't leave the situation, then start making on plans to leave the situation. Don't try to change or reason with the person, that's not your job.

I did turn to the rest of my family for help, but they encouraged me to put up with his bad behavior cause "he's going to die pretty soon and he'll probably leave you a lot of money for everything you've done for him." When he passed, he didn't leave me a cent. Yeah, he did pay me while living with him, but just the bare minimum so I could cover my bills so I couldn't save up money to leave. Even if he did leave me a lot of money, it still wouldn't have been worth it. There isn't a price you can put on your dignity.

Unfortunately, I'm starting to realize that the people who encouraged me to stay with my abusive grandpa don't really have my best interest at heart and are abusive to me in their own ways.

By the way, since leaving my grandpa's abusive house (I did it a few months before he passed away) I lost my belly, my nose hairs are no longer gray, and my face looks a lot younger. I could even watch that one hair on my forearm have color grow back in from the root since the day I left (I think my mom's blackberries did the trick).

I never wished my grandpa ill will, and I still don't. But you gotta know when to let people go.

Improved Dental Hygiene Cured Years of Body Odor

Stacy (Brooklyn, NY) on 05/03/2021
5 out of 5 stars

I've had body odor for years now, nothing I did helped, or would help a little but never eliminated my problem completed. My odor was bad breath, underarm, and feet ...Went to doctors for years and no one could help me.....The only thing worse than body odor is the way people treat you...Just horrible, this is an isolating, debilitating condition....I bathe every night and shower every morning...and use wipes during the day...just exhausting and the odor still there ...

I went to a new dentist a few months back he told me I had a lot of decay under a filling, a cap I think...and he had to take it out and prepare for an implant....I told him I didn't feel pain and no other dentist had told me this before and didn't know it was possible to get a cavity under a filling....this was before covid....but once the pandemic hit, I was scared to leave my house, ..anyway it started to bother me so I called the dentist office, they promised me it was safe to come in, they pulled the tooth and cleaned out the decay and bacteria..the hygienists told me my gums were bleeding a little and that is a sign of early gum disease....and she told me what to do..and she cleaned my gums....anyway about a week after going to the dentist I noticed no odor...I thought that was odd...

.I didn't do anything differently in my hygiene habits except my teeth cleaner... it's been a month now and no odor!!!! Hallelujah!! ...I'm finally cured, I can't believe it, this odor problem has been from my teeth all this time, how could that be??..I don't know how?..Tthe bacteria and decay from my teeth caused my body odor?... No more bad breath, no underarm odors...all odors gone!!! ......I feel like I can finally have my life back....I luv this site and come on here all the time and wanted to post my experience and maybe this can help somebody else

Art (California) on 05/18/2020
5 out of 5 stars

UNDERARM ODOR:

Recently a person was telling me about his wife who has significant underarm odor and he mentioned she had tried several things, but they did not work at all. I suggested that he might consider giving her chlorophyll in liquid or pill form because it can work very well for this purpose and probably will work for smelly feet because it has a detoxing effect and is thought to absorb some of these odor causing bacteria and toxins. That was about two months ago.

He just let me know that he tried chlorophyll soft gels at three 50 mg softgels per day and while it helped a little with the odor, it wasn't enough.

He decided to increase her dose to three, 100 mg doses per day or 300 mg total per day and he said that has worked perfectly for his wife and no more underarm odor!

Art

Activated Charcoal for Body Odor

Rae (Maryland ) on 05/04/2020
5 out of 5 stars

Hello, my name is Rae. I'm a 22 year old young man with mild to severe body odor. My odor doesn't come from my armpits, but from my pores. I've been experiencing this issue since I was 20. I notice that when I eat certain foods like chicken, cheese, garlic, etc it makes my body produce a lot of sebum, like I get really oily on my face, back, neck, shoulders, chest, the smell is literally amplified or something it gets so bad. The only time I don't smell is when I choose not to eat. Someone told me it could be malabsorption, or even a disease.

I've tried chlorophyll and it did not even work.

I've been using the activated charcoal and it helps me significantly if I drink it with water and don't eat all. But I'm tired of this now, having to drink charcoal before bed or before meals. I need a permanent solution. Can someone help me?

I also heard probiotics help as well I wanna try those too.

Milk of Magnedia for Body Odor

Tonya (Fl) on 08/09/2020
5 out of 5 stars

Hello I'm 52 and never had arm pit oder but I think the change in hormones has changed my chemistry. I’be tried so many natural deodorants and I just smell myself through the scent.

M.O.M (milk of magnesia) has been the savior! If you put it in a roll-on deodorant bottle you can add one drop of lavender or lemon oil or whatever antibacterial essential oil you like. it's all day odor protection.

