DEODORANTS AND ANTIPERSPIRANTS-
- A Deodorant is a substance applied to the body to prevent or mask body odour due to bacterial breakdown of perspiration in the armpits, groin, feet and other parts of the body.
- Antiperspirants are a subclass of deodorants. They prevent sweating typically by blocking sweat glands. Antiperspirants are used on a wider range of body parts, at any place where sweat would be inconvenient or unsafe, since unwanted sweating can interfere with comfort, vision, and grip (due to slipping).
- Deodorants allow sweating but prevent bacterial action on sweat, since human sweat only has a noticeable smell when it is decomposed by bacteria while the antiperspirants prevent sweating.
Most of the early antiperspirants were made with aluminium salts, with aluminium sulphate and alum being most commonly employed. If scented diethylene glycol ether could be added to help incorporate the perfume into the mixture giving the final product some additional odour covering capability.
