There are many reasons to begin making your own toothpaste at home. We came to doing it because of our efforts to eliminate plastics (as much as possible) from our lives. Toothpaste tubes are one of a long list of plastic product containers with which we are doing away. Good riddance!
Other reasons people choose to ditch commercial toothpaste are good ones, too, like the fact that many toothpastes contain toxins like Propylene Glycol and others, Even worse, because toothpaste is not regulated as a food, these toxins do not necessarily need to be listed on the labels. We, therefore, do not even know if we are putting them in your mouths when we brush with a commercial toothpaste, even if it is one of the so-called "natural" products on the market.
The good news is that making your own organic toothpaste is simple and results in a product that cleans teeth better than the commercial stuff.
The base ingredient is pure, organic coconut oil. Honestly, you can just use coconut oil and it will work as good or better than most commercial toothpastes. Coconut oil has some pretty potent anti-bacterial properties, tastes good and is very good at loosening debris from your teeth. If you want to kick the cleaning and anti-bacterial aspects of your homemade toothpaste up a notch, you can add a generous portion of organic ginger.
Ginger is also very anti-bacterial. It adds a nice flavor and a very gentle grit to help clean teeth even more.
If you want more of that minty-fresh feeling you get from commercial toothpaste, add a few drops of organic tea tree oil and your favorite organic mint oil.
At our house, we use coconut oil with ginger, tea tree and mint. We start with a mix of about 50/50 coconut oil/ground ginger. Then we mix in a few drops of the other oils to taste. We store it in a little to-go sauce container we kept and saved. Because it is so anti-bacterial, it does not need to be refrigerated. We keep it on the counter in the bathroom. We just dip our tooth brushes in the mix and start brushing.
Your teeth will feel smoother and silkier in a couple of days. And, the best part, no throw-away plastic toothpaste tubes!