How to make your own homemade hand sanitizer

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If you’ve read Twig and Feather for any length of time, it’s probably clear that I’m a big fan of homemade first aid, homemade health products and home remedies. So when I overheard a conversation about the lack of hand sanitizer at Costco the other day (while I was braving the crowds to grab some toilet paper from the quickly dwindling supply), I decided it was time to show you how easy it is to make your own homemade hand sanitizer.

The crowd at Costco was what you’d normally only encounter on the day before Thanksgiving. You could barely move. And as we elbowed our way through the masses, it was obvious what all those people had come for. About two pallets of toilet paper remained after we grabbed ours, but bleach, Lysol, the emergency bucket, antiseptic wipes, hand sanitizer … all gone.

I overheard a woman asking an employee where the hand sanitizer was, and that employee, along with a shopper walking by, both laughed. “That’s been gone for days,” the employee said. The shopper added, “You can’t find it anywhere.”

She was partially right … you could find it on Amazon today for a quick minute before they yanked that item and more than 1 million others for price gouging and/or false advertising. I’d say raising the price of two bottles from $35 to $114 is a yankable offense.

But if you ask me, the fact that Costco and every other store in the United States is completely out of hand sanitizer is actually a blessing in disguise. That’s because it’s so easy to make your own, and it’s so much better. Here are two recipes you can try … and I assure you, these are much easier on your hands than commercial hand sanitizers.

Want to give it a try? Here’s all you need:

Recipe #1:

• a 4-oz container of your choice (I like these a bunch)
• 1 1/2 oz Witch Hazel, rubbing alcohol, vodka, or some other grain alcohol (*See update below)
• 1 1/2 oz Hydrogen Peroxide
• 1 oz Aloe Vera Gel
• 40 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil
• 40 drops Sage Essential Oil
• 30 drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil
• 20 drops Lavender Essential Oil
• optional: up to 1 TBSP Vitamin E Oil

Recipe #2 (60% alcohol):

• an 8-oz container of your choice (these are great)
• 4 1/2 oz rubbing alcohol, vodka, or some other grain alcohol (*See update below)
• 1 oz Witch Hazel
• 1 oz Hydrogen Peroxide
• 1 oz Aloe Vera Gel
• 40 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil
• 40 drops Sage Essential Oil
• 30 drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil
• 20 drops Lavender Essential Oil
• optional: up to 1 TBSP Vitamin E Oil

Add all ingredients to your container, shake to mix, and use as you would any hand sanitizer.

If you want to divide this batch into smaller travel containers, I love these. I initially bought them for making my own essential oil perfume blends, but they are also perfect for this hand sanitizer. I carry one in my purse, one in the car, and leave one at my office. The ones I bought way-back-when (see photo at right) aren’t available anymore, but these are the same type, just with a different print.

*Update on percentage and type of alcohol

After I posted the first recipe. several people mentioned that they’d heard news reports that said in order for hand sanitizer to be effective, it has to contain at least 60% alcohol. That’s absolutely true if you’re trying to mimic commercial hand sanitizer, because in general, those products contain alcohol, water, glycerine, and fragrance. Unless you’re buying it at a store that carries a lot of organic, natural products, like the Skagit Co-op or the Sno-Isle Coop in this area, chances are you’re not going to find a single essential oil in the mix. That means all the antibacterial, antimicrobial, germ-fighting action rests solely on the shoulders of the alcohol. But if you read the information below about the four essential oils in this first recipe, you’ll see that all four of them have antibacterial, antimicrobial effectiveness. That means they work in conjunction with the alcohol to fight off bacteria, yeast, fungi and viruses.

However, in order to reassure those who are worried about this, I’ve included a second recipe above with a 60% alcohol concentration. But the controversy continues. 🙂 Recently, the media is reporting that regular alcohol isn’t effective against viruses, and this week Tito’s Vodka announced that their alcohol is only 40% ABV, or alcohol by volume, and that you shouldn’t use it to make hand sanitizer.

But not all alcohol is made equally. Vodka can run anywhere between 35% ABV and 95% ABV. The strongest, Everclear, is known as a grain alcohol or a neutral spirit, and is 92.4% ABV. Clearly (no pun :), Everclear is the best choice for hand sanitizer, although it can be difficult to find. Here in Washington, you can only get it at a tribal liquor store. (I have it on hand at all times because I use it for my herbal tinctures). Nothing beats soap and water (and a good 20 seconds of scrubbing), but even if you can’t find Everclear, I stand by my belief in the added antimicrobial strength of the essential oils I’ve added to these two recipes.

And you might be interested to hear what Dr. Axe says about Witch Hazel: “What did people use thousands of years ago before commercial chemicals existed to help heal their skin? When it comes to natural skin care, one time-honored medicinal plant is witch hazel, which American Indians relied on for fighting swelling, sores and infections. There may be no plant more beneficial to your skin, as research showcases the many advantages witch hazel provides … this multi-purpose product has many uses, including killing bacteria.” (quoted from this article)

Why use these particular essential oils in your hand sanitizer?

• Tea Tree is probably the oil most people think of when they are looking for an antibacterial oil, and for good reason. Studies have shown Tea Tree oil to be effective at fighting bacteria, fungi, yeast and viruses. It’s a superb antimicrobial oil, and one you should probably always have in your cabinet
• Sage has proven antibacterial effectiveness against E-coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, and SARS, which is an acute respiratory coronavirus!
• Eucalyptus is effective against a whole host of things, including viruses, bacteria, yeast, fungi, E coli and even gingivitis
• Lavender smells amazing, but that’s not all — it has antiviral/antimicrobial effectiveness against Herpes, E coli, Staphylococcus, and bacterial respiratory infections

You can read about these oils in this abstract in The National Institutes of Health. And for the most up-to-date info on Covid-19, you can visit CDC Website.

So what do you think? Are you up for making your own homemade hand sanitizer? If you do, I’d love to hear what you thought of it!