Demonstration on
“how to make hand
sanitizer at home.
When it comes to preventing the spread of infectious
diseases likeCOVID-19, nothing beats good old-fashioned
handwashing. But if water and soap aren’t available, your
next best option, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source, is to use an
alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60
percent alcohol.
All it takes is three ingredients to make your own hand
sanitizer at home. Read on to find out how. Making your
own hand sanitizer is easy to do and only requires a few
ingredients: isopropyl or rubbing alcohol (99 percent
alcohol volume) aloe vera gel an essential oil, such as tea
tree oil or lavender oil, or you can use lemon juice
instead the key to making an effective, germ-busting
hand sanitizer is to stick to a 2:1 proportion of alcohol to
aloe vera. This keeps the alcohol content around 60
percent. This is the minimum amount needed to kill most
germs, according to the CDC Trusted Source.
Dr. Rishi Desai, chief medical officer of Osmosis, and a
former epidemic intelligence service officer in the
division of viral diseases at the CDC, says that the hand
sanitizer recipe below will kill 99.9percent of germs after
60 seconds. Jagdish Khubchandani, PhD, associate
professor of health science at Ball State University,
shared a similar formula. His hand sanitizer formula
combines: two parts isopropyl alcohol or ethanol (91
percent to 99 percent alcohol) one part aloe vera a few
drops of clove, eucalyptus, peppermint, or other
essential oil. If you are making hand sanitizer at home,
Khubchandani says to adhere to these tips: Make the
hand sanitizer in a clean space. Wipe down counter tops
with a diluted bleach solution beforehand. Wash your
hands thoroughly before making the hand sanitizer. How
to Make Hand Sanitizer: A Step-by-Step Guide about:
reader?url=https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-
make-hand-...2 of 6 4/24/2020, 12:44 PM To mix, use a
clean spoon and whisk. Wash these items thoroughly
before using them. Make sure the alcohol used for the
hand sanitizer is not diluted. Mix all the ingredients
thoroughly until they are well blended. Do not touch the
mixture with your hands until it is ready for use. For a
larger batch of hand sanitizer, the World Health
Organization (WHO)Trusted Source has a formula for a
hand sanitizer that uses:
isopropyl alcohol or ethanol
hydrogen peroxide
glycerol
sterile distilled or boiled cold water
DIY hand sanitizer recipes are all over the internet these
days —but are they safe? These recipes, including the
ones above, are intended for use by professionals with
both the expertise and resources to safely make
homemade hand sanitizers. Homemade hand sanitizer is
only recommended in extreme situations when you’re
unable to wash your hands for the foreseeable future.
Improper ingredients or proportions can lead to: lack of
efficacy, meaning that the sanitizer may not effectively
eliminate risk of exposure to some or all microbes skin
irritation, injury, or burns exposure to hazardous
chemicals via inhalation Homemade hand sanitizer is also
not recommended for use with children. Children may be
more prone to improper hand sanitizer usage, which
could lead to greater risk for injury. Two things to be
aware of when using hand sanitizer is that you need to
rub it into your skin until your hands are dry. And, if your
hands are greasy or dirty, you should wash them first
with soap and water. With that in mind, here are some
tips for using hand sanitizer effectively.
1. Spray or apply the sanitizer to the palm of one hand.
2. Thoroughly rub your hands together. Make sure you
cover the entire surface of your hands and all your
fingers.
3. Continue rubbing for 30 to 60 seconds or until your
hands are dry. It can take at least 60 seconds, and
sometimes longer, for hand sanitizer to kill most germs.
Hand sanitizer is a handy on-the-go way to help prevent
the spread of germs when soap and water isn’t available.
Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can help keep you safe and
reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. If you are
having a hard time finding hand sanitizer at your local
stores and handwashing isn’t available, you can take
steps to makeyour own. You only need a few ingredients,
such as rubbingalcohol, aloe vera gel, and an essential oil
or lemon juice. Although hand sanitizers can be an
effective way of getting rid of germs, health authorities
still recommend handwashing whenever possible to keep
your hands free of disease-causing viruses and other
germs.
