How to make your own hand sanitiser
Keeping your hands clean is the first line of defense against diseases such as the Coronavirus
(Image credit: Unsplash – Anna Earl)
Hand-washing is the best way to keep your hands clean, but on the occasion when there is no soap and water, hand sanitiser can help to kill unwanted germs.
With the world becoming disease-conscious, finding sanitiser in shops is becoming more and more difficult, so why not make your own?
Making your own hand sanitiser is easy to do and allows you to tailor it to your personal preferences. Check out the steps below to make sure you’re protected from disease transmission, wherever you go.
Disclaimer: Alcohol should be handled with care and always with adult supervision. Neither Future PLC nor its employees can accept liability for any injury or adverse side-effects as a result of carrying out this experiment.
Step 1. Collect your ingredients
For this alcohol-based hand sanitiser you will need to gather the following ingredients:
- 99% rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol)
- Aloe vera gel
- Essential oil (e.g lavendar, peppermint or cinnamon)
- Funnel
- Spoon
- Mixing bowl
- Plastic container for storage
Step 2. Mix the alcohol and aloe vera
Into your mixing bowl, combine a 2/3 cup of alcohol with 1/3 cup pure aloe vera gel. Mix these together with a spoon until smooth.
Depending on how thick you want the product, adding another spoon of aloe vera will thicken the mixture, while adding more alcohol will thin it.
Step 3. Add essential oil
Using a total of 8-10 drops of your chosen oil, stir each drop into the bowl one at a time. Stop at eight drops and see how the sanitiser smells. If you would like a stronger smell, add some more drops.
The oils mentioned in step one contain the best antiseptic properties, but feel free to experiment with different scents.
Step 4. Pour mixture into container
Placing the funnel on top of the container, pour in the liquid until the container is full. Small bottles are ideal for taking with you wherever you go, whilst left over sanitiser can be kept in a jar until needed.
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