Lemon for Body Odor

Maggie (Idaho) on 07/19/2020
5 out of 5 stars

Lemon for body odor works great. I use bottled lemon juice because I don't normally have fresh lemons on hand. I put some in a small spray bottle and keep it in the refrigerator.

Xylitol Cured Body Odor

Megan (Athens, Georgia) on 06/23/2018
5 out of 5 stars

For years I tried numerous remedies and supplements like chlorophyll, apple cider vinegar and charcoal internally and externally to lessen armpit odor. I don't have bad body odor but it definitely gets worse in the summer when it's humid out. I read on here that caffeine was a big culprit and cut back on it. That helped a bit but what stopped my pits from smelling was simply switching from a teaspoon of organic brown sugar to a teaspoon of xylitol in my morning and afternoon coffee. I wasn't trying xylitol for body odor, I was trying it to keep my blood sugar in the normal range (which it does), so this is an unexpected side effect. I am very pleased.

I hope others will test this and let me know if it's the same for them.

Baking Soda Deodorant Caused Lump

Brian (Lake, Fl) on 05/17/2018
0 out of 5 stars

Hi, I recently switched to baking soda deodorant, all natural ingredients. Yesterday I found a lump under the skin in my armpit, sensitive if I mess with it. Has anyone else experienced this?

Cranberries for Body Odor

Taylor M. (Florida ) on 01/23/2018
5 out of 5 stars

I am so excited to be sharing with the natural community and contributing to the body of knowledge. I had been doing research for many years focusing on body odor and have tried several remedies and prescription deodorants until I did more research about the the organs and their individual connection to the human body. I realized that being healthy begins with the gut and having a healthy gut flora helps you to rid any disease. I began upping my probiotic intake as well as focusing on the urinary tract and I decided to try Cranberries.

I made fresh cranberry juice and drank a half of glass and noticed that my pungent body odor had vanished. In order to rid yourself of body odor you have to treat the underlying issue. So not only is FRESH cranberry juice good for the urinary tract, but it eliminates body odor as well!

Experience with Homemade Deodorant and Clean Diet for BO

Teena (Melbourne, Australia) on 01/01/2018
5 out of 5 stars

Experience with homemade deodorant and clean diet for Body Odor

I had bad body odor. I started to experiment with making my own deodorant not to save money or due to the toxins they contain, (I was unaware at that time) but because I couldn't get one that I didn't have to reapply repeatedly thought the day.

I found a recipe online, there are many, added coconut oil, beeswax (had to purchase) baking soda, cornflour, and the only essential oils I had, eucalyptus and tea tree. Since then I have added bentonite clay, shea, cocoa butter, and subbed the gmo cornflour for arrowroot and tapioca starch, and bought more feminine but still antibacterial essential oils, orange blossom and rosewood is a favorite.

The first day I used my product was a work day, I was very nervous. But with one application it lasted all day. And I found I have been using too much also, you just need a smidge. I make manly scented ones for my boys, the 11 year old has suddenly started needing it, and I can definitely tell when he has forgotten to use it!

Well the last few days I have forgotten to apply after showering (3am shift starts, don't judge) and I can tell you before I would have noticed a smell by the time I got to work. So no problem, there is some in my work bag and I'd just apply at work. But then I thought I'll just see. So I went all day without deodorant. And at the end of the day there was a slight smell IF I sniffed. Not at all possible before. No way.

I realised today when reading an EC onion post that since then I have learned so much about my health, toxins in every day foods, chemicals, additives, phytates, etc, the importance of alkalising and replacing vitamins and minerals, that my diet is so much cleaner, and that is what has got rid of the body odor. I consider what I eat, eating less wheat unless soaked or genuine sourdough, avoid sugar, avoid meds, added pure salts, added ferments, enjoy kombucha, my dairy is now cultured with kefir grains for easy digestion, and I simply cook and eat more natural. Before if someone had told me I could get rid of my b.o. from changing my diet, I would have laughed and kept on eating my junk.

Blessings of health to you all in this new year.

Apple Cider Vinegar and Baking Soda for Armpit Odor

Ellasunflower (Atlanta, Ga) on 05/06/2017
0 out of 5 stars

I wonder if I'm the only person experiencing this - I'm trying to stop using traditional deodorants (too many chemicals in my opinion). As a natural alternative, I've tried using apple cider vinegar and baking soda (at times even lime). All these make my armpits stink even more! I've tried combining them with coconut oil, but they always end up smelling pretty bad...Like I smell like apple cider vinegar right now! I was just wondering if anybody else has experienced this?

