Easy DIY Hand Sanitizer
Table of Contents
Easy DIY Hand Sanitizer Introduction
Easy DIY Hand Sanitizer is so easy to make at home yourself! In the wake of the Coronavirus, hand sanitizer has become unavailable in most places. This is the case with many items on store shelves at this point, as many of us are being required to shelter in place.
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As a prepper, I am always looking to think outside the box. How can I have a backup plan if something isn’t available at the store? Is it possible to make my own version instead of just buying it? Making my own hand sanitizer was incredibly easy. Which is a win in my book. I love simple yet useful DIY preps.
I am a huge fan of making something myself instead of buying it, and this is no exception. These ingredients are something I always have on hand and are very inexpensive. The homemaker in me always appreciates things that don’t break the bank.
Have you tried making this DIY Hand Sanitizer yet? Come on in and let me tell you about it!
Easy DIY Hand Sanitizer
Easy DIY Hand Sanitizer Ingredients and Tools
Aloe vera gel, ⅓ cup
Rubbing alcohol, ⅔ cup
Spoon or whisk
Clean and empty container. A plastic travel bottle like this is perfect.
Easy DIY Hand Sanitizer Directions
Stir the aloe and alcohol until they are thoroughly well blended and pour into the bottle.
Easy DIY Hand Sanitizer Additional Options
Add a few drops of essential oil when mixing for an added scent. This won’t do anything exciting for the mixture, but simply add a nicer smell.
Easy DIY Hand Sanitizer Notes
Hand sanitizer should not replace standard hand washing. Only utilize sanitizer when washing isn’t an option. Hand sanitizer has its place, like everything else in life. But that shouldn’t replace washing your hands when optional. Sanitizer is simply to help when we can’t wash our hands if needed.
Hand sanitizers can and may lower your resistance to diseases by killing off the good bacteria.
The alcohol content in sanitizers can dry out the skin, causing it to crack and bleed. Open wounds are an excellent way for germs to enter our bodies and make anyone far more sick.
Also note that after using the bathroom, hand washing is required to be clean. Alcohol based sanitizers are not effective at removing fecal material or killing bacteria in fecal matter. This means that every hand sanitizer dispenser outside of a portable toilet at parks or large events is basically a placebo effect.
What hand sanitizer is great for is cleaning eyeglasses, phone screens, and other surfaces that our hands and face touch. This is what I recommend the most for sanitizer uses. Both our phones and glasses touch our hands and face. I also set my phone down often or hand it to someone else if I’m out playing Pokemon Go. Because I’m generally driving, it is easy to hand the phone off to a passenger and let them play as I’m driving.
Both our phones and glasses may touch some questionable surfaces, and then they touch our hands and face. Pretty gross when you really think about it. I also like to wipe down the handles of shopping carts and the steering wheel in my vehicle. Anything our hands or face touch is good to keep clean.
As with anything else in life, use common sense. Don’t overdo the sanitizer use and/or replace traditional handwashing with it.
Safety Precautions
Hand sanitizer should always be stored out of reach and sight of children. It should not be stored in a place above 105 degrees fahrenheit. Which means don’t leave it in your car in the summer, for example.
Hand sanitizer is flammable, and should be treated as such. Store it away from heat and flames. When using hand sanitizer, rub it into your hands until they feel completely dry before engaging in activities that may involve heat, sparks, flames, or static electricity.
Hand sanitizer use by children should only be done under adult supervision because it is dangerous when ingested and can cause alcohol poisoning. Keep hand sanitizer away from your eyes and mouth because irritation and damage can occur.
Easy DIY Hand Sanitizer Discussion
Do you take hand sanitizer with you and use it frequently? Tell me your thoughts in the comments!
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20 Comments
Scott J DeNicola
People have gone so crazy by me that we can’t even get our hands on rubbing alcohol. Luckily I have a friend who makes moonshine so we can always go that route if need be. 🙂 I have always cleaned my phone after being in places like the gym. It grosses me out to put my phone down on the cardio machine and pick it up again. Honestly maybe this pandemic will cause more people to wash their hands regularly after this is all said and done.
Despite Pain
Thanks for this. It is so crazy just now. Thankfully, I have hand sanitzer (had it for a long time). There is no rubbing alcohol in the country!
