Hand sanitiser

Soap and water!

The chemist near me makes their own. It just has to be alcohol over 60% proof. You COULD use vodka!

Wipes when you are out and about and can't access soap and water. If you can't get antiseptic wipes I would use baby cleaning wipes. Use gloves outdoor as well.

i were vinyl gloves when out, and discard when back, have done for ages.
any gloves are better than none, less likely to touch nose/mouth. but if not disposable, need to be washed, ? in bleach solution, anyone know.
i dont do hot wash for laundry as it takes about 3 hours, costs too much heating the water, have very little that could stand v hot temps, and i have one of those washing machines that ought to be recalled, but i dont want to. believe its ok if not above 30c, and dont leave unattended. also has grey handle.
interestingly, i had a dream last night that a man and woman were coming out of my house wheeling w/m away. while i was out. guess its a generalised anxiety dream, things beyond our control, having to cope, unexpected difficulties, removal of autonomy, loss of control. which is the realities of life really, but mostly in the west we can inure / distract ourselves from our ultimate helplessness.

I've ordered the bits and bobs from Amazon, most of which was delivered today. I just need to wait for the Aloe Vera gel and I will be having a go at making my own.

This is the recipe I will be using
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If you can’t purchase hand sanitizer because it’s all sold out, you can make your own at home. It will also require a trip to the drug store (or your favourite online marketplace) to pick up a few ingredients. “Recipes” for your own hand sanitizer may vary slightly. The most important thing to remember is you need to create a mixture that’s at least 60% alcohol.
Ingredients:
•91% or higher isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) or ethanol alcohol
•Aloe vera gel or glycerine
•Essential oils (optional)
•Bowl and spoon
•Storage bottle or container
•Funnel (optional)
Step 1.
Combine ⅔ cup of 91% or higher alcohol with ⅓ cup of aloe vera gel or glycerine in a bowl and stir until blended.
Getting your ratios right in this step is critical. By combining two parts of 91% or higher alcohol with one part softening agent, you’ll land at about 60% alcohol content in the final product. Hand sanitizer that’s less than 60% alcohol will not be effective.
You can also increase the alcohol content to about 68% by combining ¾ cup of 91% or higher alcohol with ¼ cup of aloe or glycerine. Aloe or glycerine helps prevent the alcohol from drying out your skin.
Step 2.
Optional: Add 5-10 drops of essential oils to reduce the smell of alcohol.
If you’re sensitive to the strong smell of alcohol, you can add several drops of essential oils to your hand sanitizer. Do not add too much essential oil or you will dilute the alcohol content of your sanitizer below the 60% alcohol threshold. It’s important to note the active ingredient here is the alcohol, not the essential oils.
Step 3.
Bottle your hand sanitizer mixture.
Once your hand sanitizer is mixed and complete, pour the mixture into a container or bottle for use. You can purchase an empty bottle with a squirt top or pump from your local drug store or recycle a washed-out hand sanitizer bottle. If you have a funnel on hand, it can make it easier to pour the hand sanitizer into your storage containers. Once it’s bottled, your hand sanitizer is ready to use!
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I didn't have any handbag sized bottles, so I had to buy those.

The ingredients have cost me :
Rubbing alcohol - 500ml- £11.99
Aloe Vera gel - 454g - £8.99
Travel bottles (five, I think) - £11.99
Tee tree oil - 60ml - £9.99
Tiny funnell - 39p!!

I can't figure out how much it will make, and obviously I won't be using a lot of the tee tree oil, so that will last a long time, and taking out the cost of the bottles, which of course are reusable, it comes to around £30.

There are lots of different types of the products I have chosen, at various prices, so I expect it can be made cheaper, and of course you can alter or add different oils, although my aromatherapist colleague at work recommends no more than 5 drops of oil per 10 mls liquid.

I'm rather looking forward to setting up my laboratory and seeing how the thing turns out!

1 litre surgical spirit + 3 tbsp hydrogen peroxide 3% + 1 tbsp glicerine + 1/2 glass distilled or boiled water. Mix well.

This what the W.H.O. suggest.

Yes HurdyGurdy . At last someone else has taken note! I'm useless at Emojis ? but hopefully this time they work! I've posted about isopropyl alcohol being the significant ingredient. A recipe was a good idea to put online but it doesn't have to cost that much money to make up small batches. My recipe (adapted from 1980s nursing knowledge) cost me £2.29 and enough to make around 5 average sized bottles of hand sanitizer.

There is one small flaw in your recipe though HurdyGurdy , 91% is still 91% proof even if you add other ingredients to "dilute".

I have some product left over from before I had an operation To use in the shower pre-op.
Would that do?

Just so people know … hydrogen peroxide is used to make bombs, so Boots and other big pharmacies won't sell it to the public.

Is there isopropyl alcohol in it Fennel ? Can you see it on the ingredients contents? If it is contained in the preparation then the answer is probably.

I’ve just read an article by a doctor from Manchester who said that in the absence of liquid soap/gel, washing up liquid or bar soap will also work. Apparently the corona virus has a fatty outer layer which can be countered by anything that dissolves fat. Good to know in case stocks are hard to come by.

I made some sanitizer today using 70ml Surgical Spirit, 20ml Aloe Vera Gel, 10ml 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and 5 drops of Lavender Oil. It was a bit difficult to get the aloe vera to blend with the surgical spirit, but it has that 'cold' feel that commercial products have and it smelĺs nice, so I hope its effective. Holland & Barratt have a special offer on Aloe Vera Gel at the moment and the other ingredients were very cheap from my local pharmacy.

