Refresh, cleanse, and heal with this natural, homemade mouthwash that is alcohol-free, inexpensive, and super easy to make yourself!
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might already know that I am a non-practicing dentist. While my blog covers a variety of topics, it would be remiss of me to leave out a subject that I have expertise in.
My whole reason for starting this blog was to share my knowledge and empower you to take control of what you eat and use.
In the interest of doing that, I have already shared a few dental care recipes. I’ve shown you how to make a homemade toothpaste, tooth powder, and toothpaste tablets.
But what about when you can’t brush? Or when you have a special healing need?
The purpose of mouthwash
Most people use mouthwash either in the hopes of eliminating bad breath or to help their mouths feel fresh and clean.
There are numerous types of mouthwash available that serve a variety of different purposes. Some claim to help fight cavities, others to help remove plaque, tartar, or gingivitis (aka. gum disease). Still, others claim to help whiten teeth.
When should you use it?
While most people don’t need to use mouthwash on a daily basis, there are times when it could come in handy. All of these reasons are valid reasons for wanting to use a mouthwash…
- Perhaps you want to freshen your breath before a date. Or maybe you can’t get a brushing in, and you’re looking for a way to clean your mouth and raise the pH after eating.
- You may have dental pain and want to soothe your mouth until your dentist is able to see you. Or maybe you’re trying to ease the pain of a canker sore or other small wound and help keep it from getting infected.
- Maybe you have a sore throat and want to gargle with something to help lessen the pain.
- Perhaps you have deep periodontal pockets or hard-to-reach areas in your mouth that you feel could benefit from a good rinse. Occasional rinses with mouthwash can help maintain good oral hygiene.
Why make it yourself?
If you feel like you’re a good candidate for mouthwash, why not make it yourself? By making your own homemade mouthwash, you control the ingredients.
You can choose what ingredients to use and what quality you want them to be. Choose whether to add ingredients like essential oils to your recipe and what flavor to use. Avoid the alcohol and unwanted chemicals in many commercial mouthwashes.
Not only that, but you can save yourself money.
This is a very inexpensive, super quick-and-easy DIY!
Is mouthwash effective?
Whether a mouthwash is effective depends on what that particular mouthwash is meant to do. Some are considered cosmetic, and others are considered therapeutic.
Cosmetic mouthwash
Cosmetic mouthwashes are meant to give a temporary feeling of freshness and may temporarily help with bad breath. Other than that, they don’t really do much. For many people, that may be enough.
Therapeutic mouthwash
Therapeutic mouthwashes have active ingredients meant to serve some sort of purpose. They may have added fluoride to try to help prevent cavities. Hydrogen peroxide may be added in the hopes of whitening teeth. Others add ingredients like chlorhexidine, an antimicrobial agent, meant to help fight gingivitis and periodontitis.
While certain therapeutic mouthwashes can be helpful in certain situations, they may have side effects that make them unsuitable for daily use.
Some studies do show that using mouthwash can help reduce plaque and gingivitis. (For example, mouthwash with essential oils does help reduce plaque and gingivitis.)
Best mouthwash ingredients
For my DIY mouthwash, I use a combination of the following ingredients:
Salt
Salt is a healing ingredient that has been used in medicine by many cultures since ancient times. It is, perhaps, the most important ingredient to use in a homemade mouthwash because of its healing properties. Saltwater rinses are often prescribed after dental surgeries because they can help soothe and promote healing by reducing inflammation and contracting the tissues.
Saltwater rinses may also help alkalize the mouth by helping to destroy the acid-forming bacteria that cause cavities and gingivitis. Using a natural salt, like Himalayan salt, could be helpful in providing essential trace minerals that may help in the remineralization of your teeth.
The addition of salt also helps preserve your homemade mouthwash.
Baking soda
With a pH of around 9, baking soda is alkaline. Adding it to your homemade mouthwash can help alkalize the mouth, making it a less hospitable place for bacteria that cause cavities and gingivitis. It can also help balance your oral pH after having ingested acidic foods that can be damaging to your teeth.
Combining salt and baking soda when rinsing is not a new idea. The National Cancer Institute recommends using a rinse of water, baking soda, and salt to help reduce some of the oral side effects of chemotherapy (like mouth pain). It’s a natural, gentle, healing combination that is great for a variety of issues.
Xylitol
A sweetener that won’t damage your teeth, xylitol may even help prevent cavities. My main reason for adding it is to make the mouthwash more palatable by giving it a sweet flavor. It’s a totally optional ingredient, though, so if you are opposed to using it, don’t add it!
