Hydrogen Peroxide Uses
for Natural Body Care

There are lots of different hydrogen peroxide uses for natural body care. This makes sense, since hydrogen peroxide is non-toxic (it breaks down to water and oxygen), and is extremely effective as a disinfectant. Have you heard of some of these uses for body care?

• as a tooth paste, mixed with baking soda (disinfectant, very mildly bleaching) (1% to 3%)
• as a foot bath (1% to 3%) (oxygen supplement, deodorant, disinfectant for viruses and bacteria)
• added to bath water, to soak in the bathtub! (1/2 to 1 cup of 35% in a tub of water) (oxygen supplement, deodorant, disinfectant)
• sprayed on skin (oxygen supplement, deodorant, disinfectant) (3%)
• cleaning ears (disinfectant) (1% to 3%)
• disinfecting cuts and wounds
• routine hand washing (spray 3% on your hands after washing, or dip hands into a container of 3%)
• sanitizing and disinfecting your hands after caring for animals, babies, or other people, or after handling blood, vomit, feces, mold, bacteria, etc. (soak hands in 1% to 3%)
• added to douche water (oxygen supplement, disinfectant) (3 to 6 tablespoons of 3% hydrogen peroxide to a quart of water)
• added to enema water or colonic water (oxygen supplement, disinfectant) (3 to 6 tablespoons of 3% hydrogen peroxide to a quart of water)
• commercial acne products
• tooth whitening products (mostly used by dentists)
• hair bleaching products (mostly used by beauticians)

Hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash

• Hydrogen peroxide is quite widely known as a mouth wash and gargle (disinfectant) (1% to 3%)
• There are also commercial mouthwash products that include hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide uses for hand cleaning

Hydrogen peroxide can be used for sanitizing your hands. You can use it on a regular basis after washing your hands, or just on "especially high-pathogen occasions" (such as after cleaning the cat’s litter box, after caring for sick family members, or after cleaning the gross items out of the fridge.)

One way to sanitize your hands is to wash your hands in soap and water, as usual, then spray some 3% hydrogen peroxide on your hands. You can rub it over your hands and wrists and let it dry, or dry it off with a towel.

Another option is to keep a container of 3% hydrogen peroxide near the sink, and dip your hands in it. Again, you can let your hands dry, or dry them on a towel.

Finally, you can soak your hands in 1% to 3% hydrogen peroxide for a few minutes. Peroxide takes time to do its work of killing germs, so soaking your hands is a good option after handling blood, feces, vomit, etc.

What about antibacterial soaps?

Antibacterial soaps and gels have become very popular. That’s too bad, as they contain all kinds of bad chemicals, and may even contribute to bacteria becoming more resistant to chemicals and even to antibiotics. Hydrogen peroxide kills bacteria, and also viruses, by exposing them to oxygen – it is the oxygen that kills them. (This is called oxidation.) Bacteria and viruses are anaerobic, and can’t live in the high oxygen environment that hydrogen peroxide creates. As far as I know, bacteria and viruses can’t become resistant to oxygen – it’s their basic nature to be anaerobic. (By the way, antibacterial soaps kill bacteria but not viruses. Hydrogen peroxide kills both.)

Is it good to kill all the bacteria and germs?

Hydrogen peroxide kills bacteria, viruses, and mold. Is killing off all these pathogens a good thing? Maybe not always, and not completely. A sterile environment has its own hazards. For instance, kids may need to be around some bacteria and viruses in order to develop immunity. And maybe we need some viruses around us to keep our immunity up? I’m not sure about finding the ideal balance, but I’m glad to have hydrogen peroxide as a non-toxic and effective way to kill germs. Hydrogen peroxide’s many uses for body care can certainly be a great option to reduce germs.

Is hydrogen peroxide really a deodorant?

Did you notice that my list of hydrogen peroxide uses says that spraying peroxide on skin is "oxygen supplement, deodorant, disinfectant"?

Yep, some people use 3% hydrogen peroxide as a deodorant. It is not an antiperspirant, but it kills germs. Since germs are the major cause of body odors in sweat, killing germs can reduce odor in sweat, and hydrogen peroxide will generally get rid of odors, as well.

If you want to give it a try as a deoderant, just dab or spray some 3% hydrogen peroxide under your arms.

Also some of the other uses for peroxide, that were already listed above, may reduce body odors. Such as using peroxide in foot baths, in the bathtub, and as mouthwash. These may reduce body odors and mouth odors – because all of these kill germs, and germs are a big cause of odors. So, taking a bath with some hydrogen peroxide added may have some mild deodorant effect, even if that is not your motivation in using it this way. And the same for mouthwash.

There are lots of other applications of hydrogen peroxide for removing odors, too. Odors from urine in a carpet, or odors in shoes, for example, can be removed with hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen Peroxide uses for natural animal care

There's a lot of similarity between the uses of hydrogen peroxide for natural body care and hydrogen peroxide uses for animal care. Makes sense -- taking care of ourselves and taking care of other animals, too.  In body cases, hydrogen peroxide is useful for disinfection and for removing odors.

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