With the recent pandemic, everyone wants to protect themselves by disinfecting their hands regularly. But with the expensive sanitizers in the market or with the shortage of sanitizers due to the immediate rush of stocking sanitizers at home, many people are unable to get their hands on sanitizers from the market. However, bear in mind that it’s essential to wash your hands regularly for 20-30 seconds as we are already advised by CDC but for further protection, we need hand sanitizers so that we can apply it in times when we don’t have access to hand soaps. Have a look at the simple and most efficient hand sanitizers at home:
GEL RECIPE FOR HAND SANITIZER AT HOME:
- Take a bowl,
- Now add 2/3 cups of rubbing alcohol or 99.9% isopropyl alcohol,
- Add 1/3 cups of aloe Vera gel
- Stir all the ingredients in a bowl
- Now transfer the prepared sanitizer into an empty hand wash bottle or any pump bottle
- Shake the bottle vigorously for a good mix whenever you use the sanitizer
The essential ingredient in this hand sanitizer is isopropanol or isopropyl alcohol. The commercial hand sanitizers usually comprise isopropanol, ethanol, n-propanol or a mixture of any two types. Aloe Vera added in this hand sanitizer acts as a moisturizer which prevents your skin from drying out as we usually face with most of the commercial hand sanitizers. This ingredient is also very useful as the cracks in the skin enhance the chances of bacterial infection. The mixture of 60-80% alcohol in the hand sanitizers helps in killing most of the microorganisms. You can also use pure rubbing alcohol which is known as surgical spirits. You can order it from Amazon which sells around 50-70% alcohol concentration which is perfect for directly applying over the surfaces.
Pure ethanol can also be used in the recipe for hand sanitizer at home but it’s difficult to get access to ethanol so you can make use of isopropanol. WHO also made it official after the study conducted in 2017 that showed the use of such hand sanitizers with alcohol. The study indicated that the use of these formulations helps in the inactivation of MERS and SARS viruses which are the viruses related to the one that causes COVID-19.
SPRAY SANITIZER RECIPE AT HOME:
- Make use of the same amount of alcohol and aloe vera gel as mentioned in the first recipe.
- Mix 12 fluid ounces of isopropanol alcohol with 2tsps of glycerol.
- Then add 1 tbsp of hydrogen peroxide and 3 fluid ounces of boiled cool water or distilled water.
- Now add the solution is a spray bottle and mix it.
- In this sanitizer, you can also add essential oils for a perfect fragrance.
The end formulation of the sanitizers contains the final concentration of 75% isopropanol or 80% ethanol with 0.125% hydrogen peroxide and 1.45% glycerol. The water used in this sanitizer is either distilled or boiled cold water. Hydrogen peroxide used in this formulation aids in serving as an antibacterial agent within the mixture. Glycerol serves as a humectant which helps in retaining moisture when applied over the skin. Glycerol can be substituted with any moisturizer or emollient which helps in skincare along with the use of aloe Vera.
ARE THESE HOMEMADE SANITIZERS EFFECTIVE AS RECOMMENDED BY WHO?
You must be wondering whether these homemade formulations are effective when compared to WHO formulations containing around 75% isopropanol or 80% ethanol for killing the viruses. Homemade products do not have such concentrations of alcohol to be extremely effective in comparison to WHO formulations. However, some commercial products have 57% alcohol which indicates that homemade sanitizers are more effective in comparison to these formulations bought from stores. For achieving the concentration of the hand sanitizers similar to WHO formulations, you can increase the volume of alcohol to three-quarters of a cup while adding a quarter of a cup of aloe Vera gel. You can also omit glycerol and just add aloe Vera gel if you want a cheaper solution. Follow these safety instructions for formulating the hand sanitizer and just use it for cleaning your hands. You can also add almond oil as a moisturizer along with some essential oil for a perfect smell of your hand sanitizer.
CDC RECOMMENDATIONS:
Choose hand sanitizers only when the sink is not available near you. According to the CDC, it is advised to use hand sanitizers with at least 60% concentration for killing the germs. The excessive use of hand sanitizers in the market has led to the shortage of commercial hand sanitizers and upsurge of the prices leading to $50 for each hand sanitizer. So, in my recommendation go for the simple, cost-effective and efficient hand sanitizers which are home-made. Hand sanitizers at home come at around $1.10-1.50 and take around 1-2 minutes for the formulation. Please bear in mind that once you have made the sanitizer at home, let it sit for around 72 hours as recommended by WHO so that if there was any introduction of bacteria while mixing it can be killed.
Although hand sanitizers are effective in killing germs, it is still advised by CDC to wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds.