Can You Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer?

Amid coronavirus fears, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reiterated that one of the best ways to fight germs is to wash your hands with soap and water. In theory, this is a great idea, but it’s not always convenient to get to a sink after you’ve touched a germy surface. They don’t have sinks on the Metro.

The next best alternative is to use a hand sanitizer, but lately it is impossible to find in stores thanks to hoarders. So, what’s a person to do?

You’ve probably seen posts on social media about how you can make your own hand sanitizer from alcohol and aloe vera gel. Good Housekeeping even ran an article about how you can use vodka as one of the ingredients, but it has since pulled it after the makers of Tito’s Vodka refuted this claim. (According to the CDC, a hand sanitizer must contain at least 60% alcohol to be effective, and most vodkas have 40% alcohol content.)

Since I’m always looking out for my readers, I decided that I would share with you all a tutorial about the correct way to make your own hand sanitizer. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.

For your reference, here is the recipe you’ll find online:

2/3 cup rubbing alcohol
1/3 cup aloe vera gel
Drops of essential oil (optional)

Mix well and pour into bottles

Problem No. 1: Finding rubbing alcohol

To make hand sanitizer, you need isopropyl alcohol that is at least 91% alcohol. That way, when it’s diluted with the aloe vera gel, the total alcohol content will still be above 60%. But just as hand sanitizer has disappeared off the shelves, so has rubbing alcohol. I searched two Walgreens, one Rite Aid, one CVS, one Ralphs and a Target and could not find it. I almost resorted to looking for 190 proof Everclear Grain Alcohol, which has an alcohol content of more than 90%. Finally, I checked a third Walgreens and found a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. Yea! Now I just needed some aloe vera gel.

Problem No. 2: Finding aloe vera gel

Well, I couldn’t find any aloe vera gel, either. In fact, at the CVS I visited, the cashier said they were out of aloe vera, but they did have one bottle of actual hand sanitizer. I decided to check supplies online first before heading out to more stores, and I found out that the Target on La Cienega had some in stock. So I hopped on the Metro immediately and went to that store but, alas, the aloe vera shelf was cleaned out. I thought maybe a health store would have aloe vera, and lo and behold, I did find some at my local Whole Foods. Excellent, I thought. Now I was ready to make this germ-fighting concoction.

Problem No. 3: Mixing the two ingredients

In a mixing bowl, I measured the correct amounts of alcohol and aloe vera gel. And then I stirred. And stirred. And stirred. But the two ingredients did not combine. They separated so that there was alcohol on top and a gloppy mess of aloe vera on the bottom. There was no way this was going to work as hand sanitizer. Perhaps the aloe vera gel I found was too thick and needed to be more watery to blend in with the alcohol. But I was not in the mood to run all over town looking for more brands of aloe vera gel to test their compatibility with alcohol.

After my DIY hand sanitizer fail, I guess I’ll have to find a sink to wash my hands whenever I can. Now if only I can figure out how to make my own toilet paper.

Jonathan Fong is the author of “Flowers That Wow” and “Parties That Wow,” and host of “Style With a Smile” on YouTube. You can see more of his do-it-yourself projects online.