When the emergency status was declared I wanted to buy a bottle of hand sanitizer in a pharmacy. I was unpleasantly surprised to find out that there was none in any pharmacy and there wouldn’t be any in the perceivable future. Therefore, I decided to make my own at home and my disenchantment grew even bigger as I found out I wouldn’t receive the ingredients from the e-shop as the government seized the ingredients for disinfection. So now people could not only not buy any hand sanitizer, they were also prevented from making any. And then I was saved by a small bottle of pure alcohol I bought years ago to disinfect my daughters’ earrings and thanks to it here is the recipe for making your own homemade hand sanitizer:
Table of Contents
Supplies
These instructions are based on WHO’s recommendations, which you can find clicking here.
- 830 ml of alcohol (96% ethanol or 99,8% isopropyl alcohol)
- 43 ml 3% of hydrogen peroxide
- 15 ml glycerin
- bottles (with a pump, a spray or any other lid with a hole that makes it possible to use small doses)
- measuring cup (and a syringe, if possible)
optional:
- antibacterial and antiviral essential oils such as tea tree (or any essential oil that you want to use to make your sanitizer smell nice)
- Aloe vera
Instructions
Mix all ingredients and pour the mixture into the bottles. Store in a cold place.
Don’t forget!
The hand sanitizer should be used only when you cannot wash your hands. The best way to prevent transferring coronavirus (or other viruses and bacteria) is washing your hands often and in the correct way. You can watch this video to see how it’s done correctly. And here’s a UNICEF document on handwashing.
Also don’t forget that it’s important to have your nails cut short and if you have to ho out (by tram or bus, to the post office and so on), use gloves that you can sterilize or use single-use gloves.
Still don’t have a face mask?
Here are some tutorials:
