Hand Sanitizer

[BarbaraB]

I saw an article on the news this morning about how to make your own hand sanitizer in case you A) can't get it, or B) don't want to pay 150.00 per bottle.

Alcohol (at least 60%) 2/3 cup
Aloe Vera Gel 1/3 cup
5 - 10 drops of an essential oil if desired

Mix the alcohol and aloe vera gel, add the oil if you wish. It should keep for a few weeks.

I got alcohol for less than a dollar a bottle and 20 oz. of aloe vera for only two dollars.

[KPH]

That's good to know. I love that it has aloe in it. Alcohol is drying.

[lourixe]

That is exactly what industrial sanitizers are: alcohol +moisturizing cream+scent.

[Hulamoon]

All those bottles we had to buy for the kids in school. If you look on Etsy there are over 6,000 listings for hand sanitizer!

[201 Treadler]

Saw a article online so may not be true but Julia Roberts uses olive oil with water in her hair, and olive oil for skin,

you may find investing in a steam cleaner more use for surface cleaning,
steam on hands not recommended!
Have noticed the Queen wears gloves when out and about, this may be a good idea to distance germs while out and about, then wash gloves and hands in antibacterial when return, all these extra journeys to washing hands is drying my skin out.

[JCY]

I never use hand sanitizer because of the drying effect of the alcohol. When I was working as a nurse at the hosp., I carried a small bottle of my own liquid soap. The soap in those hosp. wall dispensers was a killer on my skin! Good hand washing technique will go a long way towards getting rid of the germs. Avoid touching your face.

Many of our stores provide sanitizing wipes for the cart handles. I use those, but they also affect my skin. I open a plastic bag & put my hand inside it to protect my hands from the chemicals & wipe down the handles. Then I turn the bag inside out & use it to cover the wet handle. Most of those wipes take up to 5 min. to be effective. If a store doesn't provide wipes, I carry some in my purse, or I just wrap a plastic bag around the handle to protect my exposure.

[Carol336]

I saw an article on the news this morning about how to make your own hand sanitizer in case you A) can't get it, or B) don't want to pay 150.00 per bottle.

Alcohol (at least 60%) 2/3 cup
Aloe Vera Gel 1/3 cup
5 - 10 drops of an essential oil if desired

Mix the alcohol and aloe vera gel, add the oil if you wish. It should keep for a few weeks.

I got alcohol for less than a dollar a bottle and 20 oz. of aloe vera for only two dollars.

Thanks for this nfo. I only have a few tiny bottles left and of course the shelves are bare, so will definitely be making some. But I'm curious as to why it only lasts a few weeks. The stuff you buy last much longer.

[BarbaraB]

The Purell I have on my desk has other ingredients in it......maybe that's why?

[CindyHann]

Why do you think it would only last a few weeks? It might separate, but can’t you just shake it back up?

[TMP]

When Mama was in the hospital they had the hand sanitizer station outside the door to her room. It really bothered my skin. I think I used it way to often coming and going. I don't have a problem using antibacterial soaps just the foam hand sanitizer .

Walmart here was out of alcohol, but I'm going to keep the recipe you posted. (Thanks!) Costco was out of toilet tissue of all brands and they were limiting how many cases of water you could buy. I guess people are stocking up on things. Toilet tissue would be high on my list of necessities .

[Claire Hallman]

I went to the Alabaster WM yesterday and they had plenty of TP and a decent supply of bottled water. I didn't check the hand sani stuff. It was funny that instead of sani wipes for the cart handles they had paper towels, it was raining but....

[TMP]

Thank you Claire, I usually only go to the one here in Pelham. I will try Alabaster.

[SherylM]

Climbs up on soapbox

About washing hands with antibacterial soap - not necessary. Ordinary soap and water, along with proper hand washing technique (washing for 20 seconds, rinsing well...) does the job just fine.

Antibacterial soaps and other products are a contributing factor in the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria and super bugs, plus many of them don't work unless they are in contact with the surface and left wet for 10 minutes. That's how long it takes them to actually kill bacteria. I don't know anybody that wipes down a countertop for that long.

https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consum...soap-and-water

http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/20...ousehold-item/

Climbs down off soapbox

I bought a couple of bars of fancy triple milled soap that smells really good to make it more fun to wash my hands often. And I'm trying to keep my hands off my face - that one's been tough but I've had the flu twice already this year (two different strains ) and I sure don't want to get sick again!

[Caroline T.]

Good to know, (and timely too). Oddly, I have both products in my cupboard.

[auntstuff]

I'm going to keep my sanity and level blood pressure, and not worry too much about it.

[Hulamoon]

I'm not getting to worried. They just keep a cruise ship from coming over. One bad thing is that me dd is getting married in April and a lot of people were coming from Calif. Mostly aunts and uncles a few cousins that weren't on the list. This family always comes anyway. lol

[ktdid]

Hate to tell you this, but the alcohol must be 97%. Just watched this on medical news on my local station, from the medical collage.

[chelea]

Not true. Per CDC guidelines, 60% is adequate:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...treatment.html

[EnumclawGramma]

I saw this on FB and wanted to try it since you can't get a bottle of hand sanitizer anywhere here. (as well as TP, bottled water and any and all cold meds and Vitamin C type products) ANnnnnnd there's no isopropyl alcohol available anywhere! Bare shelves abound! This mass hysteria is boggling my mind.

[grammaterry]

You know, back in the "old days" women always wore little white gloves when they went out. Never ever would they shake hands. I really never thought of it as a germ protector but it probably was. Most women in the old west lived pretty isolated and of course weren't exposed to other people often so when going out with the gloves it was probably partly protection.
Now, I've had a cold for a while and hadn't had one for years so I was reading on the internet about colds and flu. One fact that interested me was that there are nearly or maybe it said more than, 200 viruses for the common cold and you can only get it once. I was trying to figure out if I've had them all. Seems like when I was a kid, I always had a cold. Just thinking...rambling...speculating.