Coronavirus prevention: How to make hand sanitizer at home

[CentralMass]

https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2020/03/coronavirus-prevention-how-to-make-hand-sanitizer-at-
"Here’s what you need:
2/3 cup Isopropyl alcohol 91% (rubbing alcohol)
1/3 cup aloe vera gel
Essential oil in your choice of fragrance (optional)
A small or medium mixing bowl
A spoon
An empty container, such as a 3-ounce container from a travel toiletries kit
A small piece of masking tape for labeling
Here’s how to make it:
In a mixing bowl, stir Isopropyl alcohol and aloe vera gel together until well blended.

Add 8-10 drops of scented essential oil (optional, but nice!). Stir to incorporate.

Pour the homemade hand sanitizer into an empty container and seal. Write “hand sanitizer” on a piece of masking tape and affix to the bottle.

Note: This recipe creates hand sanitizer that contains 65% alcohol, above the 60% alcohol content that the CDC recommends."

[5X]

1. You are better off washing your hands with soap and water.

Overuse of hand sanitizer is bad for your skin.

[getagrip_already]

5. unless you are somewhere you can't....

Like in a window seat on a plane, or in a car, or just out and about. Lots of uses for this stuff.

It's not something you keep at the sink though.

[TNNurse]

8. Hand washing is better

and hand sanitizer is useless against some bacteria.

HOWEVER, I saw in the hospital before I retired that kids would use those dispensers on the wall for fun and probably more likely than washing their hands.

Also, you do know to sing Happy Birthday (quietly or silently) to time the hand washing don't you????

[csziggy]

10. Or sing the CDC's Happy Handwashing song

Or this ABC song

[orleans]

18. i went on a google timer

and found that my twenty second count is pretty close to 20 seconds

happy birthday comes in under twenty seconds

but the abc song goes for about 25 seconds

[csziggy]

21. Yeah, it's hard to do it for a specified time without something to help

That's why health professional recommend a song for kids - that can at least make sure it's not a splash and dash pretend wash. I wash my hands for much longer generally - to the point my husband thinks I am OCD about it.

My Mom was a RN who trained before antibiotics were available to the general public and she taught her children how to wash our hands thoroughly. Then I got into silk embroidery, using threads that cannot be washed so hands had to be immaculately clean before you pick up the needle. Those two combined mean I wash my hands many times a day and carely every time.

[getagrip_already]

16. that's missing the point....

It doesn't matter how good hand washing is IF YOU CAN'T WASH YOUR HANDS.

The world just doesn't have sinks and fresh water nearby everywhere you go.

That's like saying drinking clean water is better than bottled when there isn't any clean water within 100 miles.

Look, I get it. Washing is better. But that isn't the case everywhere. So sanitizer is the answer,.

[CentralMass]

6. See reply #4. I meant to teply to your post 5X.

[SammyWinstonJack]

2. Thank you.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. This video shows how to mix it.

Last edited Wed Mar 11, 2020, 02:45 AM - Edit history (1)

And Vitamin E is recommended for the recipe for a preservative element. Works in prolonging oils. Not for water-based formula.

UPDATE: I'm a little more informed and I don't think that this formula will get you to the 60% alcohol ratio recommended by the CDC.

[CentralMass]

4. I think it has its purpose when its not possible to wash your hands.

Personally I don't carry any or use it at home. But we do have wall mounted dispensers at work at the top of some stairwells and other straregic locations.
When you have buildings with hundreds or thousands of employees, some who travel on business and some who come from other countries and fly home to visit, they are nice to have.

[5X]

7. It is good info, just not needed at home, usually.

Good to have in the car.

[lillypaddle]

9. It's so cheap

$1 a bottle at Kroger. Why would you go to the trouble to make it?

[BuddhaGirl]

11. Because where I live there is none to be found!

Stores all around me are out of stock.

I'm going to make my own.

[calimary]

14. A good reason, right there.

K&R.

And don’t forget the 20-second rule for washing hands.

“One one-thousand. Two one-thousand. Three one-thousand....”

Or “one chimpanzee. Two chimpanzee. Three chimpanzee...” (kids’ version).

[lillypaddle]

23. Oh wow!

That thought never did occur to me. Okay, I take my remark back.

[BuddhaGirl]

26. It's all good

[Sherman A1]

12. Thanks for posting

[defacto7]

13. I love these DIY things..

A note... most rubbing alcohol is 70% alcohol but the 91 and 96% is at most pharmacies. You probably won't find it in stores. I get the strong stuff all the time for other home purposes.

[getagrip_already]

15. since it's alcohol based.....

You can also add some cbd oil to it if you have arthritis or joint pain in your hands. CBD oils will dissolve in iso.

Just an added plus if you make your own.

[yaesu]

17. I always carry a small sqrirt bottle of rubbing alcohol in the car, sanitize after every store or

gas station visit. Haven't been sick in years, (knock on wood).

[Baclava]

19. My prediction, shaking hands will become a thing of the past

Elbow bumps will be the new greeting of the future

[SpankMe]

20. Tip: use an unscented aloe vera gel. n/t

[OneCrazyDiamond]

22. The VOCs are high in alcohol.

We have been phasing out hi voc products in Ca, 'cause little bits if carbon from all those vocs adds up to a healthy footprint. Better off with soap and water.

[Tink41]

24. No access to clean water

Believe it or not there are some jobs in America that have no running water, access to soap. I work in the trades, in 29 yrs apart from office spaces we do not have handwashing facilities. This is helpful to me considering stores are sold out of hand sanitizers and wet wipes, which were always something I carried. Imagine if you will a workplace where people regularly snort and spit on the floor, honk snot out of their nose w a finger, and void themselves in plastic outdoor boxes w no handwashing occuring afterwards. I'm beyond sick of people thinking everyone works in an office.

[Sherman A1]

27. Agreed

There are many out there with what I referred to as AOS

Air conditioned Office Syndrome.

[hamsterjill]

25. For disinfecting surfaces with bleach what is the ratio?

How much bleach do I need to add to a 32-ounce spray bottle for it to be enough to be effective without wasting the bleach, etc.

[sl8]

28. CDC recommendations, for different types of surfaces:

https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/cleaning-sanitizing/household-cleaning-sanitizing.html

[lame54]

29. Beware of the revenuers

[Ilsa]

30. Certain essential oils, like clove bud oil and tea tree oil,

have antiseptic properties.

Some recipes recommend adding a small amount of pure glycerin cream or vegetable glycerin to help the alcohol stay on your hands better.

Bumping in case anyone forgot this.