How to make hand sanitizer at home

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, a huge shortage of hand sanitizer has been reported all over the world.  There are sources that claim that some pharmacies and stores in the United States were selling it for an exorbitant amount up to $650 a bottle, profiteering of something as simple as hand sanitizer.

Hand sanitizers might be useful in fighting bacteria that stays on your hands, but only if there is no other option. Namely, the first advice is to always wash your hands thoroughly for 20-30 seconds, both from the inside –your palms, and outside- the back of your hands as well as in between your fingers.

The second useful advice is that when you’re buying hand sanitizer, you wanna look at the concentration of alcohol. The alcohol is what actually kills the pathogen. And so, you want it to be at least 60% according to the CDC. So, when you look at your hand sanitizer, make sure it’s 60% or over.

But since it’s become a scarce resource in these hard times, here is a simple “recipe” with proper ratios of ingredients you need if you want to create and make your own safe hand sanitizer.

First you need a 2/3 cup of the rubbing alcohol, isopropyl alcohol. When you buy the alcohol make sure it’s in the 90s because science has shown that it’s more effective at killing bacteria when it’s up in the 90s.

Then you mix 1/3 of pure aloe vera gel. Aloe vera is a pure plant gel, for which you don’t need a prescription and you can buy it in a regular grocery store. It is used to keep your skin from drying out, and give a little moisture to it.

You can also put a couple of drops (1-2) of your favorite essential oil in it.

You don’t wanna put too much in there because you don’t wanna dry out the skin.

And bear in mind that some of these oils do have antimicrobial properties so try to use those.

After you’ve mixed everything, use a funnel to fill in your plastic container. It’s always better to use small spray bottles.

That’s it! Simple as it sounds!

To learn how to do it, step by step, watch the videos below. Good luck!