Hand Sanitizer Recipe

by katheryn Langelier March 26, 2020

We thought we would share a basic hand sanitizer recipe with you all. 

Nothing fancy, but we've included as many options as we can since we realize that access is most likely limited for most. Hopefully with enough ingredient substitutions you can pull something together. 

I do want to make a note here that while sanitizer is great and very helpful it is still not as good as washing your hands for 30+ seconds with soap and hot water. You can find some good hand washing techniques here, some catchy tunes to sing here, and an infographic generator here. I've been singing Truth Hurts by Lizzo all day long.

Here is a resource from the EPA of known Covid-19 disinfectants. We do know that alcohol at 60% strength does kill the virus and this recipe is for that. If you would like a recipe that uses thymol or thyme essential oil as the active ingredient you can find that in this PDF created by Guido Masé.

Homemade Hand Sanitizer Recipe:

to make 12oz 

8oz or 2 parts Alcohol*

4oz or 1 part Softener*

Optional 60-120 drops of Essential Oil or 5-10 drops per ounce. This is just for smell, essential oils are a very very precious medicine that takes very large volumes of plant material to create. Please use them with respect and care.

Mix everything together and pour into squirt or spray bottles.

Apply a pea sized amount to hands or surfaces and allow to dry completely.

*Alcohol: must be 90% or higher so that your final solution will be at least 60-70% alcohol
- Rubbing Alcohol (isopropyl) 91% or higher
- Regular Alcohol - Grain Alcohol - Everclear (ethanol or ethyl) 90% - 180 proof or higher

*Softener: just there to make sure your hands don't fall off! Alcohol is suuuuper drying.
These two will help to really protect your hands:
- Vegetable Glycerine
- Aloe Vera Gel or make your own with some Aloe leaves
These options would be good to mix or stretch out your supply of vegg glys or aloe gel, but won't do much on their own to protect your hands from the drying effects of the alcohol:
- Witch Hazel
- Hydrosols - you could make your own, it's a great time of year to pick up conifer branches and limbs after a storm. Don't forget to ask the trees before gathering and leave an offering.
- Distilled Water
- Rose Water

This recipe is partially based on Guido Masé's PDF and Webinar

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