DIY Hand Sanitiser – How to Make Hand Sanitiser Based on WHO Recommended Hand Rub Formula

With the recent COVID-19 (coronavirus) scare, many of us are running to the local store to stock up on hand sanitisers. This has caused the cost of the sanitisers to skyrocket and many local stores have run out of them. Don’t worry if you can not find hand sanitisers at your local stores as it is easy to make them at home. With just three ingredients, you can prepare hand rub formulations that meet WHO Guidelines.

How to Make Hand Sanitiser

Let’s first see the basic components of an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

Alcohol

The major component of alcohol based formulation is, of course, alcohol. For this, the most commonly used is either 96% Ethanol or 99.8% Isopropyl alcohol. Of these, the easily available one is Isopropyl alcohol, otherwise known as Rubbing Alcohol. Please don’t use other types of alcohol (Methanol, Butanol, or others) since they are toxic.

Humectant/Emollient

Humectants are moisturizers that will help to prevent the drying of the skin. For WHO formulation, WHO recommends one that is miscible in water and alcohol, is non-toxic, or a hypoallergenic.  A popular humectant that meets all these requirements is 98% Glycerol. You can also use other humectants such as Aloe Vera Gel.

Disinfectant

An effective disinfectant is added to this formulation to eliminate contaminating spores. An efficient choice is Hydrogen Peroxide. Its also a mild antiseptic as well as an oxidiser. Please keep in mind that the concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide should not exceed the recommended amount.

Hand Sanitiser Using WHO-Recommended Handrub Formulations

The following recipe is based on the guidelines for local production of WHO-recommended hand rub formulations.

To make 1 L (1000 ml) Isopropyl alcohol-based hand sanitizer, you will need:

To make 1 L (1000 ml) Ethanol-based hand sanitizer, you will need:

Steps:

  1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl thoroughly using a spoon or pour all ingredients into a glass or plastic bottle and mix by gently shaking the bottle.
  2. Close the bottle.
  3. Keep the bottles closed for 72 hours before use. This allows time for Hydrogen Peroxide to destroy any spores present in the alcohol or the bottles used.

If you are making large quantities at one go, store in smaller containers of around 100 ml, so that the alcohol does not evaporate much with each time you use.

Where to buy ingredients?

You may find Hydrogen Peroxide and Glycerol (glycerine) at Dollarama, Shoppers Drug Mart and other supermarkets or you can buy all of the required ingredients at Amazon.ca. Some rubbing alcohols are made with Ethanol.

Some things to keep in mind:

How to Use Hand Sanitiser

It’s important to mention that hand sanitisers are not the best method to prevent infection especially when your hands are dirty. The most effective method is to wash your hands thoroughly with soap for at least 20 seconds.  To use hand sanitiser for the purpose of disinfecting from germs,  rub hand sanitiser (just like how you wash your hands ) over all the surfaces of your hands and fingers until your hands are dry. This should take around 20 seconds.

Steps:

  1. Apply a palmful of the product in a cupped hand.
  2. Cover all surfaces of your hand
  3. Rub hands palm to palm
  4. Right palm over left dorsum with interlaced fingers and vice versa
  5. Palm to palm with fingers interlaced
  6. Backs of fingers to opposing palms with fingers interlocked
  7. Rotational rubbing of left thumb clasped in right palm and vice versa
  8. Rotational rubbing, backwards and forwards with clasped fingers of right hand in left palm and vice versa
  9. Once dry, your hands are safe
  10. The whole process should take 20 to 30 seconds


If you are buying hand sanitiser for the sake of protection from coronavirus disease, make sure that it contains at least 60% alcohol. Many hand sanitisers available in the shops are alcohol-free with ingredientslike benzalkonium chloride.
For all health questions and information regarding Coronavirus, visit Public Health Canada.

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