Schmidt’s Deodorant: Baking Soda Is the 6th Ingredient

Schmidt’s markets its Natural Deodorant Stick
as “naturally enriched with magnesium” and “gentle on skin,”
and magnesium hydroxide is indeed the first ingredient on the label. But six lines
down, at position #6, sits sodium bicarbonate —
baking soda. Both are alkaline odor neutralizers working well above skin’s
natural pH, and baking soda in daily leave-on underarm use is the one dermatology
literature flags most often for irritation. The clearest tell that this matters:
Schmidt’s sells a separate “Sensitive” line that takes the baking
soda out.

This is a deodorant a lot of people reach for specifically because it is not
an antiperspirant — no aluminum, magnesium on the front, the whole
“gentle natural” positioning. So it is worth doing the one thing the
front of a stick never invites you to do, which is turn it around and read all the
way down. When you do, the magnesium the marketing leads with is real and it is at
the top. The thing worth knowing is what shows up at #6, and why an entire second
product line exists to remove it.

Where does the baking soda actually sit on the label?

Here is the full ingredient list, quoted verbatim from the Cactus Flower &
Pear stick (2.65 oz) as it appears on
the product page at a major US retailer (TCIN 1005445547),
read 20 September 2026. The same order appears on the
brand’s own product page and on the
Whole Foods Market listing for the same stick, which is
how we can say the list below is complete rather than truncated.

magnesium hydroxide, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, maranta arundinacea root powder (arrowroot), caprylic/capric triglyceride (fractionated coconut oil), butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) esters, natural fragrance, tocopherol (vitamin e, sunflower derived), beta-sitosterol, squalene

Reading down: magnesium hydroxide is #1 — the ingredient
the marketing is built around. Then a run of the base: coconut oil (#2), arrowroot
powder (#3), fractionated coconut oil (#4), shea butter (#5). And at
#6, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Positions #7 through #12 are
structural or trace: candelilla wax holds the stick together, jojoba esters and the
plant sterols are minor emollients, and tocopherol and squalene are antioxidants in
small amounts. In an anhydrous stick — there is no water in this formula to
dilute anything — the ingredients near the top of the list are doing essentially
all of the substantive work, and two of them, magnesium hydroxide and baking soda, are
alkaline odor neutralizers.

Marketed hero

Magnesium (“naturally enriched with magnesium”), listed as magnesium hydroxide #1

Also present

Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) at #6, a second alkaline odor neutralizer

Formula type

Anhydrous stick (no water)

Skin’s natural pH

~4.5–5.5 (the acid mantle)

What the brand did about it

Sells a separate “Sensitive” stick with the baking soda removed

Source of list

Major US retailer listing (read 20 Sep 2026), matching the brand’s own page and the Whole Foods listing

Is magnesium hydroxide really “gentler” than baking soda?

This is where the honest read matters, because the marketing is not simply
wrong. Magnesium hydroxide and sodium bicarbonate are both alkaline, but they are
not equally alkaline. Baking soda in solution sits around pH 8.3–9;
magnesium hydroxide is higher on paper, around pH 10.5, but it is far less
soluble, so in practice less of it goes into solution on the skin. Schmidt’s
own materials describe magnesium as gentler than baking soda, and there is a
defensible mechanism behind that. The catch is that their standard stick contains
both — the gentler active and the baking soda — so the
“gentle” framing describes only half of what is in the tube.

For context on why any of this is worth a paragraph: a large multicentre study
established that natural skin surface pH averages below 5, and that alkaline
conditions (pH 8–9) encourage resident skin flora to disperse from the
surface, while an acid pH keeps them attached
(Lambers et al., Int J Cosmet Sci, 2006). A
leave-on product that raises underarm pH is nudging against that acid mantle for
hours at a time. That is the mechanism; it is not a claim that it harms anyone.

What does the research actually say about baking soda on skin?

Less alarming than the internet would have you believe, and we would rather be
accurate than dramatic. A 2024 peer-reviewed review of baking soda in dermatology
concluded that “while diluted baking soda has little risk of irritation, the
exact safe concentration for topical use is not clear,” and that harmful
effects have been described in case reports
(Dugué et al., J Integr Dermatol, 2024).
That same review is broadly positive about baking soda for several dermatological
uses. The literature does not say baking soda always causes a
rash. It says the risk is concentration- and application-dependent, and that daily
leave-on use on thin underarm skin is the higher-risk end of that range.

