DIY Recipe: Hand Sanitizer

DIY HAND SANITIZER

Have you noticed that stores are totally out of hand sanitizer and Purell is going for like, $50 on Amazon? Disinfecting you’re hands is crucial for slowing disease transmission, and an effective hand sanitizer is something you can 100% make on your own. 

The “active”/ (aka crucial) ingredient here is ethanol, aka alcohol. Your sanitizer needs AT LEAST 60% to be effective. You can use rubbing alcohol or everclear; vodka is only about 40% alcohol, so it won’t work (sorry). 

Can you just spray your hands with alcohol? Absolutely. But we can jazz it up with some soothing herbs, too. 

INGREDIENTS:

90% isopropyl alcohol 

Aloe juice/gel 

Vegetable glycerine 

Essential Oils

(Blends to try: (1) lavender, rose geranium, and clary sage; (2) eucalyptus and mint; (3) sweet orange and rosemary.)

DIRECTIONS:

🚰 Dilution: Combine 3 parts alcohol, 1/2 part aloe, and 1/2 part glycerine (so your aloe/glycerine mix is 1 part, or 25% of the total).

NOTE: If your alcohol is lower than 90%, your ratios will change. Remember: the total amount of alcohol needs to be higher than 60%, so this does involve a little math. If you buy 70% isopropyl, DONT DILUTE IT. It won’t be as moisturizing, but it will remain effective. 

🌿 Scent: include around 10 drops of essential oils for every ounce of liquid. 

Add everything to a spray bottle and shake it up. Take it with you and use it often! That’s it!

🤔 Can I use antiviral herbs/essential oils? 

The oils listed above are all a little antibacterial, not antiviral. There are antiviral herbs (see my stories), but they’re for *internal* use. Externally, the 60% alcohol solution is already going to kill coronavirus, so adding additional antivirals doesn’t really do much (and will cost you more for no reason). So, keep it simple here. 

And remember: washing your hands with soap and water is effective! Just make sure you do it for 20 seconds, and get under your nails!