It may be hard to come by hand sanitizer these days. Like what were people doing beforehand I wonder. You now have to make your own homemade hand sanitizer with essential oils because who knew you had to stock up. Plus this is a great activity to do with the kids.
The main ingredient that you must have is alcohol. All hand sanitizers have alcohol no matter if it is handmade or a commercial brand. Rubbing alcohol is a household item and what you be using for for your homemade hand sanitizer.
Now you probably have 70% concentration of isopropyl alcohol, which you can use, but 99% concentration of isopropyl alcohol is what is highly recommended. But we will give you the recipe for more both concentrations so you have the right recipe per CDC recommendations so that it is effective.
You can also use ethanol but I am not sure you have then laying around the house. And all other types of alcohol will not work.
Can you put essential oils in hand sanitizer?
Adding essential oil to hand sanitizer are not necessary but they do other a way to have a lovely scent. If you don’t like the smell of hand sanitizer you add essential oils like lemon or lavender. Clove and tea tree oil (one of my favorite) are great essential oil that have antimicrobial properties.
Homemade hand sanitizer Ingredients
- isopropyl or rubbing alcohol
- aloe vera gel ( protect hands against the drying out)
- an essential oil (optional) such as tea tree oil or lavender oil
- bowl
- funnel
- bottle for final product
To make this hand sanitizer you need to to stick to a 2:1 proportion of alcohol to aloe vera.
With a 91% isopropyl alcohol the recipe you need is two parts alcohol to one part aloe vera. Add 8 to 10 drops of essential oils.
With 99% alcohol the recipe you need could do three parts alcohol to two parts aloe vera. Add 8 to 10 drops of essential oils.
With 70% alcohol the recipe you need would be nine parts alcohol to one part aloe vera to be an effective sanitizer. Add 10 to 15 drops of essential oils.
Now, if you are not interested in making hand sanitizer right now then we know where you can buy some right now (and you can make this later)!
Where to buy hand sanitizer
Thankful for brands like Klean+ who offer sanitizers to protect you and your family! As you know many online stores (such as Amazon) and local stores, do not have or quickly run out of their stock of hand sanitizer. And if you do find any it is no more than just a few bottles to stock up on.
Well Klean+ is going above and below and offering bulk amounts of hand sanitizer.
Klean+ is a premium natural antiseptic hand sanitizer that is certified with 100% pure therapy essential oils & 67% food grade ethanol and is 99.9% effective at fighting most common germs including COVID-19. It’s FDA OTC Approved – FDA Code: 74025 (You can view their FDA approved hand sanitizer by searching for registration number – NDC: 74025 in the FDA database.)
Right now you can get free shipping on orders over $49.
Well all this being said, a sanitizer is great when you do not have water and soap readily available. If your hands are visibly soiled, water and soap is best.
Be safe and stay healthy.
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It’s good to know that the essential oils aren’t really necessary, they just help with the smell. My spouse and I want to get a lot of sanitizer around our home this weekend. We are going to have guests in the house so we want to make sure everyone is happy and healthy.
You mention a specific amount of essential oils, but not isopropyl alcohol or aloe vera. So, how much of those ingredients do you need if you add 8-10 drops of essential oil?
It depends on what kind of alcohol you are using. For example, with a 91% isopropyl alcohol the recipe you need is two parts alcohol to one part aloe vera. So, if you use 2 ounces of the this alcohol, you will need 1 ounce of aloe vera. For 4 ounces of alcohol, then you would use 2 ounces of aloe vera and so on.
Christopher Sweitzer,
Unfortunately there is no easy answer to your question because the amount of alcohol & aloe vera gel used will differ based upon how much a person makes and the author gave ratios versus volume measure. I do have a solutiin for you though. I’m guessing that the author is making about 8 ounces with this formula. Since essential oils will not significantly change the formula and are not even necessary to the formula, add the 8-10 drops and decide if you like the scent by trying out a drop on the back of your hand or forearm. Smooth it in until dry and check the scent. If you’d prefer a stronger scent, add more essential oil at about 5 drops per addition until you land on a scent you like. Make a note of the total number of drops used for tge next time you make hand sanitizer.
Hey, Eghe! I have the same question, and am not sure you quite understood what the person was asking? A small example would be helpful. So for instance, if I combine 2oz of 91% alcohol to 1oz of aloe vera, that makes 3oz of sanitizer. How many drops of essential oils would you recommend for 3oz of sanitizer? Another reader suggests you may be applying the “8-10 drop” suggestion to an 8oz batch (5.2oz of 91% alcohol to 2.6oz aloe vera) – but that’s just that reader’s assumption. Would you please clarify? Thank you : )
I apologize for my misunderstanding. For 9-12 ounces, I would recommend 8-10 drops. Start with the least amount of drops (8) and increase up to 10 per your preference.
When using 70% alcohol with the 10 to 15 drops, I would recommend at 10 ounces. Please let me know if this helps.