While xylitol is safe for humans to consume, it can be toxic to animals, especially dogs. So, don’t make oral care products for your animals with xylitol, and make sure you keep it out of their reach.
Mineral drops
Adding mineral drops, like Concentrace Trace Mineral Drops is also optional. I include these to surround the teeth with helpful minerals that can potentially contribute to the remineralization process of any areas that may have been demineralized by the harmful bacteria present in dental plaque.
These same mineral drops make a great addition to your homemade toothpaste, tooth powder, or even your drinking water. So, they’re great to have on hand for other purposes.
Essential oils
Essential oils add flavor to your mouthwash, but they are an active ingredient when used in a high enough concentration. The goal is to have the oils disrupt the bacterial cell wall of the bacteria in your plaque. If you kill the bacteria, it won’t form acid, which thereby helps avoid cavities, gingivitis, and periodontal disease.
You can use one of several popular essential oils, depending upon your flavor preference; or use a combination of different oils. Some great choices are clove, cinnamon oil, tea tree, spearmint, peppermint, and wintergreen. (I elaborate more below.)
If you plan on having children use this mouthwash, you can add peppermint extract instead of peppermint essential oil to flavor your mouthwash. (It won’t be completely alcohol-free, then, but the amount of alcohol added is almost negligible.)
Mouthwash ingredients to avoid
As much as I love making apple cider vinegar and kombucha, acidic ingredients should have no place in homemade mouthwash recipes. Acids released by the bacteria in dental plaque are what erode away the enamel, eventually leading to tooth decay. You don’t want to purposefully bathe your teeth in an acidic liquid.
I also prefer avoiding alcohol in mouthwash.
Why avoid alcohol-based mouthwash?
One of the best dental school instructors I had was a periodontist who advised us that if you brush and floss your teeth correctly, using mouthwash is usually unnecessary for healthy people. He pointed out that most of the popular mouthwashes have alcohol in them, and the use of alcohol in a mouthwash could be drying to the mucosa.
Using an alcohol-based mouthwash can leave your mouth feeling cleansed. They have a cooling effect that feels refreshing. With continued use, though, they could potentially lead to a dry mouth.
Dry mouth
Having a dry mouth makes you more susceptible to getting cavities. If your main goal in using mouthwash is to prevent cavities, using an alcohol-based mouthwash may actually be doing more harm than good.
You could choose a fluoride-based rinse instead, but that takes us back to the debate about if you should be using fluoride or not. (I touched on that in my clay-based homemade toothpaste post.)
Effect on plastic fillings
I found one study that looked at the solubility of composite resins (tooth-colored fillings) in different solutions, including an alcohol-based mouthwash. They concluded that it may be best for people with a lot of composite restorations to avoid using alcohol-based mouthwash.
Does it cause cancer?
Some people believe that mouthwash with alcohol may give you an increased chance of developing oral cancer. The studies don’t really show a connection. The ADA has taken the stance that mouthwashes with alcohol in them are safe.
I’ll leave you to be the judge of whether you want to use an alcohol-based mouthwash or not.
Best essential oils for mouthwash
Many commercial brands of mouthwash use combinations of several essential oils to give their product good flavor and to leave your mouth feeling fresh. Listerine uses a combination of thymol (found in thyme oil), menthol (found in peppermint oil), eucalyptol (found in salvia and eucalyptus), and methyl salicylate (wintergreen).
If you feel that your child is likely to ingest the mouthwash, rather than spit it out, it’s probably best to leave the oils out altogether or not use mouthwash at all.
The ADA doesn’t recommend the use of mouthwash in children under 6 anyway as swallowing reflexes may not be well-developed yet in young children.
Clove oil
Clove oil is a great oil to use in homemade mouthwash because of its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. Gargling with a mouthwash made with clove oil may help soothe a sore throat, and it may also help relieve other pain from toothaches or ulcers in the mouth.
The eugenol component of clove oil is no stranger to dentistry. Zinc oxide-eugenol cement is commonly used as a temporary filling material.
Clove oil is generally safe to use with children over age 2, but I don’t suggest using a mouthwash with any oil on a child that young.
Tea tree oil
Tea tree oil isn’t the most pleasant tasting of the oils, but some people choose it for its antimicrobial properties. It may help in cases of oral candidiasis and may also help with gingivitis.
As this oil isn’t generally taken orally, you want to be especially sure to spit this one out. I don’t suggest using it with children.
