How to make your own hand sanitizer -Dr Sudhanshu Sekhar Mishra

How to make your own hand sanitizer

Washing your hands with soap is better, but if you have no soap and water, hand sanitizer is the second-best thing. Commercial hand sanitizer can get expensive, and with the shortage of hand sanitizer due to COVID-19, you may have to resort to making your own.^[1] Making your own hand sanitizer is a simple process that results in a formula you can customize to suit your personal tastes. Choose either alcohol or witch-hazel&tea-tree-oil sanitizer.

Make Hand Sanitizer

Nothing could be easier! Simply mix the ingredients together and then use the funnel to pour them into the bottle. Screw the pump back onto the bottle and you're ready to go.

01-Gather Your Ingredients

Demineralized water-90ml

99% isopropyl alcohol)-100ml

Hydrogen peroxide -20ml

Glycerin -20ml

02-Mix Ingredients

Add all ingredients together in your bowl and mix thoroughly with a spoon.

03-Pour Into Your Bottle

Using the funnel, carefully pour your hand sanitizer into the bottle of your choice, screw the top of your bottle on tight, and begin using.

Essential Oils in Hand Sanitizer

In addition to adding fragrance to your hand sanitizer, the essential oil you choose may also help protect you against germs. For example, thyme and clove oil have antimicrobial properties. If you are using antimicrobial oils, only use a drop or two, since these oils tend to be very powerful and might irritate your skin. Other oils, such as lavender or chamomile, may help soothe your skin. Tea tree oil is antimicrobial. A couple of drops may be added to the recipe, but it's important to note many people are sensitive to this oil, even when it's diluted.

How It Works

The active ingredients in this hand sanitizer recipe are the alcohol, which needs to comprise at least 60%of the product in order to be an effective disinfectant. The recipe calls for 99% isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) or ethanol (grain alcohol, most commonly available at 90%-95%). Please don't use any other types of alcohol (e.g., methanol, butanol), as they are toxic. Also, if you use a product that contains a lower percentage of alcohol (e.g., 70% alcohol) then you need to increase the amount of alcohol in the recipe or it won't be as effective.