How To Make Natural Hand Sanitizer with Essential Oils
This page contains affiliate links. If you use them, I might be rewarded a small commission of the sale at no additional cost to you.
UPDATE 03.14.2020: The recipe I previously shared is a good all natural option to use under normal circumstances.
However, since we are currently facing the spread of Coronavirus, I decided to update the recipe to meet the CDC recommendation of using hand sanitizers that contain at least 60% alcohol. I added Aloe Gelly and Almond oil to keep your hands from drying out. I've already tested it out for a few days and can attest that it is very gentle on your hands, and won't dry them out.
HAND SANITIZING GEL
In a glass bowl combine:
3 tbsp Isopropyl Alcohol
1 tbsp Aloe vera gelly
1/2 tbsp Almond Oil
Add essential oils to Almond Oil first:
10 drops Wild Orange essential oil
8 drops Eucalyptus essential oil
2 drops Clove essential oil
OR
20 drops Protective blend
Mix well to combine. You can even use a kitchen blender. Transfer to a 2oz PET amber bottle with flip top. I also recommend shaking it before use.
I’m not sure when this obsession with hand sanitizers started, but when I became a mom 5 years ago it seemed like hand sanitizer was a diaper bag essential. I used to use them at work and sometimes while traveling or at grocery stores. Even though I used them, it was rare for me to ever use them on my son.
How many times did you just habitually apply hand sanitizer without even thinking about it? For me it became almost an unconscious habit, something that I would do just in case, not even remembering if I touched something or not. I worked with a girl once, she had a huge pump bottle of hand sanitizer on her desk, and I swear, she would apply it every 5 minutes. It was almost like an addiction.
Most hand sanitizers on the market contain ethyl alcohol as the main ingredient. Ethyl alcohol is antiseptic, it is effective at killing things that make you sick but it’s also effective at drying out your hands. In my opinion soap and water still reign supreme as the best way to ensure we don’t catch something nasty. I also love to use an all natural essential oil option for when we don’t have access to soap and water.
Sometimes we hear all natural and immediately think oh that’s nice but it’s probably less effective. While nothing can touch the killing power of alcohol, essential oils are a great and extremely effective alternative. Due to their chemical composition essential oils have antiseptic, antibacterial and antiviral properties. There’s a lot of research published to support the anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties of essential oils. Since this is a blog post and not a research paper, I will not go into details but if you’re interested Pubmed is a great place to find more information.
NATURAL HAND SANITIZING GEL
In a glass bowl combine:
3 tbsp Aloe Vera Gelly
1 tbsp Witch Hazel extract
1 tsp Almond Oil
½ tsp Vitamin E
Add essential oils:
9 drops Lavender essential oil
9 drops Lemon essential oil
2 drops Lemongrass essential oil
Mix well to combine and transfer to a 2oz PET amber bottle with flip top. This gel should be used within 3 months.
Come join me on Facebook, you know the drill! Just like and follow and you’ll get notified when I go live with more videos to help you with all your oiling adventures!
