DIY homemade hand sanitiser recipe to help eliminate the spread of germs and viruses at your work office, in your home and at your children’s school.
Hand sanitiser has been the talk of the town the last few weeks, and rightly so! Personal hygiene – in particular handwashing and hand sanitising – is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of germs and viruses. As the unfolding coronavirus situation continues, people are certainly listening to this advice, which is why most supermarkets and chemists are now completely out of all store-bought hand sanitisers. I have managed to source some hand sanitiser, preorder here. Although I have a recipe up my sleeve so you can make your own…
If you have no hand sanitiser at home and are wanting to create your own, this DIY homemade hand sanitiser recipe is quick and easy! Better still, if you’re wanting to avoid the supermarkets, for your convenience you can purchase majority of these ingredients from The Organised Housewife Shop and shipped to your door.
Here are the ingredients you will need for this homemade hand sanitiser:
- Isocol or a 99% Isopropyl Alcohol
- Aloe vera gel
- Lemon essential oil – possesses antibacterial properties*
- Tea tree essential oil – possesses antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antifungal properties*
99% Isopropyl Alcohol is a little hard to find at the moment, let’s hope you may have some hiding in the back of your cupboards. I have just heard the government is trying to source as much of it as they can to ensure they have enough hand sanitiser for the hospitals and elderly. So I do hope you can find some.
Label available in our shop here.
It’s important to know not all homemade hand sanitisers are effective at eradicating viruses. Vodka and witch hazel for example, are common ingredients in many DIY hand sanitiser recipes, however, according to experts we need to use alcohol-based products with a 90% or greater ethanol content (most vodkas have only 40% which is not concentrated enough to kill viruses). In this recipe, I use a 99% Isopropyl Alcohol. Keep an eye out at the chemist for Isocol or Bunnings and Big W for Isopropyl Alcohol.
TIP: if you’re unable to find a pump or squeeze bottle in the shops, you can repurpose one from around your home. Consider using an empty hand wash bottle or a small (or a travel-sized) shampoo or body wash bottle.
If you’re making this hand sanitiser for a small squeeze bottle, use 1 tablespoon of aloe vera gel + 2 tablespoons 99% Isopropyl Alcohol + 3 drops lemon essential oil + 5 drops tea tree essential oil. Use our set of funnels to make it easier to get it all into the bottle.
YOU WILL NEED
- 1/3 part Aleo Vera Gel
- 2/3 parts 99% Isopropyl Alcohol
- 10 drops lemon essential oil
- 15 drops tea tree essential oil
Instructions
Add all ingredients into a bowl, mix.
Using a funnel, pour into pump or squeeze bottle.
LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS RECIPE! – If you’ve tried this DIY Hand Sanitiser recipe, please leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes! You can SUBSCRIBE to receive my newsletters with the latest recipes or FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for even more delicious food.
ARE YOU ON INSTAGRAM? –If you make this recipe, please share a photo, tag @theorganisedhousewife and add hashtag it #TOHRecipes – I’d love to see what you’re creating!
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RESOURCES & NOTES
* https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/
CORONAVIRUS DISCLAIMER: proper hand-washing is paramount and should never be replaced by the use of hand sanitisers. Rather hand sanitisers can be effective at reducing the spread of viruses when used in addition to proper hand-washing. This homemade hand sanitiser has not been lab-tested to determine effectiveness in the prevention of the spread of coronavirus, instead, it is a recipe that Kat uses at home with her family. A tested hand sanitiser recipe can be found via the World Health Organisation here. Always check with your health care professional before using home remedies.
26 comments
I made it a few days ago and found when mixing together with a spoon it was quite runny so I whisked with hand whisk and it thickened up. I then used the pump from an old store bought sanitiser to pump it into 30ml squeeze tubes I got from the discount stores (small enough to fit into the kids pocket).
Great advice! Thank you for sharing Katie 🙂
Great tip, thank you!
Why not ethanol instead of isopropyl ?
I haven’t used ethanol in my hand sanitisers Farah so wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending it. Very happy to hear from others that have though. Kat x
Hey Kat! Is lemon myrtle essential oil basically the same as lemon essential oil? I have never been able to find just lemon essential oil.
I haven’t used lemon myrtle Georgina (although I hear it’s a great antiseptic!), but I imagine it would still work well. If you’re looking for lemon essential oil you can pick it up here: https://bit.ly/2wwo9Zl 🙂 Kat x
Isocol is not 99% Isopropyl Alcohol, it only contains 64%
Agree… this is further diluted by the aloe Vera and essential oil mixture making it less than 60% alcohol and subsequently not suitable as hand sanitiser to kill germs. I’m soo sick of people being uninformed and subsequently using their platform to give out misleading information.
People, stop being sheep! Do your OWN research because you could be doing more bad than good!
Spot on Sarah. People assuming this is made with Isocol this recipe will result in 42% alcohol in final mix. No where near enough to do what it’s meant to. Isocol is only just strong enough when used neat.
Thank you for this feedback. If you’re concerned about the dilution of this recipe, please see the referenced link at the bottom of the blog for a hand sanitiser recipe from the World Health Organisation. If you know where a 99% Isopropyl Alcohol can be purchased from at the moment please share. I would be happy to pass this valuable information on to the community here x
I can not find alcohol ANYWHERE to make it!!! Do you know of any online stores that may have it in stock?
Thanks,
Julie
Try candlesupply.com.au I got some from there this week, they are down to 125 ml bottles though.
With the shortage of alcohol available the next best thing to use is methylated spirit which contains 95% ethanol, the chemist told me it will do the job
I was about to suggest methylated spirits too. I have been unable to find any isopropyl alcohol, so I’ve been using metho to wipe down light switches, remote controls and phones. I’m sure it would work in hand sanitiser, it just won’t smell very nice!
Thank you for these suggestions – would love to hear what success you’ve had with these ingredients. Kat x
Hi there
How much percentage of Aloe needs to be in the gel please?
Thanks in advance,
Jo xx
1/3 of the mix
is the essential oil actually essential or is it just for scent? I have the alcohol and aloe, but no oils.
These oils do have antibacterial properties, however it’s the alcohol content that’s the most important component Lynne.
I tried making this, but couldn’t it to thicken up, I stirred it first, forever, I then tried whisking it. The aloe went white and the mixture is a thin whitish colour. I don’t know what went wrong.
I started putting my ingredients together, but with 600ml of aloe vera gel and 500ml of Metho it’s so runny. If I use the recommended 2/3 alcohol and 1/3 gel it’s going to be even more watery still. When I did stir them together a small amount of ‘silly putty’ type material formed on the spoon and edges of the bowl. I’m wondering whether the is a difference between Aloe Vera Gels.
Katie made a great suggestion above. She whisked her mixture to help thicken it up. You could also add your mixture to a spray bottle and apply this way if more convenient. Hope this helps 🙂 Kat x
Mine was also runny no matter how much I stirred/whisked but I took Kats suggestion of placing it in a spray bottle which works great
Marina I am so happy that you were able to put your hand sanitiser to good use with a spray bottle 🙂
Just wondering how you make antibacterial liquid soap? I have the isopropyl and was able to buy normal liquid soap which has also been hard to get. I wanted to add the isopropyl to the hand soap to make it antibacterial but not sure of amounts to use. I have this on hand due to being organised and taking Katrinas tips. I just recently saw a uk show where they tested in a laboratory the effectiveness of bleach vs vinegar and they were the same. My mum feels better with bleach (she had huge OCD for real) but I’ve used vinegar in my washing machine for washing dog blankets (had old dogs) and this got all the urine smells out and made them clean.