How to Make Hand Sanitizer

It is no secret that I love all things natural and all things DIY and today’s project combines both loves, so keep reading and learn How to Make Hand Sanitizer! If you are looking for more homemade natural recipes, check out my Fizzy Homemade Toilet Cleaner recipe HERE, it’s so good! But in the meantime, you are going to love this DIY Hand Sanitizer recipe.

Hand sanitizer is everywhere. It is in bathrooms, in hospitals, in classrooms and I won’t lie, I won’t sugar coat it, just look at the ingredients, they are not good for you.

Sure it may kill germs, but the ingredients in commercially-made hand sanitizers are anything but healthy for you.

And, don’t tell me I am the only one who thinks this, but every time I use store-bought sanitizer, my hands feel gross and sticky and less clean than before. I really don’t like it one bit.

If you actually take a few minutes and research the ingredients found in most store-bought hand sanitizers you will find out some not so great things about it.

Most Store-Bought Hand Sanitizers Contain:

Triclosan
1. Has been linked to hormone disruptions and fertility issues.
2. It can combine with chlorine in our tap water to make chloroform gas.
3. The EPA classifies this gas as a probable human carcinogen.
Parabens
1. Has been linked to hormone disruption and has been shown to mimic estrogen which can encourage breast tumor growth.
Fragrance
1. Is an allergen.
2. Has been linked to organ-system toxicity.
Tocopheryl Acetate
1. Is an allergen.
2. Has been linked to cancer.
Propylene Glycol
1. This is the main ingredient in anti-freeze and is a known carcinogen.

You see, it’s just no good for you!

So today we are going to talk about how to make hand sanitizer so that you can avoid these yucky ingredients for you and for your family.

How do you make natural hand sanitizer?

You can make your own natural hand sanitizer by using simple ingredients you may already have at home like rubbing alcohol, aloe vera gel and essential oils. By making your own natural hand sanitizer you are able to control the ingredients you allow into your home and on the hands of your loved ones.

Remember that after 26 seconds of contact, whatever you put on your body can be found in measurable amounts in your cells. Yikes. So choose good things to put on and in your body.

How do you make hand sanitizer with essential oils?

It is so easy to make your own hand sanitizer with essential oils. By merely adding the essential oils of your choice to a simple base of rubbing alcohol and aloe vera gel, you can get the added benefits of essential oils to support the many systems in your body. If you want to learn all about essential oils and how they can support your body’s wellness, check out my post HERE All About Essential Oils.

For the hand sanitizer recipe I am sharing today, I have decided to use Lavender and Frankincense Essential Oils. But during the winter months, I love to alternate lavender and frankincense (which is really good for soothing your winter hands) with thieves (which is really good for helping to support your immune system.) Those are my favorite essential oils for homemade hand sanitizers.

Is rubbing alcohol safe?

According to the EWG.org website, rubbing alcohol does have a few minor concerns associated with it. However, it still gets a B rating which is much better than the ingredients that make up store-bought hand sanitizers.

Natural soap and water are always best to wash your hands, but DIY hand sanitizer is a viable backup when needed. While it is not safe to ingest rubbing alcohol, for occasional topical use, I think the benefits can outweigh the minor concerns especially when the other options are so so so much worse.

If you really do want to avoid using rubbing alcohol, use witch hazel instead!

But I always recommend that everyone does their own research so that they are comfortable with the products they use on themselves and their families.

Anytime you use essential oils, I think it is important to use only the best essential oils out there. Through my research, I have found that Young Living is the only company that I trust to use in my home and on my family because they are the only company that actually guarantees what is in the bottle of essential oil you are using. You can learn more about Essential Oils and also how to get your hands on some HERE.

Be careful using store bought essential oils. Many of them say on the label not to use them topically. That is because that bottle is not completely full of pure, good quality essential oil.

A bottle only needs to be 5% essential oil to be able to be labelled as pure. I’ve also seen essential oils in the store that say 100% natural on the front and on the back under ingredients it says “fragrance.” Fragrance is not natural.

So just do your research and be careful in what you use. That’s why I now only recommend using Young Living essential oils. (In the past, I too have used other fragrance oils because I didn’t know better. But I know better now and so I no longer use them!)

I have linked to the Premium Starter Kit in this post for purchase. That kit comes with 11 amazing essential oils (including Lavender, Frankincense and Thieves like I talked about in this post), a sample of my favorite Thieves Household Cleaner, and so much more! This is truly the best way to get started with essential oils for the best price.

(Affiliate links included for your convenience. When you make a purchase through a link on my blog, I receive a tiny commission but you never pay a penny more. Thank you for supporting my blog.)

Are you ready? This recipe is super easy and super fun!

How to Make Hand Sanitizer

Ingredients:

Directions

Mix rubbing alcohol and aloe vera gel together until well blended.
Add essential oils into the mixture and stir again until combined.
Use a funnel or a spouted bowl and pour into your small pump bottle.

If you want to avoid using rubbing alcohol, switch it out for witch hazel instead!

This recipe is great to keep in your home, I love keeping a bottle by my baby’s changing table, and give it to all your friends, neighbors and teachers! Especially the teachers!

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