Only two out of 15 antiperspirants for men are "good"
2.6.2025
Translation: machine translated
Up to 48 hours of fresh underarms: these and similar claims are made by antiperspirants for men. The German Stiftung Warentest has subjected 15 of these products to a sweat-inducing test. Only two products were able to fulfil their task.
A summer without sweating? By constricting the sweat glands, an antiperspirant is supposed to reduce perspiration. If it does its job well, you will have dry armpits even in summer. This is the main difference to a deodorant, which only masks odours.
The test winners come from the discount store
In a comparison by Stiftung Warentest, which uses the German school grading system, the two test winners were weaker in terms of sweat reduction, but were still able to achieve a «good». First place (grade 2.5) was shared by two aerosol sprays. The «Seinz Anti-Perspirant Sport» from dm impressed the testers with good protection against sweat odour.
Unfortunately, we do not stock the «Cien Men Anti-Perspirant Extra Dry».
The two sprays scored particularly well in terms of odour protection and, according to the list of ingredients, do not contain any environmentally critical substances. In terms of sweat reduction, however, they only received a «Satisfactory».
The midfield: Strong effect, but harmful to the environment
Several products performed very well in terms of protection against wetness and odour, but only came in the middle of the field. The «Rexona Men Maximum Protection» stick and the «Balea Men Extra Dry» roller from dm (which we only have as a spray) both received the grade «Satisfactory» (2.7 and 3.0 respectively). They contain environmentally critical substances, which leads to a devaluation.
The Rexona stick is particularly problematic, as it is the only test product to contain microplastics. These tiny particles cannot be completely filtered out of waste water after showering and pollute the environment. Silicone D5, which is found in several products, has also been criticised. It is not easily biodegradable and can accumulate in organisms.
The losers: promises not kept
Four aerosol sprays failed the wetness test completely and received the grade «Sufficient» (4.5). The products from 8x4 Men, Aldi, Müller and Rossmann promised 48 hours of protection, but did not last 24 hours. The test team rated this as «inadequate».
Some manufacturers even promise 72 or 96 hours of protection. When confronted with the disappointing test result, suppliers explain that they only want to signal the «extreme effectiveness».
Sweating under laboratory conditions
The test itself was probably not for sensitive noses. The 20 male test subjects for each product had to prepare for a fortnight by cleaning their armpits with fragrance-free washing lotion. For four days, employees of the test institute applied the respective antiperspirant to one armpit, while the other remained untreated.
24 hours after the last application, the test subjects went into a specially equipped sweating room: at a room temperature of 38 degrees and 35 per cent humidity, they had to sweat twice for 20 minutes. Absorbent pads under the armpits caught every drop of sweat. The testers then weighed the pads on a precision scale.
For the odour test, trained experts stuck their noses into the armpits of the test subjects and assessed the intensity of the sweat odour.
The overall judgement was then made up of five categories: Sweat reduction and protection against armpit odour each account for 35 per cent. The application is rated at ten per cent, as are advertising claims, which also include the declaration of the contents. The ease of use of the packaging and the detection of environmentally critical substances each account for five per cent of the score.
You can read the details of the test online (paywall).
Header image: fizkes / Shutterstock
Hamburg local, bookworm, and ice hockey fan. Dad and granddad. Constantly tinkering around with my smart home setup. I love DIY, the outdoors, fashion, and cosmetics.
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