Hand sanitizer is an easy make at home project that you can make with just a few simple ingredients. If your not able to find any on the shelves during this difficult time, than follow along as I show you how to make some at home.
Follow along as I show you how to make this easy hand sanitizer recipe
Properly washing your hands with soap and water is the best way to keep your hands clean from germs. But if you don’t have access to soap and water when you are out running errands than keeping hand sanitizer with you is an excellent way to stay safe.
How to properly wash your hands
- wet your hands with clean running water
- apply soap and lather your hands
- make sure to lather by rubbing your hands together on the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails.
- scrub your hands for 20 seconds
- rinse your hands well under running water
- dry your hands either with a clean towel or air dry
When to wash your hands during a pandemic
- before, during and after preparing food and/or eating
- before and after taking care of someone who is sick
- after using the toilet
- after coughing or sneezing
- after touching garbage
- after touching public surfaces such as door handles, gas pumps, shopping carts, pay stations etc
- before touching your nose, eyes, and mouth
If you are not able to find any hand sanitizer in the store you can easily make some of your own at home. The ingredient list is really short you only need aloe vera gel and isopropyl alcohol and a small container to put it in, quite possibly you already have these items at home if not you can find them online from retailers like amazon or Walmart.
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Amazon shopping list
- Isopropyl alcohol either 99% or 70%
- Aloe vera gel
- Travel container
How to make hand sanitizer
When making hand sanitizer its important to have the correct amount of alcohol. You need a fomula where you will have at least 60% alcohol to effectively kill germs.
Your best bet is to use 99% isopropyl alcohol to make your life easy. Other wise you can modify the recipe and use 70% isopropyl alcohol. But unfortunately alcohol from the shelf like vodka is too weak to be effective.
If you have 99% isopropyl alcohol than you want to mix 1/3 aloe vera gel to 2/3 alcohol
If you have 70% isopropyl alcohol than you want to mix 9 parts alcohol to 1 part aloe vera gel.
Its recommended to leave the hand sanitizer to sit in the container for 72hrs that way the alcohol in the mixture has time to kill any bacteria that may have been introduced while you were making it.
99% isopropyl alcohol recipe
- 6 Tablespoons 99% isopropyl alcohol
- 2 Tablespoons aloe vera gel
- 8-10 drops of essential oil (optional)
- 5 drops vitamin E oil (optional)
70% Isopropyl alcohol recipe
- 7 Tablespoon 70% isopropyl alcohol
- 2 Teaspoons aloe vera gel
- 8-10 drops essential oil (optional)
- 5 drops vitamin E oil (optional)
Directions
- Sanitize all equipment and work surfaces by wiping them with isopropyl alcohol. I recommend using a container that is exclusively for making cosmetics and will not be used for food preparation afterwards.
- Mix the rubbing alcohol with the aloe vera gel in a small mixing container using a whisk. If adding the essential oil and vitamin E you can also add them at this point.
- Pour the mixture into a travel container. Make sure to use a new container and never reuse containers because they can container bacteria. Do not wash the container if you buy it from a store you should assume it is already sanitized and water can introduce contaminants.
- Leave the mixture to sit for 72hr before using so the alcohol can kill any germs that may have been in the container.
How to use hand sanitizer
- apply the gel to the palm off your hands
- if using commercial sanitizer, read the back of the label to find out the correct amount to use
- rub your hands together
- rub the gel all over the surface of your hands and nails until your hands are dry, this takes around 20 seconds.
Find the world health organization guide to making hand sanitizer here
