Sweat-Off

Sweat-Off is a German brand of antiperspirants made for people who sweat heavily. It was founded in 2006 by Prof. Dr. Christian Raulin in Hügelsheim in northern Baden [2], and is run today by Sweat-Off GmbH from Karlsruhe [3]. The company's first product, the Sweat-Off Roll-On, went on sale the year it was founded and is still described by the company as its bestseller.

Over two decades the range has grown from a single underarm roll-on into a family of formulas for particular body areas and skin types, among them a sensitive line built on aluminium lactate, a foam, a scalp serum and a lotion for the chest and back. The brand is active and marked its 20th anniversary in 2026.

According to a 2021 company press release, Raulin began looking closely at the needs of people with heavy sweating in the early 2000s. Unhappy with how well the products then available worked, and with how well skin tolerated them, he developed a formula of his own and set up a company of the same name in 2006 [10]. The company's anniversary page adds that the Roll-On recipe was created together with people who had the problem, drawing on Raulin's years of clinical experience.

Raulin describes himself as a dermatologist. In a 2026 press release he said his medical work had taught him how important it is to listen closely to patients, and that this idea had shaped the company's product development from the beginning [9]. Sweat-Off's biography of him credits him with more than 30 years of experience and notes that he is a co-editor and specialist reviewer for a number of German-language and international professional journals and expert panels.

The stated aim at the outset was to make Sweat-Off the expert for antiperspirants in the German-speaking market. The company now says that goal has been reached, and that specialists recommend its products for increased sweating, including for women at different stages of life.

The company's own timeline marks 2010 as the year its first webshop went online and 2014 as the year of its first television commercial broadcast in prime time.

Product development then moved towards sensitive skin. In 2017 the Sweat-Off sensitive Roll-On started a separate line for more delicate skin, and in 2018 the company followed it with a foam, which it describes as unique in the German-speaking market.

A change of leadership came at the end of the decade, though the company's sources disagree on the year. The anniversary timeline on Sweat-Off's website says Oxana Zhuravkova became managing director in 2019 and launched a digitalisation strategy [4]. Press releases issued by the company in 2021 and 2026 both place her arrival in 2018 [9]. According to the 2021 release, Zhuravkova reshaped the range, leaned more heavily on digital marketing and reached new groups of customers. Products aimed at convenience were added alongside the original heavy-sweating formulas. One example was the Sweat-Off Stick, which the company described as a hybrid of deodorant, antiperspirant and skin care, and which it said sold out shortly after launch.

The pandemic years brought strong growth, by the company's account. The same 2021 release reported that demand had surprised the company, that many products were sold out, and that revenue in the first half of 2021 had already matched the whole of 2020 [10]. The company's timeline summarises that year as a doubling of revenue despite the pandemic. It also records that the Roll-On became a "three-time test winner" in 2020.

In 2023 Sweat-Off relaunched with a new design and packaging and opened a new webshop. The following year it expanded into Switzerland, and the company says its scalp serum, introduced around the same time, became its most successful product launch. The anniversary page carries the heading "From the Black Forest to Switzerland", summing up that path.

The brand is operated by Sweat-Off GmbH, a private limited company based in Karlsruhe and entered in the commercial register of the Mannheim district court (HRB 700878). The company's current legal notice names Thorsten Moe as managing director [3]. When the leadership passed from Zhuravkova to Moe has not been made public.

No parent company, acquisition or change of ownership has been publicly reported, and the company's shareholders are not disclosed.

Sweat-Off draws a clear line between its products and ordinary deodorants. Deodorants, the company explains, only mask the smell of sweat, while its antiperspirants are meant to stop sweat over the longer term and so prevent odour before it develops. The tagline on its website reads "Sweat-Off stoppt Schwitzen effektiv" ("Sweat-Off stops sweating effectively").

The company sums up its approach in three phrases: "People first", "Science based" and "Innovation driven". In its own words, it listens to its community before every product development, works closely with physicians and checks the effect of each formula in studies. Sweat-Off also says it chose targeted products for different body areas and skin types at a time when the market favoured one-size-fits-all solutions. Its evidence page states that it wants to offer only preparations that do what they promise, and its anniversary page gives the ambition as developing "products that really work".