Wintergreen oil
Wintergreen oil tastes great and can help with the inflammation and pain from infections. It’s thought to help naturally reduce bad breath. As it can be toxic in high concentrations, such as those found in essential oils, this is another one you want to make sure to spit out.
Wintergreen can lead to the development of Reye’s syndrome when used by children under the age of 10.
Peppermint oil
My favorite oil for a homemade natural mouthwash is peppermint. It’s easy to find, great for a number of other uses, and it gives your mouth a fresh, clean feeling. There’s no need to use alcohol in your mouthwash when you can get that same fresh kick from a few drops of peppermint oil.
Peppermint is generally safe for children over the age of 6, but can sometimes (very rarely) lead to respiratory issues in younger children.
Is it bad to use essential oils in mouthwash?
Some people are worried about using essential oils in homemade mouthwash and toothpaste because of their antimicrobial properties. The idea is that essential oils may have a similar effect on the balance of bacteria in the mouth as antibiotics do on the gut. In other words, they could kill both good and bad bacteria, upsetting the delicate balance of oral microorganisms.
Though essential oils do possess antimicrobial properties, I don’t believe they are potent enough to disturb the natural harmony of your mouth. You would need to use a ridiculously high concentration to cause issues.
Anybody who has made homemade natural products like homemade lotion or a homemade hair conditioner knows that essential oils can NOT be used as preservatives. If you don’t use a proper preservative in your products, even if you add essential oils, they will quickly develop bacteria and mold.
For more information about effective preservatives and why essential oils are not true preservatives, see my guide to natural preservatives.
Are essential oils effective at combating gingivitis and plaque?
There is a study that helps support the idea of using a mouthwash with essential oils to help reduce plaque and gingivitis. The patients with gingivitis who used a mouthwash containing essential oils along with brushing and flossing had less gingivitis and plaque than those who didn’t use mouthwash or used one without essential oils.
If you are still concerned, you can leave the essential oils out. Or, just save them for moments when you are dealing with dental pain, gingivitis, or inflammation of any other type.
How to use
Mouthwash can be used before or after brushing your teeth. It can also be used between brushings, when you aren’t able to conveniently brush your teeth during the day.
It’s especially helpful to rinse your teeth with mouthwash after flossing, to help remove any debris that you may have pulled out from between your teeth.
- Pour a small amount of mouthwash from the bottle into a small cup. About half an ounce (15ml) is enough.
- Swish the mouthwash around in your mouth for around half a minute.
- Finish by gargling some of the mouthwash to help clean the back of the tongue and throat area. This is especially helpful if you are dealing with a sore throat.
Make smaller batches rather than try to keep larger batches for longer periods of time. While the mouthwash should safely keep for longer, it may degrade with time. Ideally, mix up what you think you’ll use in a week. (Remember- this is quick and easy to make!
Storage
Store in an airtight bottle in a cool, dry place for up to a week.
Make smaller batches rather than try to keep larger batches for longer periods of time. While the mouthwash should safely keep for longer, it may degrade with time. Ideally, mix up what you think you’ll use in a week. (Remember: this is quick and easy to make!)
Video tutorial
Homemade Natural Mouthwash
Materials
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. xylitol
- 8 drops peppermint essential oil or other oil(s), optional
- 20 drops mineral drops
- 1 cup distilled water
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a storage bottle and mix thoroughly.
- Shake before each use to help disperse the oils and any baking soda or traces of salt that may have settled to the bottom of the bottle.
Notes
Other oral hygiene-related posts
This post was originally published on Jan. 2, 2018. It was updated and republished in June 2023 with new information and full tutorial video.
Angie
Awesome recipe! my new years resolution is to switch as many natural/homemade hygiene products as possible. So this is ideal. I even ran it past my dentist and he said most home recipes are fine as long as they don’t contain acidic ingredients.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Angie,
That’s great!
Yes, I agree with him. Nothing acidic and nothing with sugar! 🙂
Smile makeover Ross Township
Dental problems are increasing day by day, whether it is about teeth, cavity or oral diseases. Making your own homemade mouthwash is a really a unique and helpful concept. This will help to deal with oral problems naturally and get a great smile.
Sveta Charney
Hi!
You said not to add anything with acids. But I still want to ask, could a bit of lemon juice be added for flavor, or lemon/orange essence?
I don’t feel comfortable putting EO in their mouthwash. My kids are young, 3 and 6, and the younger one still swallows mouthwash accidentally. I stick with allnaturalonce, but DIY would be great!
