


Maybe you’ve run out, maybe you never grabbed any to begin with. I’ll help you make your own Homemade Hand Sanitizing Spray.
In these crazy times, resourcefulness is going to get us by. That and some DIY projects are also going to keep us busy while we are cooped up inside for the foreseeable future! I am a big fan of a hand sanitizer spray from Dr. Bronner’s. It smells great and it is super easy to use. Maybe not the hand sanitizer that you are used to because it is not a gel form, but it is just as good, and even more versitile! BUT, I am running low! As many of you may know, in the last month or so, getting your hands on hand sanitizer has been especially difficult, and rightfully so. Now, more than ever, we need to keep ourselves and our environments especially clean. When I took a glance at the back of the label of my small spray bottle, I realized how simple the mixture really is. Literally there are four ingredients!
The Hand Sanitizer spray is great because it serves the same purpose as your run of the mill gel sanitizer, but you can use it everywhere, easier! I spray it on my hands, on door handles, I regularly spray it on my cell phone, computer and everything else that I touch often! Trust me, THIS IS THE HAND SANITIZER YOU WANT!
What do you need?
This is honestly pretty basic and very very easy. You don’t need a chemistry degree to make this work, just a few measuring cups or, honestly, even just a good eye after you’ve done a few batches. I will give you guys some measurements that will make you about 16oz of spray, which goes a long long way!
-Get your hands on some small spray bottles . I found some on AMAZON , that are great because you get a few of them and they are small enough to fit in your glove box, purse, and or to stash around the house. I keep them everywhere! This recipe will fill up four of the six bottles you are going to order, but that is a good amount for you and it allows you some wiggle room for when you lose some of the bottles along the way. If you are good with math, you can just increase the following measurements by 50% to fill up all six bottles.
– You will want to mix 4 oz. water (distilled water is the safest) along with 11.5oz of rubbing alcohol ( isopropyl or ethyl). This is where you will need to channel your 15 year old self and remember the chemistry lessons in high school. The CDC ( C enters for D isease C ontrol) recommends a mix more than 60% alcohol to water ratio. Now, I am not going to lie, I eyeballed this one my first time just to create one bottle as a tester and it came out great, at least from what I can tell. But, you want between 65-75% and with the recipe I am giving you, you will be at 72% (I’m ok a math). Just realize that the more alcohol you put in, the dryer your hands will get! Remember to lotion up!
– 1 teaspoon of Glycerol or Glycerine is recommended as well. This serves as a moisturizing agent and it accounts for approximately 2% of the entire mixture. It is recommended, but I didn’t use it, mainly because I didn’t have any handy at home on my first attempt and I am waiting on my delivery of Glycerol to arrive. You can just moisturize somewhat regularly as the alcohol solution dries out your hands. This is an ok tradeoff for the bacteria fighting solution you have just created anyhow. The purell version you are used to has this mixed in to combat the dryness and at home gel recipes call for aloe vera gel to do the same thing.
– Finally, the fragrance. Honestly, this is another optional additive, BUT BUT BUT, I find the oil that I chose to be great for two reasons. I chose to add a few drops of Clove Oil. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it adds a subjectively nice scent to this otherwise alcohol scented spray. Cloves aren’t peoples favorite choice of scent, and I understand that. However, the second and lesser known function of this is that clove oil is a natural antimicrobial and antibacterial. There are other oils that have similar bacteria fighting properties like oil of oregano, eucalyptus oil, tea tree , peppermint and others . All of these are also great additives to a diffuser or humidifier you may use at home!
I could go on about the benefits of clove and other oils, but I will just defer you to the story of the Thieves of 15th century Europe who wore masks and bandanas coated in clove, rosemary, garlic and other oils to ward off the deadly plague at the time. In short, the story is remarkable and really shows the powers that these oils may hold. Their story is somewhat similar to what is happening today. Former spice traders who lost their jobs due to a fast and deadly spreading virus that overtook the continent. Their need to survive, mixed with their knowledge of the potency of essential oils lead to them basically create their own sanitizer solutions and ward off the deadly plague. They received a pardon from the king of England for sharing their recipe with him. They were still kinda bad guys in the end and this history lesson isn’t very detailed, but they were basically robbing all the dead bodies and got caught. Facing death, the King realized they were still alive after coming into contact with all the corpses, so they must know something…
Also , the World Health Organization recommends letting your concoction sit for a minimum of 72 hours after you’re done. That way your science experiment has time to kill any bacteria that might have been introduced during the mixing process.
So, this is also important to note . I am not a licensed physician, nor do I work for any organization who creates hand sanitizers. I don’t have a degree that suits me to actually create this sort of stuff from scratch. I first made an educated guess as to how to recreate the solution, eyeballed it and then went for it when I had run out the first time. Since then, I have researched several different formulas online and read up on the CDC and WHO websites regarding formulating my own hand sanitizer at home. I then did some math and created my own solution to share with you. Please don’t drink this, don’t spray it in your eyes, don’t handle any live viruses and then get sick and blame me. And, please practice safe handling of anything you come into contact with. I hope this ambiguous disclaimer keeps you and me safe!
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