Yesterday, I went shopping.. Oh wow! Empty shelves everywhere. Shops are rationing everything. I couldn’t get soap, not even a normal bar of soap. (Erica, your next task, please – teach us how to make soap with ingredients we have in the cupboard)
Kelly Martin
I didn’t realise it was so easy to make DIY hand sanitizer. I’ll be making my own soon because I can’t find any in the shops with all the panic buying that is going on at the moment.
Stacy
Yes sanitizer has become an essential commodities now days. There is so much of scarcity in the market. This article is very helpful at this time. Hope this article will solve the problem for the time being.
Lyosha
Great recipe! Especially for people who couldn’t get it. sharing it online so more people see it
I raided my own bags and now have enough to last for couple of months normal, not distanced life. I plan on giving away some for my neighbors
Alexandra Christensen
Boy have I thought a lot about you, Erica, during this season. I thought back to all of those posts I’ve read on your blog about being ready for basically anything! I wish I had seen this post sooner. Just this morning I finally found more hand sanitizer and bought two jugs, only to find out that I had everything I would have needed to make some at home! I also like that you really talked about how it really works. I keep telling my teenager to wash his hands and not just use up all the hand sanitizer but he really doesn’t listen. I am now going to tell him about how it is killing all the good bacteria too!
Lene Andersen
Absolutely awesome! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Is it possible to sub out the aloe with coconut oil, say? I have a latex allergy and that means there’s pretty good potential for analogy to aloe.
The Prepping Wife
I had no idea that aloe had latex properties in it! I looked it up and the closest thing would be a prickly pear. All the other aloe family plants have the same latex issue, unfortunately. The big concern I would have with coconut oil is the fact it will leave your skin greasy, and cause you to really need to wash your hands. With aloe, it absorbs quickly into the skin and doesn’t leave your skin greasy. My next best suggestion would be shea butter, as that tends to absorb into the skin a lot better.
Britt K
Thank you for this! I like keep sanitizer close at hand when we’re heading out camping/into the wilderness as you won’t always have water accessible for hand washing. That being said, I love that this uses aloe vera gel, as I LOVE using aloe for a number of reasons – we keep it readily stocked in our house!
Subhashish Roy
After almost ten days I got to buy a sanitizer as it was all out of stock everywhere. And started carrying it. Nice simple way to making it on our own instead. As you mention yes soap and water is the best though.
Krystel | Frugal Living
l had no idea that it could be so simple to make this at home. These are all ingredients I already have
Ivana Mearns
Great advice, thanks! I had no idea that a homemade sanitiser is so easy to make but this post makes it sound very easy. I will definitely give it a go.
College Apps Abroad
This is a great post – I think everyone is consciously trying to wash/sanitize their hands, but it’s important to highlight the other surfaces we touch so often like our phones, etc., on which we should also be using this!
Stephanie S
I have always keep some hand sanitizer in my purse. I also carry some anti-bacterial hand wipes as well. When this whole Corona virus situation happened, we couldn’t find sanitizer at any store, or even online. My husband was lucky enough to get some from his work, and I was able to make a quick order online once the store restocked. I love this simple recipe, and I’ll be sure to save it! Thank you.
Nkem
This is good stuff – thanks for sharing! I’m hoping this will contribute to more cleanliness and ultimate sanitization when people aren’t able to buy sanitizer.
Sonia Seivwright
This is easy. I didn’t know I can make my own sanitizer from home. I’m trying this.
Luna S
This is awesome to know especially if the stores run out again, thanks for sharing this.
Jasmine Gagarin
Oh, that makes sense. I mean, why it has that texture. The aloe vera does the trick! I’m always with my hand sanitizer and I might give this a try, coz my mom actually has lots of aloe vera plants.
Kat
Great idea! Everything is pretty much back in stock, but it’s nice to have a DIY option as well. In fact, I just received some aloe vera plants from a neighbour, so if they grow, I might have my own source eventually!
I never used hand sanitiser much before, but now I use it whenever I’m out and need to touch my face. Instead of sanitising other surfaces, I just sanitise my hands before touching eyes, mouth or nose.
Trish Veltman
Good to get a recipe for hand sanitiser – I didn’t know it was so simple to make. Thankfully most shops and businesses in NZ have hand sanitiser at the entrance for customers to use, so the small bottle we had of it at home has lasted well, but it will need refilling soon. This way I get to recycle the plastic bottle too, which is another win!