How to Make Hand Sanitizer With Alcohol at Home (DIY)

In today’s Coronavirus dilemma, everyone’s out hunting for hand sanitizers. Even hand gels, sprays and wipes are hoarded, too. I know some people tried going out everyday just to obsess about the restock of alcohols and sanitizers.

Where in fact, everyone should just be concerned about social distancing and the vigorous washing of hands with soap and water.

But Alcohol Still Matters and So is Its Concentration

Nevertheless, alcohol-based hand sanitizers do have a huge role in killing the coronavirus on the skin. That is, if it contains at least 60% alcohol concentration. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), higher concentrations are better. So you can aim for 70% or higher. 99% isopropyl alcohol is the best to use.

Take note not to use whiskeys, vodkas or alcoholic drinks. A misconception going around the internet about Tito’s Vodka being used to make DIY hand sanitizers prompt the company to release a statement:

Why Homemade Hand Sanitizers Became a Craze

You probably tried to buy hand sanitizers online, but the stuff isn’t being shipped yet or it’s taking a long time. That’s because the hand sanitizer shortage prompts suppliers to prioritize sending to hospitals, where healthcare workers need it.

Even if a lot of breweries and distilleries are putting the effort into manufacturing hand sanitizers, it would take a long time before you get a hold of these products.

Now you’re thinking about making your own hand sanitizer, you know, for emergency reasons. And just in case there’s no water or soap available at hand.

Hand Sanitizer Official and Reliable Recipes

So if you’re interested in knowing how to make your own hand rub, you first have to know about the official guidelines. WHO and FDA made efforts to issue these for public awareness on how to properly make hand sanitizers for the safety of the public.

While there are articles citing why it isn’t good to make on your own, there are many experts who also vouch for DIY hand sanitizer recipes.

Later on, I’ll enumerate the things you need to take as a precaution before making safe homemade sanitizers.

The WHO issued a guideline for making hand sanitizers for areas where there’s no clean water and soap available or is scarce. This will be good for a bulk production of hand sanitizers so it is not recommended for consumers who are doing it at home with limited resources. The ingredients are summarized as follows:

• 35 cups of 96% ethanol
• 0.6 cups of 98% glycerol
• 1.7 cups of 3% hydrogen peroxide [/list]

The procedure is a lot more complex and requires more equipment and skills. You can see the full procedure here.

Here’s a good recipe on how to make the more complicated Spray Hand Sanitizer at home.

Can You Make a Homemade Hand Sanitizer Even If You’re Not an Expert Chemist?

Making your own homemade hand sanitizer is a great idea, but you have to make sure to follow the proper proportions to make it work effectively. The key is to keep a 2:1 ratio of the alcohol and aloe vera. This makes an effective solution to kill viruses. Also make sure that the alcohol is 60% or above in concentration.

Make sure that you’re not using aloe vera that’s not 100% gel as you can get a pretty messed up solution like this:

Precautions

Even if you’re not an expert, you can make your own hand sanitizer at home, but you need to follow these tips below:

• Do not use diluted alcohol.
• Make sure you’re working in a clean space.
• Wash your hands with soap and water before you make a hand sanitizer.
• Use a clean spoon or whisk for mixing.
• Do not dip your hands into the mixture nor touch it.
• Thorough mixing is needed, covering every part of the solution.

Steps in Making Hand Gel Sanitizer

Here’s a simple recipe which is said to kill 99.9% germs in 60 second. The recipe is shared by Dr. Rishi Desai, Osmosis’ chief medical officer and a past epidemic intelligence officer at the CDC.

Things You’ll Need:

Here are the basic ingredients you’ll need:

• ¾ cup of Isopropyl or rubbing alcohol (99% alcohol concentration)
• ¼ cup of Aloe vera gel
• 5 to 10 drops of Essential oil (tea tree oil, lavender oil, or lemon juice)

What You’ll Do:

• Put all ingredients into the bowl. You can use a funnel or a glass with spout to avoid spilling ingredients.
• Mix the solution with a clean spoon and whisk it until the sanitizer turns into gel.
• Pour the mixture into a clean empty bottle then label it as your “hand sanitizer.”

What Viruses Can Hand Sanitizers Kill?

CDC notes that alcohol-based hand sanitizers with the right alcohol content (60% or more) can reduce microbes on your hands. More importantly, it can kill a wide range of pathogens and viruses, including the Coronavirus when applied correctly.

Take note that if your hands are extremely dirty or greasy, it is not advisable to use hand sanitizers. You must get hold of a soap and sink to clean your hands.

Summing Up

Alcohol-based hand sanitizer can do well in cleaning your hands and killing Coronavirus if there’s no water and soap available at hand.

If you ran out of hand sanitizers and it’s not immediately available, you can make your own. It’s fairly easy as you only need alcohol, aloe vera and lemon. Follow the instructions above and your all set.

However, it is still even better to get hold of hand sanitizers that are manufactured by experts. If you want to get hold of hand sanitizers in bulk at a low price, you can outsource now in China. As the country is getting back on track, they are now open for orders of private label alcohol-based hand sanitizers and wholesale orders.