We all know nothing beats good old-fashioned handwashing when it comes to fighting off the spread of germs, but water and soap aren’t always available.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends using alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol when if you aren’t able to wash your hands with soap and water. But, right now as we all face the COVID-19 pandemic, store-bought hand sanitizer isn’t as readily available.
However, you only need three ingredients, you likely have at home, to make your own!
Please note, use your own discretion when using homemade hand sanitizer on adults and children. Hand sanitizer recipes are often intended for use by professionals and homemade recipes are not regulated to ensure safety.
Before you get started:
- Wipe down your workspace where you’ll make the hand sanitizer with a diluted bleach solution to ensure it is clean.
- Wash your hands thoroughly.
- Do not touch the mixture with your hands until it is ready for use.
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.
Directions:
- Pour the isopropyl or rubbing alcohol, aloe vera gel, and essential oil of your choice into a bowl. Using a bowl with a pouring spout like a measuring container will come in handy. Be sure to keep the proportion of alcohol to aloe vera to a 2:1 ratio. This will ensure the alcohol content stays at around 60 percent, which is the minimum amount to kill most germs according to the CDC.
- Mix the ingredients with a spoon and then beat the mixture with a whisk to turn it into a gel.
- Pour the mixture into an empty bottle for easy use and label it ‘hand sanitizer.”