Having reread your recipe etc again HurdyGurdy and the ingredients you have bought and your advice regarding ratios to use I do want to add the following - I do think, sorry to say, that this is a bit OTT. Something containing Aloe Vera is useful, because it is a natural antiseptic. Many products contain isopropyl alcohol, which is also an antiseptic and when advice to use alcohol has been given it is because of its antiseptic qualities and they do really mean isopropyl alcohol. This is useful because it acts as a barrier to infections and that is what we are really talking about with Covid-19 since it is a HCID.
Surgical Spirit should not be used in such high concentration as you advocating in your recipe! The use of Surgical Spirit in this way, is irresponsible and dangerous. If anyone has read the back of a bottle of Dettol you will see the instructions for using it for person hygiene purposes and that is the responsible way to use isopropyl alcohol. It needs to be diluted! 60% proof alcohol is still 60% alcohol even diluted. Think of it this way, many spirits eg, gin, whisky, vodka contain high % alcohol, you are not weakening the proof by adding a mixer.
It is not the concentration of the solution but the proof of the ingredients in the solution. One teaspoon of Dettol, for example, makes half a litre of solution. Any recipe to make an effective barrier for Covid-19 only needs constitute one third of the mixture! The rest of the mixture could then contain an anti-bacterial hand wash/gel and Aloe Vera is a good content to have in that soap. Dettol, hibiscrub and most hand sanitisers (not hand wash liquid or gel) contain isopropyl alcohol.
Bio-oil ( dry skin oil or gel) contains isopropyl palmitate and isopropyl myristate and are emollient esters. Isopropyl palmitate is generally safe for cosmetic use when diluted, as it is in Bio-oil and isopropyl myristate is beneficial to the skin and is not harmful. Small tubs of Bio- gel last a good while as only a very small amount is required to gently rub into moisture dry hands. A small tub in a handbag, easy peasy.
All I am trying to do here is be helpful and demystify some of what has been said and advised. My message to anyone is always kindly meant. People do not need to panic. All I want to do is provide a practical answer to alleviate the concerns people have, especially the most vulnerable to the adversities of Covid-19, those who are in the older "category" with underlying health conditions.

CherryCezzy can I just point out that this is not my recipe, but just the one I will be using.

I did point out that there are lots of varieties of the ingredients available and that it could be made cheaper than mine will cost me.

I chose my ingredients based on reviews and delivery times

If you really think I have been "OTT" and "irresponsible and dangerous" please let me know, and I will ask GNHQ to delete my post. Or you could report it to HQ yourself, which may be quicker, as I am not on GN all day.

Thank you all for your advice. Very helpful.

I have used the same basic recipe as HurdyGurdy and I don’t think it is at all OTT.

Cherrycezzy please could you explain The use of Surgical Spirit in this way, is irresponsible and dangerous. Why is it dangerous?

Also please explain your assertion that 60% proof alcohol is still 60% alcohol even diluted and your implication that it is ok to dilute the alcohol further than what is stated in Hurdy’s recipe.
The alcohol may still be the same ‘proof.’, but the resulting sanitiser will be far less than the 60% isopropyl alcohol which is recommended.

Hi HurdyGurdy and *janeainsworth. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough for you both. Surgical Spirit is used to clean instruments for use in operating theatres. Have you ever seen a chemical hazard sign? Would you, for example, wash your hands with paint stripper several times a day? If so you are a braver person than I will ever be or would ever wish to be. Let me put the point I am making another way. Is a pint of beer and a pint of vodka the same? What would happen if you drank a pint of vodka as opposed to a pint of beer? It is not about quantity it is about equality in strength! I do see what you mean about my sentence "60% proof alcohol ..." and the way I used the word diluted, it was imprecise. The size of an alcohol unit, if you like, is what I mean. If you need more clarity than that I will see if I can help.

Cherry I used to work in a clinical environment & I agree about the hazards of isopropyl alcohol. I’m not that happy about using it, but I’m carrying a small bottle with me just to use if I’ve had to touch anything like a stair rail somewhere that might be contaminated. I’ve only used it once. The rest of the time I’m washing my hands with soap and water.

I’m afraid I don’t understand the relevance of the difference in strength between beer and vodka. It’s self evident that a pint of beer at 5% alcohol isn't as strong as a pint of vodka at 40%.

But the isopropyl alcohol I bought is 99.9% alcohol.
So if I mix it with aloe Vera 3:1 that will give me a 75% alcohol solution.

I also used to work in a clinical environment janeansworth.

So if I mix it with aloe Vera 3:1 that will give me a 75% alcohol solution.

That’s how I understood it janea. I would be grateful if someone could tell me if this is not the case, and explain why it is not.

Meant to add - I had understood that the critical requirement is the percentage if alcohol in the product, not the alcohol proof. I am quite happy to be persuaded I’ve got this wrong!

if of

Well I am just going to stick to soap and water and wearing my gloves as much as possible when I am out. Yesterday I did get some funny looks in our local supermarket when I had my latex gloves on. DH laughed and said that I was ready for surgery! I have never bought hand sanitiser and I am not going to start now. Just be sensible and try not to touch your face. Once you get home then wash your hands thoroughly.