Try this: Tingly toothpaste

You will need

• 6 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/3 teaspoon of salt
• 4 teaspoons of glycerine
• 15 drops of peppermint or wintergreen extract/essence

What to do

1. Mix all your ingredients together.
2. When your mixture is a similar consistency to toothpaste, transfer it to a container with a lid to keep it fresh.
3. Test your toothpaste – how does it compare to the stuff that comes from the shop?

What's happening?

The crystals in baking soda (sodium bi-carbonate) rub food and plaque from your teeth without scratching them. It also breaks down into tiny particles which sneak in between your teeth to remove food particles you couldn't reach with your brush. Because the baking soda is mildly alkaline (the opposite to acidic), it can combine with fatty acids in dirt and grease to form a soap that can be dissolved in water and easily rinsed.

Adding glycerine to your toothpaste makes it smoother. It won't be as smooth as your regular toothpaste though, so don't be put off by the texture.

Applications

Your homemade toothpaste uses two different ways to clean your teeth – rubbing and soap – and these same methods are used in most cleaning practices. Examples of abrasive cleaning (rubbing) are things like scourers, high-pressure water sprays and buffing pads, whereas many of the soaps in your house are made in a similar way to how your homemade toothpaste forms a soap – by mixing sodium or potassium salts with fatty acids. Soaps allow greases, oils and other muck to dissolve in water and this is helped along by abrasion, making cleaning much easier.