Baking Soda for BO

Denise (Massachusetts) on 04/24/2017
5 out of 5 stars

For a deodorant try a bit of bicarb of soda (baking soda). It is stupendous. It just cuts out odor like nobody's business.

Sweat - Thermal and Emotional

Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 04/13/2017

HI U OLE PATOOTS DOIN,,,,,,,,,, this is not original with me, but I read a Sports Illustrated article on the subject many years ago and decided to resurrect it based on a recent EC post. You have two kinds of sweat....one is thermal and the other is emotional. The thermal kind comes from all your body, but the emotional comes from a different set of glands that are located on your feet, palms and armpits. If you are afraid of dogs then your scent glands tell the dog that and it causes it grief and it will bite you. Whereas, you nearby friend is not afraid of dogs and does not put out this scent so the dog is not alarmed by them. He wags his tail at them.

I have been in many a meeting where the room was cool, but some were sweating profusely under their arms. Dear hearts, they were in nervous city. Thermal sweat has no odor unless you don't bath and it turns putrid. Emotional sweat always has a foul odor, and if you let your armpit hair go, only makes it worse. Our dad always made us trim our under arm hair. He was ahead of his time. I had several friends who were clean, but stunk to high heaven. My regret is that I never told them. Guess I was not a good friend after all. Here is the article from yesteryear.

https://www.si.com/vault/1981/10/26/826069/the-story-of-sweat-a-warm-intimate-tale-told-in-an-inoffensive-manner

I know dang well that this will send 99% of you to school on sweat.

========ORH=========

Apple Cider Vinegar in Bath Water Helps Reduce Body Odor

Avie (Uk) on 03/27/2017
5 out of 5 stars

I pour a couple of caps in warm bath water which I find reduces body odour across the day. Also clothing made of Bamboo and Merino wool is very helpful too.

Baking Soda for Body Odor

Cibitka (Here&There, EU) on 06/26/2016
5 out of 5 stars

For those who suffer from rash and irritated arm pits after using Baking Soda as a deodorant:

Make sure that you:
- buy Baking Soda and not Baking Powder (two different things)
- buy Baking Soda that was grinded very finely - the more grainy it is the more possible irritation
- don't apply Baking Soda on freshly shaved/depilated areas (leave the areas rest at least overnight)

My protocol of applying BS:
(I depilate my armpits.)
1. I apply BS in the morning.
2. I take about half of a teaspoon of BS and put it to my palm.
3. I wet the BS with enough water drops to make thick paste.
4. From that palm I take half of the paste amount on fingers of my other hand and I spread it under one armpit.
5. Then I spread the other half of the paste amount under the other armpit, just using the 'original' palm of the hand on which I did the paste. (so I end up with both palms with BS leftovers)
6. I allow the BS to dry out completely before I put on any clothes.
7. I use a towel or cloth to buff away excess BS from my armpits. But I make sure I don't rub. I just pat one or two times under each armpit. I like to do this over a carpeted room, as 1.) BS gets odours from carpets and helps to keep them clean. and 2.) it cracks unpleasantly when walked over on bathroom tiles...
8. Only afterwards I put on clothes.

When following this protocol, I have never experienced any issues with BS and I use it daily for already more than two years.
Also in southern EU countries, which get very hot during summer.

Baking Soda for Body Odor

Xoxo (Malaysia) on 06/03/2016
5 out of 5 stars

You don't even know how hot is it living here. It is impossible for me not to sweat everyday and stink. Deos dosent work and leave stains that smells on my shirts. Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarb) is the best. It is cheap and you can buy it anywhere. The downside is that it doesn't work on polyester. I stink wearing polyester only after 2 hours with BS. So I just avoid wearing jerseys and opt for cotton instead. It also leave white stains on your clothes but it is pretty manageable since you can wash it away with only water.

Baking Soda as Deodorant

Tom (Livingston, Tx) on 05/22/2016
5 out of 5 stars

I read that some people use baking soda for deodorant, so I tried it and it works great. There was some initial stinging but that went away.

After my evening shower, I dampen my left palm and sprinkle a little baking soda on it and rub my two palms together and rub the wet baking soda under each arm.

I noticed that it lasts over 24 hours as a deodorant.

Lime for Body Odor

Charles (Ghana) on 08/22/2015
3 out of 5 stars

Worked Temporarily

It's there any maximum duration for the use of lime in curing under arm odor? I've been using lime for the past one month now but whenever I don't apply deodorant after bathing I get some slight smell under my arm, am getting confused now whether to continue using the lime or quit and continue with the deodorant. Kindly advice.