How to Make Hand Sanitizer
If the current situation has got you wishing that you bought a metric ton of hand sanitizer before last week, no fear, you can make homemade hand sanitizer spray at home with a few simple and easier to get ingredients.
Making Hand Sanitizer Spray without Aloe vera
When I realized that hand sanitizer, like Purell, was nowhere to be found in our area, I thought fine I’ll order some Aloe Vera Gel. I already had some alcohol in the garage.
If you don’t have rubbing alcohol. Vodka or grain alcohol can be substituted.
Once I started looking for 100 percent aloe vera gel online, I couldn’t find it anywhere. Everything is sold out, and a lot of the varieties that were available have additives that do not mix with alcohol. If you try to use these aloe vera varieties you will end up with a stringy clumpy mess.
The best option I found was to make a spray with witch hazel.
In normal circumstances, I’m not big on hand sanitizer.
Soap and water is always the best way to sanitize your hands. However, right now, I am extra cautious. So hand sanitizer is a must.
With the traditional Purell selling for way over market value and a lot of ingredients in short supply, I thought it was best to use my good old fashioned science knowledge to make my own.
The recipe for a DIY hand sanitizer gel that I found online was:
- 5-10 drops of lavender oil
- 30 drops of tea tree oil
- 3 ounces of 70 percent alcohol
- 1 ounce of 100 percent aloe vera gel
- ¼ teaspoon of 100 percent vitamin E oil
I didn’t have all of these ingredients, so I made a few substitutions.
- 5-10 essential oil, I used lily scent from my P&B floral collection of essential oil
- 3 ounces of 70 percent alcohol
- 1 ounce of Thayer’s Witch Hazel
- ¼ teaspoon of coconut oil
This mixture was lovely. It smelled great and even felt moisturizing.
I didn’t have tea tree oil. I suppose that you could use more essential oil OR more coconut oil. But I found that it was fine without it.
I stored the mixture in a tiny spray bottle.
It turned out to be the perfect viscosity for a spray-on hand sanitizer.
Either of these recipes for hand sanitizer should be a cheaper option that the premade variety.
The first recipe makes a thicker gel.
So, you will need to have a squeeze bottle.
I found a set of travel containers at Target that had two squeeze bottles and a small spray bottle.
The second recipe makes a spray.
For this recipe, I used a small spray bottle to store the mixture.
Other recipes for coping with the pandemic situation
While my husband and daughter mixed up this recipe, I made a batch of chocolate chips cookies.
Actually I made two batches of cookies.
Everyone’s favorite: Fleur De Sel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten-Free Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Did you make the hand sanitizer? I would love to hear about it. Please leave me a comment 👇and let me know what you thought about the recipe.
Or if you made the cookies. I would love to hear about them too!
Stay safe. Wash your hands and most of all! Keep a positive outlook.
Hand Sanitizer Spray Recipe
Equipment
- small spray bottle
Ingredients
- 3 ounces 70 percent alcohol
- 1 ounce Thayer's witch hazel
- 10 drops essential oil, any scent you like
- ¼ teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together and put them in a spray bottle.
- Spray a few pumps onto your hands and rub together.
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