How have we been coping with the social distancing? (Especially if still in quarantine). Well, I get bored of movies and working from home a times! True Story. And so I decided to experiment my own home-made sanitizer. My mom helped.

To be clear, when it comes to preventing the spread of disease-causing viruses and other germs, nothing beats good old-fashioned hand washing. But if water and soap are not available, your next best option, is to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. FYI, there are different forms of hand sanitizers. And due to the rapid spread of the new coronavirus, most retailers cannot keep up with the demand for hand sanitizer. And sometimes, adulterated ones are unknowingly stocked.

So, I researched on gel form of hand sanitizers, and found only 3 major ingredients were needed but then I added Fragrance. Here is how we mixed ours:

• 2/3 of Ethanol (90% Alcohol)
• 1/3 Aloe Vera Gel
• Essential Oil (we used tea tree)
• Fragrance (we used peppermint)

I chose Ethanol because Metholated Spirit reminds me of hospitals… And the Aloe Vera is medicinal and thickens the solution from evaporating and being harsh on the skin. I suppose this is the equivalent of the Glycerin and Hydrogen peroxide in the WHO standard recipe (which I share later) . Note that it is very important to use a rubbing alcohol that is at least 90% alcohol. To be effective, the final hand sanitizers must be at least 60% alcohol. When you dilute with aloe vera, you cut the alcohol content by 33%. The recipe we went with creates a hand sanitizer that is approximately 60% alcohol.

So, we poured in the aloe first then others. Mixing thoroughly with the spoon to ensure that the alcohol is evenly distributed throughout the mixture. 

Though we set out just to have ours in the house and for guests if at all, you could follow the World Health Organization’s standard and make yours to sell: 4 cups rubbing Alcohol 99%, ¼ cup Hydrogen peroxide 3%, 4 teaspoon Glycerol 98% and 1 cup of Sterile distilled or boiled cool water.  The ingredients and containers cost us about N11,000 (say $30) and if we were to sell, we would have made at least 70% profit margin for each of the 250ml bottle.

That’s all folks!

Should you try yours out, please come back to share. Remember to store the sanitizer in a clean and air-tight container to prevent the alcohol from evaporating with time.

PHOTO CREDIT: tiwaadetoye.com (my mom took my pictures) | unsplash.com | google images