DIY: 8 Simple Home Remedies for Excessive Sweating and Body Odour

Summer is here and it means beautiful dunrises and sunsets, mangoes, vacations at the grandma's, and also sweat! Sweating is body's natural method to get rid of toxins in the system and cool down the body. While it is meant for a good cause, stickiness, oiliness, and body odour that come along with it are very irritating. Booooo! I'm sure nobody likes it! If you are also in the same boat or have serious sweating or body odour problems, then keep on reading.

Deodorants and anti perspirants are temporary solutions and not very safe for long term use. There are so many cases of tragic results of using these chemicals on the body. Deodorants just mask the odour by chemically reacting with the sweat and producing another kind of odour. It is not very sanitary as the sweat and bacteria are still there, under the veil of the deodorant. Anti perspirants form a barrier wall on the skin obstructing the pores from sweating. You can imagine the perils of obstructing some natural phenomenon. It's not a very intelligent method to control sweat or odour!

I have 8 easy recipes that you can make using kitchen ingredients and they are all damn effective!

Recipe 1: Baking soda and lemon juice

Body odour happens when sweat can't evaporate but gets stuck in places where there is no air movement, like the underarms, neck creases, and other skin creases and folds ( you get it, right?) and this makes a perfect meal for bacteria. To avoid excessive perspiration, try mixing a tsp of baking soda and lemon juice each and apply it over those areas. Wash it off after 10 minutes. Baking soda not only absorbs all the sweat but kills the odour causing bacteria too. Lemon juice is an excellent astringent and will prevent excessive perspiration and also keeps you feeling fresh with its crisp, citrusy fragrance.

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Recipe 2: Lemon

Lemon by itself is a superb ingredient to keep body odour in check. Just cut a lemon into half or use a small size and rub it on those places. It will dissolve all the sweat and keep you fresh too. If this is too much of a hassle for you, then simply add some drops of lemon juice into your bath water. It's a great refreshener.

Image source: https://middlepath.com.au/plant/img/lemon_7_detox.jpg

Recipe 3: Rosemary

Rosemary is an anti bacterial agent and also soothes prickly heat and itching caused by sweat. Take rosemary and water in the ratio 1:8, for example, half a cup of rosemary and 4 cups of water. Bring this mixture to a boil. Let it cool to room temperature and transfer it to a clean jar or bottle. Just add a little to your bath water and let it sit in the water for about 10 minutes before taking a bath.

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Recipe 4: Vinegar

Vinegar is a natural disinfectant. You can use fruit based vinegar like Apple cider vinegar ( if you can bear its pungent smell) not the synthetic ones. Just dab it on a damp cotton ball and apply it on the affected areas. Then you can leave it on as is, since the strong smell of vinegar will fade away or use it before a bath.

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Recipe 5: Tomato

Bet you haven't heard of this one before! Tomatoes are natural antiseptics. It just kills germs so well. Dhishum dishoom! take that, germs! In the ancient times, tomato juice was mixed with the bath powder ( a blend of herbal ingredients) and used to not only clean the skin but prevent and treat body odour. If you don't have a bath powder, also known as Ubtan in India, you can use a tbsp of chickpea flour or garbanzo flour and a tbsp of tomato puree and apply this as a mask on in the shower. If using as a mask, then let it sit for a couple of minutes till it dries off before washing it off. If using it in the bath, then just apply over wet body and massage all over for a bit and then wash it off.

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Recipe 6: White Radish and glycerin

Grate a radish and squeeze it to extract the juice. Mix a tsp of glycerin. Pour this mixture into a small container and store it in the fridge. It will become thicker but that is okay! Just take a little bit and give it a mix before using it. Take a cotton ball and evenly apply a thin layer. It will dry off quickly and won't stain your clothes even.

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Recipe 7: Tea leaves

You can use used tea leaves to gently exfoliate the area and it will also control the body odor. Or you could use the decoction to cleanse the area and it will do the job too. Don't get crazy and use masala tea, or strawberry tea, or the likes. Just simple tea leaves will do.

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Recipe 8: Hydrogen peroxide

I know, I know! You must be thinking that it is used to bleach skin. But we are going to use a very weak hydrogen peroxide solution (1 tsp H2O2 to 4 glasses H2O) to wipe the skin and you will see in a couple of days that this works as a long term solution to keep sweat and odour in check.

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