Two named dermatologists make the same point in plainer terms for a consumer
audience: baking soda is a common irritant in natural deodorants, and
“natural” does not mean side-effect-free
(SELF, quoting Skelsey MD and Vashi MD). Schmidt’s does
not disclose the baking soda percentage — no manufacturer is required to
— but position #6 in a short anhydrous stick, above the wax and the trace additives, suggests a functional,
not trace, amount. We are not going to invent a number for it.

The most telling evidence is not a study at all. It is that Schmidt’s
built and sells a “Sensitive” formula that replaces the baking soda
with additional magnesium hydroxide. A brand does not create an entire second
product line to solve a problem that its standard product does not have for some
share of buyers.

What about the scented versions and fragrance allergens?

If you buy a scented Schmidt’s stick, the single most useful thing on the
label is at the very bottom. Here is the Rose & Vanilla list, quoted verbatim
from the same retailer (Rose & Vanilla, TCIN 52735112),
read 20 September 2026:

magnesium hydroxide, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, maranta arundinacea powder, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, caprylic/capric triglyceride, sodium bicarbonate, euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax, fragrance (parfum), jojoba esters, tocopherol, beta-sitosterol, squalene, benzyl benzoate, benzyl cinnamate, citral, citronellol, eugenol, geraniol, limonene, linalool

Sodium bicarbonate is again at #6. What is new is the tail: benzyl
benzoate, benzyl cinnamate, citral, citronellol, eugenol, geraniol, limonene and
linalool — eight named fragrance components. They are spelled out
because EU cosmetic rules require any of these to be declared once it exceeds
0.001% in a leave-on product, so their presence by name means each is above that
threshold. Several are well-evidenced contact allergens: limonene and linalool in
particular oxidize on air exposure and become sensitizers, with reported contact-
allergy prevalence as high as 9.4% and 20% respectively for their oxidized forms in
patch-tested populations
(fragrance contact-allergy review, Front Allergy,
2024). If your skin reacts to fragrance, this list is genuinely more useful than
anything on the front of the box — and it is the unscented stick, not a
scented one, that spares you all eight.

So what if you want the magnesium without the baking soda?

You have three honest options, and we will name all of them. First,
Schmidt’s own Sensitive line exists precisely for
this — it drops the baking soda and leans on magnesium hydroxide instead, so
if you like the brand, that is the on-shelf answer to the very issue this article is
about. Second, plenty of magnesium-only or baking-soda-free natural deodorants exist
across the category; this is not a one-brand problem, and baking soda is common in
“natural” sticks generally.

Third — and read this knowing Ingredient Desk is published by the team
behind Evil Goods — there is
our aluminum-free tallow deodorant, built on a grass-fed tallow
base rather than a baking-soda-and-magnesium one. Whether a tallow stick suits you
is a separate question with its own trade-offs (it is an animal fat, and a rich
balm-style deodorant behaves differently from a firm powder-based one). We are not
going to compare percentages we cannot verify. The only point of comparison worth
making is the one this whole piece is about: know what is actually at position #6 of
whatever you are putting under your arm every day, and decide from there.

FAQ

Does Schmidt’s Natural Deodorant contain baking soda?
Yes. On the current US label for the Cactus Flower & Pear stick (read at a major
US retailer, 20 September 2026), sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is the 6th
ingredient listed. Magnesium hydroxide is #1.

Isn’t Schmidt’s a magnesium deodorant, not a baking soda
one?
Magnesium hydroxide is the marketed hero and the first ingredient, and the brand
describes it as gentler than baking soda. But the standard stick contains both
— magnesium hydroxide at #1 and sodium bicarbonate at #6 — so it is a
magnesium-and-baking-soda formula, not a magnesium-only one.

Why does Schmidt’s sell a “Sensitive” version?
The Sensitive line replaces the baking soda with additional magnesium hydroxide.
Baking soda in daily leave-on underarm use is the ingredient most often linked to
irritation in natural deodorants, and a separate baking-soda-free line is how the
brand addresses that for buyers whose skin reacts.

Is baking soda in deodorant bad for your skin?
The research is nuanced. A 2024 dermatology review found diluted baking soda has
little irritation risk but that the safe concentration for leave-on topical use is
not settled, and case reports of irritation exist. It does not affect everyone; the
risk is dose- and application-dependent, and daily underarm use is the higher-risk
scenario.

Ingredient Desk is published by the team behind Evil Goods. Prices, formulas
and labels change; we date what we read and link the source so you can check it. If
you want a baking-soda-free alternative, ours is the
aluminum-free tallow deodorant (ours) — but Schmidt’s
own Sensitive stick is the closest same-brand answer.