DIY: Natural Homemade Hand Sanitizer Recipe

Sanitizers are great because when you are traveling or in emergency, you don’t have to search for water to wash your hands. Just rub a small portion of sanitizer, the alcohol and antibacterial properties of the other ingredients in the sanitizer helps to kill the germs in your hands. When I saw the recipe for making home made hand sanitizer in one of my books, I wanted to try it. The first time I made it, the proportion of alcohol was too high in the mixture and I had a feeling that it was drying out my skin.

The second time, I tweaked the proportion to suit my skin and I really liked the result, when I used it to sanitize my skin. In a commercially bought product, when you read the ingredient list, it is quite long with all sorts of chemicals. But all the ingredients in this home made sanitizer are pure and will not irritate the skin.

The ingredients used for this sanitizer are rubbing alcohol, Aloe Vera gel and glycerine. The alcohol in this mixture sanitizes the hands, you can also substitute unflavored vodka for rubbing alcohol, if you don’t like the smell of rubbing alcohol. Aloe Vera gel and glycerine in the sanitizer moisturizes the hands well.

I have used tea tree oil too, as it is has powerful antimicrobial properties and helps to kill the bacteria in the hands along with alcohol. Try to buy the best quality, pure Aloe Vera gel to make this sanitizer. I made it with fresh Aloe Vera gel, but the shelf life of the product made with fresh Aloe Vera gel will be very less than the one made with Aloe Vera gel that we get in the markets.

To make the sanitizer, take the Aloe Vera gel and rubbing alcohol and mix well together. Add the glycerine and tea tree essential oil and mix well till everything is combined well together. If you feel the Aloe Vera gel is not blended well, you can even use the blender to mix everything together. You can adjust the amount of alcohol, but anything less than 50 % will not be effective as a hand sanitizer. Now all you need is a cute bottle to pour and use.

Natural Homemade Hand Sanitizer Recipe

 METHOD:
1. Get the Aloe Vera gel ready. If you are using fresh leaf, wash, cut the thorns on both sides first and cut in half and scoop out the flesh.

2. Grind it well in a mixer and strain the mixture.

3. Add the measured out rubbing alcohol, glycerine and essential oil and mix well.

4. If it is not smooth, you can grind every thing together in a blender. Pour into small bottles and use.

NOTES:

• You can try your own blend of essential oils, to make your own custom blend hand sanitizer.
• Rubbing alcohol has a strong smell that many people dislike. If so, you can substitute it with unflavored vodka.
• If you are making a large batch, try it with the Aloe Vera gel that you get in the markets.
• When buying Aloe Vera gel make sure to buy one that says 100% Aloe Vera gel.
• You can even increase the alcohol content up to 60% of the recipe, if it does not dry your hands.
• Shake well before use, especially if you are using fresh Aloe Vera gel.