# Chemists (and marketing folks?): Mitchum vs. Lady Mitchum

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemists-and-marketing-folks-mitchum-vs-lady-mitchum/433892>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 17, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemists-and-marketing-folks-mitchum-vs-lady-mitchum/433892 "2008-01-17T17:47:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemists-and-marketing-folks-mitchum-vs-lady-mitchum/433892/1 "2008-01-17T17:47:05Z")

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I used to use Lady Mitchum aka Mitchum for Women, but one day was browsing and saw Mitchum (presumably for men). Since they had Unscented and I wouldn’t smell manly, and the active ingredient was 25% vs Lady Mitchum’s 20%, I got the men’s. Plus, sometimes a trip to the hardware store is my idea of shopping, so I can be a Mitchum Man when I need to be.

Half asleep this morning, I gazed unfocusedly at the two sticks in front of me in the cabinet and noticed that they both have the slogan “with the maximum level of active ingredient”. Huh? 20% vs 25% ?

Lady Mitchum: Aluminum Zirconium Tetracholorohydrex GLY 20% (antiperspirant)

Mitchum: Aluminum Sesquichlorohydrate 25% (antiperspirant)

What’s the deal? Which will keep me drier? (I’ve been thinking the men’s worked better but that was when I had 25\>20 in my head.)

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**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemists-and-marketing-folks-mitchum-vs-lady-mitchum/433892/2 "2008-01-17T22:15:05Z")

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I don’t know why there is a difference between men’s and women’s antiperspirant, but I would guess that it has to do with slight changes in the pH. These aluminum compounds react to the pH increase produced from your sweat to form a gel that plugs your sweat glands. It’s possible that women tend to have sweat that is at a slightly different pH so the formula may need to be different. My guess is that the pH’s are similar enough that men’s deoderant will work for a woman and vice versa.

As for the difference between the two active ingredients, it is difficult to tell since neither of those compounds have discrete compositions. Aluminum sesquichlorohydrate is a polymer with variable chlorine and hydroxide content. I can’t be certain, but it looks like aluminum zirconium tetrachlorate is also a polymer with variable quantities. The end result is that the different components may have different upper limits on the concentrations.

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**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemists-and-marketing-folks-mitchum-vs-lady-mitchum/433892/3 "2008-01-18T14:31:33Z")

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Ah, so “pH balanced for a woman” isn’t just a crock.

Thanks for the info.