Posts Tagged ‘disease prevention’
Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer
With the supply shortage of hand sanitizers, there are many people wondering what they can do to keep the germs away when they don’t have access to soap and water. Here is a simple DIY hand sanitizer you can make with ingredients that may still be available at stores near you (or in less than a week from Amazon).
Ingredients:
Aloe Vera Gel or Vegetable glycerin
95-99% Isopropyl or Ethyl Alcohol or Everclear (95% Ethanol)
Directions:
Mix 1/3 cup of Pure Aloe Vera Gel or Vegetable glycerin with 2/3 cup of 99% Rubbing Alcohol or Everclear. Mix thoroughly and store in glass or plastic container at room temp or cooler. (Alcohol concentration in this recipe is 63-65%)
The proportions and alcohol percentages are important, since the minimum concentration of alcohol required to kill most germs is 50%-70%. If you substitute 70% Isopropyl alcohol, you will need to use 3/4 cup alcohol to 1/4 cup Aloe Vera or Glycerin in order to have an effective concentration of alcohol for killing germs. The concentration with this substitution is a bit lower (52%).
For more information about what you can do specifically to prepare for a potential COVID-19 pandemic, please see my post on that topic:
What You Need to Know About COVID-19
References:
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Hand-Sanitizer
https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-hand-sanitizer.html