Home » Make it Yourself Naturally » Homemade Natural Mouthwash – Fights cavities, bacteria & freshens breath
Published Last Updated By Lori Ryman 100 Comments
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This homemade natural mouthwash will help fight cavities and leave you with fresh breath! It’s easy to make and much healthier than using a chemical based mouthwash.
One product that I don’t like to see sitting on my family’s bathroom shelf is the big bottle of green colored mouthwash. Yuck! Many think these mouthwashes are beneficial to fight cavities, but they actually cause more harm!
Luckily, you can easily make your own homemade natural mouthwash simply with a few ingredients that are truly good for your teeth! This homemade mouthwash fights bacteria and leaves your breath minty fresh without all the toxins! Plus, this recipe is really inexpensive to make!
I made one for my family to use and tossed their toxic one. But, I don’t think they’re going to be upset with me, because I’m sure they will love it and will keep using it!
What’s harmful about store bought mouthwash
When I was researching about how harmful many types of mouthwash are, I found one site that said that if your dentist recommends using mouthwash, you need to ask him if he even knows what’s in that stuff! Good point!
Most popular mouthwash brands you find at the store contain several toxic ingredients including hexetidine, and methyl salicylate. There’s also other ingredients that are of concern including synthetic colors and sugars such as green number 3 and sucralose. Due to these harmful ingredients, most mouthwashes are listed as a moderate to high hazard and unfortunately, the chemicals are easily absorbed by your body.
Benefits of Using this Homemade Natural Mouthwash
1. Freshens Breath – One of the main reasons I like to use this homemade natural mouthwash is because it leaves my breath minty fresh! If I don’t have time to brush my teeth or even just want that nice clean feeling after I brush, this is a great option. All you do is take a teaspoon of this recipe, swish it in your mouth and you’re set to go! It’s easy, if you have no time and much better than grabbing one of those breath freshening mints with all those questionable ingredients.
I used peppermint in this recipe to give the minty fresh affect, but if you don’t like mint taste, you can replace it with your favorite kind of essential oil.
2. Improves Oral Health – The ingredients in this homemade natural mouthwash help fight bacteria and improve your gum health. The antibacterial and antimicrobial properties of coconut oil and peppermint essential oil help to get rid of the bad bacteria. I added a little salt to this homemade natural mouthwash recipe to increase the benefits even more because, just like when you do a salt water mouth rinse, the salt helps eliminate bacteria and also promotes healing of the gums.
3. Prevents Cavities – In addition to leaving your breath minty fresh, this homemade natural mouthwash is also great because it helps prevent cavities! I added coconut oil to this recipe to boost the antibacterial, antiviral, and antimicrobial properties. Peppermint essential oil is great in this recipe because it not only eliminates bad breath, but it helps fight off bad germs and decreases dental plaque. It has great antiseptic and ant-inflammatory properties, which is why it is often added to toothpaste recipes and mouthwashes.
How to Make the Homemade Natural Mouthwash
What you need:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 2 drops peppermint essential oil (or another oil such as cinnamon, clove, or wintergreen)
- Pinch of sea salt
- Optional: add a drop or 2 of another essential oil, such as spearmint or tea tree oil
- Optional: pinch of baking soda
*Some like to add baking soda to their mouthwash, but I haven’t tried this yet.
Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a container. I use a small mason jar to store mine.
2. Stir or shake well before each use to mix all the ingredients
3. Swish 1 to 2 teaspoons around in your mouth for about a minute, then spit out and rinse with water.
Your breath will be minty fresh!
About Lori Ryman
Lori Ryman, BS, MS, has been dedicated to researching natural alternatives for the past 15 years. Lori has a background in research methods, health, and nutrition. She started with an Interest in natural alternatives to improve her own health and she continues to share natural DIY projects, recipes and natural alternatives with millions of viewers on treasuredtips.com.
