Washing your hands has always been an essential part of good hygiene. Still, now more than ever before, washing and disinfecting your hands is one of the most important parts of everyday life in your efforts to prevent the spread of germs, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Unfortunately, depending on what you’re doing or where you are, you don’t always have access to a sink with soap and water; Nor do you still have the time to run and wash your hands every time you touch something. Those reasons are why carrying hand sanitizer with you is an excellent handwashing alternative.

With the rising demand for hand sanitizers, commercial hand disinfectants have grown to be quite expensive. The small bottles you used to get in the store for .99 cents are now around $5.00 or more.

The increase in price is due to the significant difference in supply and demand but paying that much money for such small bottles is becoming economically impossible for many families, especially for households that have lost jobs. That reason alone is why so many families have started to look into ways of making their form of hand sanitizer.

Fortunately, you can DIY an organic, safe, and 24/7-accessible hand sanitizer at home with no fuss. On top of that, homemade hand sanitizers are as effective as commercial ones, as long as you use the right amount of rubbing alcohol.

The ability to make your hand sanitizer at home will not only allow you to ration it out for when you go to work or go to the store, but it also comes in handy at home as well. How many times have you come from the store and came immediately home and grabbed the remote to watch TV without washing your hands?

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably done it more than you like to admit, but that just goes to show you that your home isn’t as healthy as you like to think it is. We like to believe that the germs are outside our homes when the reality is that we bring germs from outside into our homes.

Wiping down and disinfecting remotes, doorknobs, and refrigerator handles are great ways to reduce the spread of germs in your home, in addition to using your homemade hand sanitizer.

In making hand sanitizers, you can make two types: gel-based and water-based. Making sanitizer at home may seem a little daunting just thinking about it, but it’s not as hard as you might think. It’s a straightforward and easy process.

Making Gel-Based Hand Sanitizer

Things you will need for making gel-based hand sanitizer are as follow:

Isopropyl or rubbing alcohol
Aloe vera gel (natural or packed)
An essential oil or lemon juice
Bowl and spoon
Empty funnel
liquid soap or hand sanitizer bottle

The secret behind making an effective hand sanitizer is to stick to a 2:1 proportion of alcohol to aloe vera. For instance, if you are using 2 ml of alcohol, then you would use 1 ml of aloe vera gel. If you want to make hand sanitizer in liters, you can convert ml into liters for accuracy.

Step 1: Pour 2 cups of rubbing alcohol, and 1cup of aloe vera gel into a bowl. You can choose the quantity of alcohol and aloe according to your need but keep the 2:1 ratio between them.

Step 2: Gently mix the alcohol and aloe vera gel in a bowl with a spoon. Stir the mixture until thoroughly blended.

Step 3: Once blended, add a few drops of essential oil in it, and continue to mix. You can use any essential oil such as lavender, tea tree oil, or rosemary oil. You can also add citrus-scented oils like lemon or orange. This step is optional.

Step 4: In the end, whisk all the ingredients together and pour into a spray bottle or container. Use an empty funnel to transfer the mixture or sanitizer from bowl to bottle. Do not forget to label your sanitizer.

Making Water-Based Hand Sanitizer

If you want to make a water-based hand sanitizer, then here are the steps.

Things you will need for making water-based hand sanitizer are:

Isopropyl alcohol
3% hydrogen peroxide
Glycerin
Sterile distilled or boiled cold water

Step 1: Pour 1 cup of rubbing alcohol in the bowl and add one tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide to it.

Step 2: Add one teaspoon of glycerin in the mixture and mix well with the help of a spoon.

Step 3: Add ¼ cup of distilled or boiled cold water in the bowl and stir until the mixture is well blended.

Step 4: Transfer the sanitizer into a spray bottle.

If you are planning to make hand sanitizer at home, keep the following things in mind:

Do the entire process in a clean space. Also, wipe down countertops or surfaces with a diluted bleach solution before starting the process.
Wash your hands thoroughly before mixing the ingredients of hand sanitizer.
To mix, use a clean spoon or whisk. It is better to wash them before use.
Use non-diluted rubbing alcohol for making sanitizer.
Don’t put your hands in the mixture until it’s ready to use.

Hand sanitizer is a vital addition to washing your hands, especially when you’re not able to get to a sink with soap and water. But the best part about hand sanitizer is that you can make your own batch of it at home with the same disinfecting properties as if you paid for it at the store.

A lot of the ingredients in hand sanitizer are items you probably already have at home, making it an affordable solution to maintaining good hygiene when you just can’t pay the hefty price tag of such a high-demand product.

So whether you’ve been buying your own or need to start making it at home, make sure to stay sanitizer and stay safe.