Homemade Hand Sanitizer (based on WHO recipe)

Like it seems everyone else, I can’t find hand sanitizer anywhere. I went online and found a really great recipe for homemade hand sanitizer at the World Health Organization (WHO). It makes 10 liters. https://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/Guide_to_Local_Production.pdf

I don’t need that much.

Also it calls for 99.9% isopropyl alcohol. Good luck finding that.

So I worked out the math for myself, and used 70% isopropyl alcohol, which I had in the house already (and it is easier to find).

Here are a couple of different versions of a recipe for homemade hand sanitizer (based on WHO recipe) but in much smaller proportions. This makes 100 ml or 3.3 ounces (a little under 1/2 cup).

With 99% isopropyl alcohol (this comes out to 75% alcohol):

• 75 ml (5 Tablespoons) 99% isopropyl alcohol
• 4 ml (1 teaspoon) 3% hydrogen pyroxide
• 2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) glycerol or 100% aloe vera gel
• 19 ml (1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon) distilled or cold boiled water
• 2-4 drops of your favorite essential oil (optional)

With 70% isopropyl alcohol (this comes out to 66% alcohol):

• 94 ml (6 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) 70% isopropyl alcholo
• 4 ml (1 teaspoon) 3% hydrogen pyroxide
• 2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) glycerol or 100% aloe vera gel
• 2-4 drops of your favorite essential oil (optional)

I put this in a 6 oz bottle with a cap so I could shake it well to mix in the aloe vera gel. I used 2 drops lemongrass essential oil for a nice clean scent. Then filled a 2 oz spray bottle to take in my purse.

The WHO recommends letting it sit 72 hours to kill any bugs that might have already been in your measuring devices or bottles.

The aloe vera gel left this feeling nice on my hands without being sticky. The alcohol quickly evaporated and the lemongrass oil left a very light lemony scent on my skin.