With concerns about COVID-19 running high, supplies of hand sanitizer at local stores may start to run low. If they run out, is it safe to make your own, and will DIY hand sanitizer protect you against coronavirus infection?
But can homemade hand sanitizer do the job? Possibly, but you have to use the right recipe, experts say.
Handmade hand sanitizers can also curb microbe exposure — but only as long as they have the correct ratio of alcohol(60% to 95%) to other ingredients, according to CNN.
Adding an emollient such as aloe vera gel or glycerin will prevent the hand sanitizer from drying out your skin, and essential oils will give the mixture a pleasant smell, according to a recipe shared by CBS News. Based on the ratio recommended by the CDC, a homemade sanitizer made with 0.67 cups (161 milliliter) of isopropyl alcohol would use 0.33 cups (79 ml) of emollient, CBS says.
In other words: If your solution is two-thirds 91% isopropyl alcohol and one-third emollient, the alcohol content of the mixture will be 60.6% (91 times 2/3). For a higher alcohol content, you could make a solution that’s three-fourths 91% alcohol and one-fourth emollient, producing a mixture with alcohol content of 68% (91 times 3/4).
A handmade hand sanitizer recipe from the World Health Organization (WHO) — for local production in large quantities in parts of the world where clean water and commercial sanitizer are scarce or unavailable — describes a solution with much higher alcohol content. That mixture is made of 35 cups (8,333 ml) of 96% ethanol, 0.6 cups (145 ml) of 98% glycerol and 1.7 cups (417 ml) of 3% hydrogen peroxide, which is added to reduce bacterial contamination of the sanitizer “and is not an active substance for hand antisepsis,” the WHO says.
Stored securely in a closed bottle, a homemade hand sanitizer could last for weeks, CBS reported.
Soap up
In general, hand washing is more effective for disease prevention than hand sanitizer because soap removes some microbes that alcohol-based products don’t, such as norovirus, Clostridium difficile, which can cause life-threatening diarrhea, and Cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes a diarrheal disease called cryptosporidiosis, the CDC says. Soap also removes traces of pesticides and heavy metals that hand sanitizers can leave behind.
Even if hand washing is the better method for avoiding germs, hand sanitizers remain popular because of their convenience, said Dr. William Schaffner, a medical doctor and a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Sanitizer should be applied to all hand surfaces and rubbed for about 20 seconds, until it is dry. Hand washing should follow five steps: Wetting the hands; lathering soap (covering the backs of your hands, under the nails and between fingers); scrubbing all surfaces for 20 seconds; rinsing with clean water; and drying with a clean towel.
“After you use hand hygiene, avoid people who are coughing and sneezing,” Schaffner said. “If a sneeze or a cough suddenly comes upon you and a tissue is not available, bend down and sneeze or cough into the crook of your elbow. An additional thing to do is to avoid shaking hands — use the elbow bump.”
“In the meantime, use the sink,” he added.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Life Science