To support this positioning, the company's website quotes dermatologists from Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Hamburg who describe aluminium-based antiperspirants as a sound first treatment for heavy underarm sweating. The homepage presents the products as made in Germany and dermatologically tested.

The range is split into a classic line and a line for sensitive skin, with each product aimed at a particular part of the body. The original Roll-On is intended for the underarms. According to ELLE Germany, it contains only three ingredients: water, aluminium chloride and Caesalpinia spinosa gum [11]. The magazine described an unusual routine: the product is applied thinly in the evening and left on overnight, and the process is repeated until sweating stops, after which it is used again only when sweating returns. ELLE also reported the manufacturer's statement that showering the next morning does not wash it off.

The sensitive line uses aluminium lactate as its active ingredient, which Sweat-Off says was chosen specifically for more sensitive skin types. The sensitive Roll-On is marketed for sweating on the face. The sensitive foam is intended for the insides of the elbows and the backs of the knees, as well as the thighs, buttocks and the area around the groin. Sweat-Off calls the foam's formulation unique.

Other products target further problem areas. A gel for the hands is designed to be applied like a hand cream, while a separate gel for the feet is based on what the company calls its strongest formula. The Sweat-Off Serum is made for the scalp and, according to the brand, also cares for skin and hair. The Sweat-Off Lotion covers larger areas such as the chest and back, and the Stick completes the range.

ELLE's 2023 article also touched on the long public debate over aluminium in deodorants and antiperspirants. The magazine reported that the World Health Organization and the US Food and Drug Administration have classified aluminium compounds in deodorants as safe for human use.

Clinical evidence is central to how Sweat-Off presents itself, and most of the figures come from the company. It says independent studies found the Roll-On's effect on underarm sweating to be similar to treatment with botulinum toxin (Botox), citing a 2013 study by Streker, Lübberding and Kerscher [6]. It also reports that 98.1 percent of users surveyed were very to extremely satisfied with the Roll-On.

Further studies listed by the company cover other body areas. In a six-week study with 20 participants, heavy foot sweating fell significantly after two weeks of using the Roll-On. A 14-day user study with 50 participants found that the scalp serum reduced sweating on the head, and measurements showed on average 48 percent higher scalp hydration after two weeks. The company says the sensitive Roll-On was well tolerated by participants with sensitive skin, and that the foam reduced sweating while being gentler on very sensitive areas.

The company's press page also lists scientific publications linked to its formulas. They include a 2012 paper in the journal JDDG on foot sweating, which reported a significant reduction in both the amount of sweat and foot odour. A 2019 article in the journal derm described the treatment of the skin condition keratoma sulcatum with an aluminium lactate foam.

Sweat-Off says that in 2021 it decided to make all its formulas without microplastics [5]. The company states that its products contain no synthetic dyes or listed preservatives and that it works with manufacturers based in Germany. Other measures it lists include reducing packaging, using green electricity and funding forest projects through Pina Earth. Its shipping boxes, it says, are now fully recyclable and made from FSC-certified material. On its anniversary page the company adds that it is increasingly asking how effective formulas and more sustainable production can go together.

Most of the recognition Sweat-Off cites comes from comparison websites. Its press page reports that the portal Vergleich.org named it the comparison winner among 11 antiperspirants in 2024, with a rating of "very good", and that Antitranspirante.de gave it the same verdict in 2020 [7]. The company also calls the Roll-On a "three-time test winner" from 2020, without naming the testers.

The same press page lists coverage in German consumer and medical titles. Among them are dermaforum in 2014, MMW, published by Springer Medizin, in 2016, derm in 2020, and the magazines Jolie and Myself in 2020 and 2021. Dermanet, in 2019, wrote that the product was developed by a dermatologist "and you can tell".

In a 2023 article marked as containing affiliate links, ELLE Germany presented the Roll-On as an antiperspirant that helps with heavy sweating. The magazine noted that some users reported it had spared them surgery on their sweat glands, and that the product was also available on Amazon [11].

Sweat-Off is an active, independently operated company headquartered in Karlsruhe. It celebrated 20 years in business in 2026. The products are sold through the company's own webshop, which has existed since 2010, as well as through Amazon and online pharmacies. The brand maintains accounts on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook.