How to shrink your deodorant to the size of a chapstick tube

I am incredibly excited about this. Far more so than I should be.

Deodorant sticks are some of the largest items you’ll find in a travel toiletry kit, and they can be kind of annoying. A single stick can last maybe six months, which is overkill for a quick trip of a week or two.

Even the travel-sized sample versions are inflated with unnecessary air space. Don’t believe me? Take a brand new one sometime and push it up all the way and see how much deodorant you’re getting for how big it is. They’re mostly air.

You can get around this by cutting half a stick of deodorant out of your favorite brand, and shoving it into one of those mini sample sticks. It’s not a bad idea for a trip of a couple months.

But what if you want to shrink things down even more? Like, a lot more?

Like…this much more?

That’s a chapstick tube. And you can fill it up with your favorite deodorant in about two minutes.

Start by shaving a couple slices off the top of the regular deodorant, into a microwave-safe container. Hopefully one with a pour spout.

Then microwave the deodorant shavings for about ten seconds. That should be plenty, depending on how much there is. Give it another five seconds at a time if it hasn’t liquified.

You should end up with something like this:

Now all you have to do is pour it into an empty chapstick tube, and leave it to solidify once again. This should take just a few minutes, and you can speed things up by leaving it in the refrigerator.

You’ll end up with something like this:

Just don’t let anyone use it on their lips, because that would be weird.

I’m pretty happy with this. It’s not something that’ll work for an extended trip, but it’ll work just fine for a few weeks. You could probably use it at home too, leaving it in a purse or a backpack to freshen up after running around on a hot day.

This is also a great way to store tooth powder, by the way. Not that the regular bottles are all that big to begin with, but they can last for months, and it’s pretty effortless to fill up a chapstick tube instead. You might also be able to do the same thing with stick versions of sunscreen and bug repellant, or pretty much anything labelled “balm.” Probably not with soap, though. You need more surface area to come in contact with the soap to get good suds.

Well, that’s about it. Have fun out there.