THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED….It’s no surprise the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is on everyone’s mind. The uncertainty surrounding the virus and its potential impact is enough to make anyone uneasy. If you have been to the grocery store in recent weeks, you probably noticed the bare shelves that once held household cleaning supplies, hand soap, and hand sanitizer.

According to the CDC, the best way to avoid spreading the virus is frequent hand washing, and avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. If you don’t have access to soap and water, a hand sanitizer containing at least 70% alcohol is a great alternative. As we mentioned, hand sanitizer has fast become difficult to find, so we came up with our own recipe.

The high alcohol content of hand sanitizer is necessary to kill bacteria, but the smell can be overwhelming. We suggest using combinations of essential oils that will give you a much more pleasant aroma.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), clove, tea tree, eucalyptus, and thyme essential oils offer the greatest antimicrobial properties.  Use them for an extra virus-fighting punch.  Read the NIH report on Antimicrobial Plant Essential Oils here:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5206475/

Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

What You’ll Need:

1 cup 91% Isopropyl alcohol*

1/4 cup clear 100% aloe vera gel or vegetable glycerine**

14 drops of essential oil  (We used a relaxing blend of Peppermint (7 drops) , Lavender (2 drops), and Rosemary (2 drops).

Non-porous mixing bowl and utensils

Dispenser containers (Make sure the container you use has a tight fitting lid. The sanitizer is a bit thinner than what you would buy at a store.)
**Note – hand sanitizer made with vegetable glycerine will be very thin.   We recommend using a spray bottle for dispensing.

Funnel (optional, but handy for filling bottles)