Deodorant and Vintage Clothing

[hailey greenhat]

Hi all! I was initially unsure where to post this, it's not strictly beauty, but it deals with a hygiene product. Bartenders please move if you know a better place for this!

What deodorant do you all use/suggest to wear with vintage? I've used men's gel, i've used baking soda cream, and i've used regular white, ladies' stick. Everything is terrible for my vintage! Some leave yellow stains, some cram themselves into the fiber weave. I'm at a loss as I don't want to wash my vintage frequently and wear it down, but don't want dirty smelly vintage either.
Does anyone have a solution? Does anyone experience this issue too?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Most deodorants will wreak havoc on old fabric -- it's the aluminum salts that do it, coupled with the acids found in perspiration. Cottons and rayons are especilally vulnerable, to say nothing of silk.

The solution in the Era was to wear dress shields -- which were absorbent barriers worn pinned to your bra or to a harness specially made for the purpose. You can still get them online, or make your own without too much difficulty.

When I make dresses, I save all the scrap fabric. Invariably, within two or three years of wear, the underarm area will wear out and disintegrate -- when the wear starts to show, I just cut out the damaged section and sew in a replacement gusset with the scrap fabric I've saved. The fashion police might disapprove, but it's a genuine Depression-era thing to do.

 

[hailey greenhat]

Thank you, Lizzie. I had been considering shields, but thought modern ones were all adhesive (I haven't really looked into it yet, but know about them) so didn't want to introduce that to vintage either.

 

[HadleyH1]

I recommend that one, it doesn't stain.

 

[hailey greenhat]

I recommend that one, it doesn't stain.

I'll have to look into that as well thank you.

 

[St. Louis]

Tussy still makes cream deodorant. You can get it on amazon, and I even found a 1940s era milk glass Tussy jar to transfer the product into. It has a nice fresh clove scent and doesn't cause any of those yellow chemical stains caused by most modern products. If you look at the ingredients list, you'll see mostly waxes, silica, and alcohol. I feel safer using it and it makes me feel so ... vintage somehow.

 

[sheeplady]

I use a mixture of baking soda and corn starch, which I apply with a powder puff. It works pretty darned well. I switched to natural deodorants years ago and could never find one I was happy with- that worked and wasn't a pain to keep. So I tried making my own.

 

[St. Louis]

My grandmother used to squeeze lettuce leaves and apply the chlorophyll to her underarms. It's a great deodorizer.

 

[sheeplady]

Huh- that's fascinating. I had no idea that would work. Now I sort of want to try it! I've used both white and apple cider vinegar before. It doesn't work as well for me as baking soda, but in a pinch...

 

[HadleyH1]

Huh- that's fascinating. I had no idea that would work. Now I sort of want to try it! I've used both white and apple cider vinegar before. It doesn't work as well for me as baking soda, but in a pinch...

It all depends on how strong is your body odor sheeplady, it depends on the degree of odor I imagine, but I'm no expert in this kind of thing.

It is a strange recipe, I must admit!

 

[hailey greenhat]

Huh- that's fascinating. I had no idea that would work. Now I sort of want to try it! I've used both white and apple cider vinegar before. It doesn't work as well for me as baking soda, but in a pinch...

ooooo me too! XD I did try Schmidt's baking soda and shea butter, but that's the one that ended up turning my clothing funny colors. :/ Yours is just a dry mixture of baking soda and corn starch, Sheeplady? And you don't find that it cakes or discolors your clothing?

 

[sheeplady]

ooooo me too! XD I did try Schmidt's baking soda and shea butter, but that's the one that ended up turning my clothing funny colors. :/ Yours is just a dry mixture of baking soda and corn starch, Sheeplady? And you don't find that it cakes or discolors your clothing?

No, I haven't had discoloration. It can cake a tiny bit under my arms, particularly if I apply too much or it is really hot, but I've never had it stick to my clothes. So I guess if I held my arms straight up on a hot day you might see some white specks.

I typically do a 2 parts baking soda to 3 parts corn starch. If I do more corn starch, it isn't effective. If I do less, it causes a rash. It took me a while to find the right balance for my body. I just put it in a covered powder dish and use a powder puff to apply to my slightly damp (not wet) underarms after washing up or a shower.

I do find that baking soda loses its effectiveness after about 4 months shelf life, so I only make up 4 months powder at a time. (I use baking soda to wash my hair and in cooking, so typically I run out of a small box before then.) Also, I once in a pinch bought some baking soda from walmart. I dont think that baking section had high turnover and I think it was old... it didn't work well. So I am careful to try to buy my baking soda from someplace that sells a lot of it.

Also, it doesn't hold me through work, the gym, and all night like a non-natural deodorant did. So I wash and reapply after a heavy workout and if I need to wear deodorant at night I reapply before bed. For travel i have a twist top powdered foundation container i carry it in that fits a small powder puff. Though, I have to say, it is the most effective natural deodorant I tried. Most of the natural ones (except for the mineral rock one) didn't work at all.

 

[MissMittens]

The problem isn't always discoloration, but that vintage fabrics don't tend to stand up to chemicals for long. I ruined a 1920's day dress once by using Secret. Never again

I've tried LizzieMaine's solution of using dress shields, and that's worked out perfectly. I tried the "stick-on" for later, heavier, colored fabrics (40's, 50's), but I swear by nude color pin-on's for the more delicate 1920's pieces, but I don't actually pin them into the dresses, I simply add very small snap buttons to the armpits/pads so that I can remove them carefully for washing.