Hand sanitizer can help to not only keep your hands clean but also protect against some disease-causing microbes that may be laying in wait on your hands to make contact with your food or face to spread throughout your body. Keep in mind that hand sanitizer is not the first strategy in preventing infection, according to the CDC frequent and thorough handwashing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds is the best method for reducing hand germs and curbing disease transmission.
But hand sanitizer is an alternative when soap and water are not available.
With a shortage of hand sanitizers, many have turned to DIY options. While it can be done at home with the right products, but IF it’s done incorrectly it can lead to severe skin irritation, including skin burning.
Here are a few things you need to know:
1. Never buy an at-home-made hand sanitizer from someone who wants to capitalize on the shortage and is trying to make a quick buck.
2. Although you might’ve perfected your DIY hand sanitizer recipe, you should never sell the product you’ve created to anyone.
3. If hand sanitizers have the correct ratio of alcohol to other ingredients they can also curb microbe exposure. But they can also dry out hands so adding an emollient such as aloe vera gel or glycerin to the mixture can help to prevent your skin from drying out while providing a pleasant smell.
The CDC reports, if DIY hand sanitizer is stored in a close bottle it could last for weeks.
Hand Sanitizer DIY as per Center for CDC instructions:
The ratio recommended by the CDC is made with 161 milliliters of isopropyl alcohol and 79 ml of emollient. If your solution is made up of two thirds 91%
isopropyl alcohol and one-third emollient the alcohol content of that mixture would be 60.6% (that’s 91 x ⅔ ). To make the alcohol content
higher that’s made from a ratio of three fourths 91% isopropyl alcohol and
one-fourth emollient would make a mixture that has an alcohol content of
68%.
Hand Sanitizer DIY as per World Health Organization (WHO) instructions:
The World Health Organization has a recipe for DIY hand sanitizer
production for parts of the world where clean water and commercial
sanitizers are hard to come by and even unavailable, their solution has an
even higher alcohol content. This mixture is made from 35 cups of 96%
ethanol, 145ml of 98% glycerol, and 417ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide which
is added to help reduce bacterial contamination of the hand sanitizer
and “is not an active substance for hand antisepsis,” the WHO says.
Disclaimer: New Age Spa Institute is an educational and learning facility.
Our number one priority is to share knowledge with students and the community. The material listed in this newsletter is shared for informational purposes only and is based on the advice listed on CDC’s and WHO’s website. Not following their strict recommendations when creating DIY
hand sanitizer can create an adverse reaction on your skin.