Make your own DIY Hand sanitizer to keep coronavirus away

Homemade hand protection for you

Monday, 13th April 2020

Using hand sanitizers frequently is one of the advices coming from WHO and other healthcare experts to keep the deadly Coronavirus at bay. Hand sanitizers are amazing disinfectants and can be used to make your hands germ-free especially when you are on the move and have no access to soap and water. The spike in the demand for hand sanitizers and the immense rush to stock up on hand sanitizers has resulted in empty shelves in Chemist stores and Supermarkets…So, what do you do? Well, worry not. You can make your own hand sanitizer.

To make your DIY Hand sanitizer, you would definitely need the following ingredients:

Alcohol

Alcohol is one of the most important ingredients of a hand sanitizer. But you cannot use just any Alcohol. Rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl Alcohol) or Grain Alcohol (Ethanol) are the only two types that are allowed to be used in the formulation of hand sanitizer. Other Alcohol types like Butanol, Methanol etc are toxic in nature and should never be used. Also, the percentage of alcohol you use should be correct. If it is below the permissible percentage, the sanitizer will not be effective enough in killing the viruses and bacteria and if it is more than the permissible percentage, the sanitizer may irritate the skin of your hands like anything and lead to lesions on the skin.

99% Rubbing alcohol or 90% to 95% Grain alcohol may be used in your homemade hand sanitizer formula. However, if your skin type is a sensitive one you may use around 70% to 75% alcohol to keep adverse skin reactions at bay…but again, in that case, you may have to compromise on the effectiveness of the sanitizer.

Humectants

Aloe Vera gel or Glycerin may be used as Humectants. Since Alcohol dries your skin up easily, it is important to use humectants to balance the loss of moisture from the skin under the impact of Alcohol.

Essential Oils

Essential Oils not only give your homemade sanitizer a beautiful fragrance but also help in replenishing the loss of skin’s natural oils. Furthermore, there are few Essential Oils that have anti-microbial properties and can be quite effective against microbes and pathogens. Clove Oil, Tea Tree Oil and Thyme Oil for example, are few Essential Oils that may help you fight against microbes as well.