Tracy Ariza
Hi Sveta,
I definitely would not recommend adding lemon or orange juice to this!
You can try adding some sort of flavor extract, but I never have used them and don’t have a brand that I would recommend because i’ve never looked into that option. You’d have to check the labels to see what, exactly, is included in the extract you are considering.
You could also consider just using a drop or two of essential oils to the recipe. Even if somebody would swallow an entire mouthful of the mouthwash, they’d end up ingesting much less than a drop of the essential oil used. The reason you have to be careful with essential oils is that they are highly concentrated, many obtained by distilling large quantities of plant material. Citrus oils, on the other hand, are usually expelled from the peel of the citrus fruits, so you could even squeeze a couple of drops of oil from the peel and you’d end up with basically the same thing. Most problems that arise from essential oils come from not diluting them properly. (There are certain oils that you have to be a lot more careful with, especially if you have children.)
Of course, you could also keep it unflavored, but that makes it much less appealing to children. In most cases, mouthwash isn’t really necessary for children (or anybody for that matter). It may help neutralize acids leftover from not brushing thoroughly (as long as you don’t have acids in the mouthwash. 😉 ), but it’s really one of those products that you use because you like the way it makes your mouth feel. If you don’t enjoy using mouthwash, don’t feel like it’s an important part of your oral hygiene routine that you have to use. You can have a perfectly healthy mouth without it. 😉
Jillian James
I’m curious about shelf life. You’d mentioned in other comments that it should be good for a while. I know when making a saline solution for oral or body care that it’s recommended to keep it no more than 24 hours. Saline recipe is .5 tsp salt per 8 oz water, so you have more salt here, but not really enough to be a preservative. Is it the combination of ingredients or the use of distilled water? Thanks.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Jillian,
The additional salt and the baking soda also helps preserve. One of the reasons that you can make liquid soap without a preservative (When it is normally mandatory for any sort of product with water in it) is because of its high pH. I talked to a professional formulator, who does a lot of testing of products, about it, and she told me that normally products with a pH above 9 or below 4 can be kept for up to a year without them. Soap tends to have a pH of 9-10.
Salt is also a great preservative and works wonderfully to help you cure anchovies, olives, etc.
The likelihood of microbial growth is very low here.
That said, I still like to make small batches and use it up because I think that the baking soda loses effectiveness with time. I need to try to find the chemical reaction and reasoning behind it again. I know I read about it, but couldn’t find it when I wrote the post.
I should follow this all up with…
To help keep microbes away- one shouldn’t drink directly from the bottle- so as not to contaminate the bottle with bacteria from the mouth. (I always sort of assume these things are common sense, but then realize I should probably add it to the post.)
Also, if you ever see any changes or anything that looks off or weird in any homemade product- don’t risk it- and toss it!
Of course, if you can make it daily- it’s always the best thing to do, but most people just aren’t going to do that.
Jillian James
Thanks, Tracy. I realized belatedly that the instructions for oral rinses and body piercing aftercare are about putting saline on an open wound, which would be a very different application than mouthwash. Because, yeah, if you’ve had a tooth pulled, you should use fresh saline. I sort of face-palmed. LOL. Thanks for the helpful response.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Jillian,
It was a great question and that is also a great distinction to keep in mind. No need to facepalm as I find these sorts of questions helpful because they allow me to better revise the posts when I get to the point of updating them.
In the end, all (or almost all- hahahaha) questions are helpful and welcome! 🙂
Ashlae
Would boiling the water to dissolve the baking soda and salt help cut the grainy feel? Or does that dilute the properties?
Thanks!
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Ashlae,
I don’t think it’s necessary. It dissolves well enough for use as a mouthwash.
lilia
Re: baking soda solution being less effective after some time: Possibly it has to do with how carbon dioxide in the air dissolves in water to make carbonic acid? If you leave water out and open to the atmosphere, CO2 dissolves in it and makes carbonic acid, slowly lowering the pH of the water. So I guess in time the carbonic acid and baking soda might balance each other to get to neutral pH? Not sure if this is an issue in a closed container with little surface area for the air and water to touch. And baking soda is supposed to be a good buffer, not sure how that’d come in to play with the carbonic acid.
Tracy Ariza
That could be it. I remember reading that the mixture could be less effective with time, but I can’t remember the reasoning.
Thanks for your help! I can definitely look into it. 😉
Sandra
Tracy, thanks for this. Is the mouthwash helpful for dry mouth, say before bedtime?
