After posting this morning about common sense ways to keep our families safe from coronavirus, I decided to head out to get a few supplies that we were lacking. Top on my list: hand sanitizer.
I thought I was on the ball here, but it appears that, I don’t know, about 50,000 people beat me to the stores.
I have three young kids and they touch everything. And yes – hand washing is the best line of defense. But we are often out and about and it’s not always possible to wash hands right away. I also have one child who bites his nails, which makes me a bit more concerned here.
Anyway, I ran out for what I thought would be a 10 minute errand to grab hand sanitizer, only to find out that it is sold out.
Everywhere. I initially tried to buy it on Amazon, but it’s selling for like $100 right now. Yikes.
In my pursuit of hand sanitizer I went to Walgreens, The Dollar Store (which looks like it’s been ransacked in a zombie apocalypse – I really should have taken a photo), Home Depot, CVS, a random gas station and a pet store (true fact) before finding the last few travel sized bottles at Stop and Shop.
Every employee at every store said the same thing – hand sanitizers are flying off the shelves and they are out of stock for now.
Some stores had orders in for new shipments, so you could get lucky in a few days.
That being said – a lot of people will get beaten out to this newly coveted item. So, I investigated an alternate solution: DIY hand sanitizer.
How To Make DIY Hand Sanitizer at Home:
If you weren’t fast enough to grab hand sanitizer before all the stores sold out, you can make some at home. This should be used as a backup method – behind using soap and water, and behind using a store bought version if you can snag any.
If you do find yourself in a pinch, hopefully this will help.
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup Isopropyl alcohol 91 percent (rubbing alcohol)
- 1/3 cup of Aloe Vera gel
- A small or medium sized mixing bowl
- An empty container like the small ones found in travel-sized toiletry kits
Instructions:
Making hand sanitizer at home is straightforward. In a mixing bowl you stir the Isopropyl alcohol and the aloe vera gel together until they are fully blended.
You can add an essential oil if you like such things. I know a lot of people do!
Pour the homemade hand sanitizer into your container and seal it. Label it and you’re done.
Notes:
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The CDC recommendation is that you use hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol content. (And remember – hand washing is still the most effective!)
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The recipe above makes a hand sanitizer that’s slightly over 60 percent, so you need to follow the proportions carefully. You can also decrease the amount of aloe vera to 1/4 cup if you want to create a hand sanitizer with a higher alcohol percentage.
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It is hard to find 91 percent rubbing alcohol at the stores right now – and nearly impossible on Amazon. The two stores I went to had 70 percent alcohol available, but not the more concentrated version. It is important to use the 91 percent from what I can tell. Fortunately a lot of people will have this on hand at home already!
Stay healthy -- I hope this helps!
This essay was republished with permission and was written by Liz Faria for her blog A Mothership Down.