Lori’s research for posts is based on peer reviewed evidenced-based research. Lori is a published author in a peer reviewed research journal. Her work has been covered by MSN, The Huffington Post, wikiHow, The New York Times, and many more.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Cynthia DunningHi I tried using this with melted coconut oil and it hardened into a ball,,how do u prevent this? Thanks
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- Brandie
Is the coconut oil suppose to clump up and float on top of the mixture? Or did I do something wrong?
I’ve been searching for the perfect natural mouthwash recipe and it must be a sign that I have all these ingredients already, including cinnamon essential oil! Sorry If you’ve mentioned this somewhere on the post, but how long will this recipe keep for if I don’t keep it in the fridge? I just know if I don’t keep it in my bathroom cabinet I’ll forget to use it.
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- Lori
I’m usually extra cautious and make a new batch every week.
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- Ahmed Ibrahim
Thanks for this recipe . The essential oils will not mix in water unless you add a solubilizer that forces them to mix and dissolve in water such as Peg 40 , So I suggest that you mix the essential oils in a separate cup with just 0.5 gm of Peg 40 and then add the mixture to the water . I also suggest that you add a drop of Formalin as a preservative .
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- Ellen
I’m curious why this post and the one linked about using baking soda say to just gargle and not swallow since all of the ingredients are used in cooking (using supplement safe peppermint of course). I wanted to use this with kids (omitting peppermint) and hoped it would be safe in case they do swallow. Thanks
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- Lori
You can swallow the ingredients themselves. It’s just that after swishing it for a long time, it contains all the bacteria you pulled out, so you want to spit that out.
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- Laura
I would love to make this but as for the peppermint essential oil does it need to be food grade quality as the one I have says not for external use?
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- Lori
What brand do you have?
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- Laura
It’s from the shop Holland and Barrett and brand is Miaroma 100% pure essential oil
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- Lori
That should work 🙂
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- paula
I put all the same ingredients in my homemade toothpaste (except the water).
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- Lori
Awesome!
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- Christy
Adding colloidal silver to the mouthwash would be very beneficial.
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- Lori
Thanks Christy!
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I’ve been looking for an easy mouthwash recipe. Thanks for sharing. And thanks to those that suggested using fractionated coconut oil.
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- Bree
I LOVE this recipe so much! I’ve been looking for one for a long time; this one was really the perfect one. Even after just a couple of uses, there is already less plaque on my teeth. Thanks for posting this!
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- Lori
So happy to hear that!
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- Lisa
This is just what I need because I have a health condition that causes severe dry mouth, resulting in all sorts of hideous raw areas. Staying hydrated just doesn’t take care of it. This is dry mouth on crack! I have tried many alcohol-free types of mouthwash but they still set my mouth on fire. These ingredients sound perfect with the right amount of anti-bacterial and soothing properties. Thank you!
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- Lori
Hope it works for you!
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- Donna in Texas
When I googled cloves, I read a lot of scary warnings about it on WebMD. Kind of made me nervous about using it… but I MUST find a safe mouthwash because commercial ones are REALLY toxic.
“Clove seems LIKELY SAFE for most people when taken by mouth in food amounts. Not enough is known about the safety of taking clove by mouth in larger medicinal amounts.
Clove oil or cream containing clove flower is POSSIBLY SAFE when applied to the skin. However, frequent and repeated application of clove oil in the mouth or on the gums can sometimes cause damage to the gums, tooth pulp, skin, and mucous membranes.
Inhaling smoke from clove cigarettes or injecting clove oil into the veins is LIKELY UNSAFE and can cause side effects such as breathing problems and lung infections.
Dried clove can also cause mouth sensitivity and irritation, as well as damage to dental tissues.”
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- Lynley
I made a toothpaste using equal parts of baking soda and coconut oil. Add a few drop of water to make it more paste-like. I like the mouthwash recipe. I am excited to try it. Thanks.
Also check out my blog: twentyfoursevenmarriage.wordpress.com for healthy & clean living, etc.Reply
- Lori
Awesome!
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- chandmal. Rebari
yaaae
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- c.m.rebari
very nice Lori. thank you
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