Tracy Ariza
Hi Sandra,
It’s great before bedtime and will help raise the pH in your mouth to help in the fight against cavities. I’m not sure it will help against dry mouth, though. That usually has to do with other issues like leaving your mouth open for some reason or another, certain medications, or other health issues. While using the mouthwash may help stimulate saliva, I’m not really sure if it would help with dry mouth in the long run.
Magdalen
Hi, Tracy:
Would adding food-grade glycerine help with dry mouth?
Tracy Ariza
Hi Magdalen,
I don’t know for sure.
Glycerin seems to be a bit controversial when it comes to teeth and toothpaste, but I haven’t found any real evidence to stay away from it. I’ve actually been working on (and using) a homemade toothpaste with glycerin in it without issues.
I do believe it is used in the saliva substitutes given to people with dry mouth, so it may be of some help. If you do give it a try, I’d love to hear how it goes.
Ricky
Hello Tracy,
Is Himalayan pink salt okay to use for the salt?
Thanks for the recipe.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Ricky,
Yes, of course!
You’ll notice that mine in the pictures is on the pink side- because I also use the pink Himalayan salt!
The minerals in natural salts like Himalayan salt won’t hurt your teeth and, in fact, I’d guess that they may even help with remineralization of your teeth. 🙂
Ömer
Wow, this turned out to be very very salty without the xytol.
Tracy Ariza
You can reduce the salt a bit to suit your preference, but keep in mind that not only is it therapeutic in a sense, but also helps keep the mouthwash safe to store and continue to use.
I think the xylitol and essential oils really help balance out the salt and baking soda and make the mix quite pleasant, really, but if you find it too much, you are free to reduce the amount slightly.
Maggie
I’ve been researching trying to find a safe and effective DIY toothpaste and mouthwash for my family, which includes three young children. I really liked your recipe. I also liked you have a dental education. Did you apply any of that knowledge when making your dental reciepes? They are so similar to others, and their maker didn’t have the education. Kind of a wierd question I know!
I also really wanted to know some more info on how to keep the mouthwash/toothpaste reciepes safe/fresh? How long will the toothpaste (oil version) and mouthwash last? Thank you very much for all your info! I’ve learned so much!
Tracy Ariza
Hi Maggie,
The oil-based recipe should keep theoretically for the longest amount of time because there isn’t any water for microbe formation. The oils can go rancid, but it isn’t really a place that microbes are going to want to grow. That said, it’s still best to try to keep from dipping your toothbrush into a jar of the toothpaste.
As for the other recipes, the addition of the salt and baking soda really make for a product that should last a relatively long time. If anything, I’d think that the baking soda would break down and lose effectiveness in the mouthwash before it would “go bad.” I still prefer to make smaller batches, but I think these products should be relatively safe to keep for long periods. I’ve taken courses now in natural cosmetic formulation, and in general, a product with a pH higher than 9 generally keeps well for up to a year without preservatives. That’s why you don’t really need to add a preservative to liquid soap.
As for what I used from my dental education in the formulation of this recipe- Probably the main things would be that salt and xylitol and baking soda can be beneficial for your oral health (and a salt and baking soda mixture can make a great rinse for your mouth, and it’s very healing). I also know what not to use. I see recipes with honey and other ingredients I wouldn’t use. In dental school they aren’t teaching you how to make toothpaste, of course, and push you to convince people to use fluoridated toothpaste, but I haven’t used it for years and have no issues with caries.
Monika Raisová
Wow, great article! Quick question: if I heat up the mixture of distilled water, salt and baking soda and then after cooling add essential oils, is it still necessary to shake the mouthwash before use? Also, can I use aqua instead of distilled water? Thank you so much!
Tracy Ariza
Hi Monika,
The reason for shaking the product is that we haven’t used any sort of solubilizer to the mixture, so the essential oils separate and float on top. Heating it won’t help. You may incorporate the oils for a little while by vigorously shaking everything, but they will eventually separate.
I’m not sure what aqua is. The reason I chose distilled water is that it won’t have the bacteria and other microbes that could be present in regular tap water. It’s just to help ensure that the product will last longer without going bad. The high pH should help ensure it keeps well. As long as aqua is free of microbes, doesn’t have a high pH, and won’t react with the other ingredients, I don’t see why you couldn’t add it. Keep in mind that any additions it brings into the mixture could affect if this will fight against cavities or cause them. (don’t add anything with sugar, acids, etc.)
Justine
This was so helpful!! Thank you so much for sharing.
Tracy Ariza
Thanks, Justine!
Happy to help!