Natural Products Reviews: Deodorant Stone and Soap Nuts

This year Toby and I have been testing out some natural products (mostly body and cleaning stuff). Since we've now been using them for many months, I figured I'd give you our verdict on them.

Thai Crystal Deodorant Stone: After Tom's of Maine changed their formula and it started making my armpits burn and itch and my skin peel off, we decided to start trying out other "natural" deodorants. We tried quite a few, and none of them worked. After trying about half a dozen ineffective types, pointed me in the direction of the Thai Crystal Deodorant Stone. I was skeptical, but this thing really does work! Even when we go on long bike rides, this stuff works like a charm. The only caveat is that if you don't shower every day you may occasionally have to give your armpits a scrub to keep the Stone's effectiveness up. I shower about once or twice a week, and I only occasionally have to scrub, but at the beginning I did have to scrub more frequently.

Now when I find myself without a Deodorant Stone and have to use regular old stick deodorant, my armpits feel sticky and gross. The Stone is much, much more comfortable.

If you try this, don't worry about getting a crystal in a holder. The salt rock itself is completely inoffensive to hold and won't feel yucky on your hand. Bonus: it won't get any white shmoo on your clothes if you accidentally brush it against them, and there will be no white yucky junk on the armpit of your shirt.

Bonus: One crystal lasts a really long time, even with two people using it, so in the long run it is dramatically cheaper than regular types of deodorant.

Soap nuts (laundry soap): We've been using these babies for most of a year now, and they've done a fantastic job of ridding our clothes of both the sweat and salt of winter and the dirt and grime of summer. We've used them to wash all kinds of disgusting stuff (cooking oil, bike grease, encrusted mud, etc). Normally one just needs to tuck a couple of nuts into the included cloth bag and toss it into the washer. We wash all of our clothes in cold water, so we boil water and steep the nuts for a few minutes before tossing them (and the "tea") into the laundry, and it works perfectly. There are no drawbacks.

Bonus: The nuts are fantastic for sensitive skin, and they leave no scent. Since it only takes 2 nuts to wash a load of laundry, they are actually very cost effective. (And some companies claim that they can be re-used several times, although we haven't tried that, so I can't vouch for it.)