Learn how to make a DIY hand sanitizer spray recipe for your hands or some surfaces. If you can't find sanitizer in stores, this is a great alternative when you can't use soap and water to wash your hands.

Old-fashioned soap and water hand washing is the best way to get your hands clean and stop the spread of germs. But sometimes you just can't get to soap and water to wash your hands. For those times, use a DIY hand sanitizer spray recipe.

I keep sanitizer in my car to use while I'm out. I like the spray because it's easier to use and I can pretend that I can cover the kids' hands completely and feel a little better about life.

Store bought sanitizer is fairly cheap and usually readily available, but now there's a big shortage. The CDC has released information for you to make your own DIY hand sanitizer spray recipe at home.

It's important to follow the recipe exactly. If you don't use enough alcohol, it won't be as effective as it could be. That could give you a false sense of security.

DIY Hand Sanitizer Spray Recipe

Whether you are making a gel hand sanitizer at home easy recipe or this DIY hand sanitizer spray recipe, you will need to use at least 60 percent alcohol.

According to the CDC, washing with soap and water reduces the most types of germs on your hands. Hand sanitizer should only be used when soap and water aren't available. Furthermore, hand sanitizer isn't as effective when hands are dirty or greasy.

If you are doing work where you hands get visibly dirty, it's best to wash your hands and not trust any type of alcohol-based sanitizer.

How to Use Hand Sanitizer

The CDC recommends that you apply sanitizer to hands that are free from visible dirt or any grease or oil and rub it all over the surface of your hands until your hands are dry.

This helps ensure that the sanitizer covers all of your hands, which helps reduce germs.

It can take up to 60 seconds for this DIY hand sanitizer spray recipe to kill germs. For maximum effectiveness,

Type of Alcohol

I normally use rubbing alcohol, but I will use a high proof vodka, too. I keep vodka for making my vanilla extract recipe and for making some cleaning recipes.

Rubbing alcohol tends to dry out my skin where vodka does not. Rubbing alcohol can also trigger eczema and cause a rash or redness in some people. I have eczema on my hand, but a rubbing alcohol sanitizer doesn't bother me unless I use it several times a day.

The vapors can also cause headaches and nausea. If you are using this DIY hand sanitizer spray recipe often, it can cause some side effects.

Rubbing alcohol can be absorbed through the skin. This can lead to cardiac and neurological deficits. If you are using this for kids, be aware that using it often may cause some to be absorbed through their skin.

For that reason, this recipe will say both rubbing alcohol and vodka. Some people may not want vodka in the home, and I respect that.

Alcohol Percentages

Both rubbing alcohol and vodka come in different alcohol percentages. You can use any percent in your recipe, but your final product needs to be 60 percent alcohol to be effective.

The math for this is kind of tricky. You will need to weigh your ingredients and then calculate the percentage of alcohol that you used for the total formula. Then multiply that percent by the percent of alcohol.

One ounce of aloe vera gel by volume weighs less than one ounce by weight. Again, this further complicates things.

What I have done is calculated that this DIY hand sanitizer spray recipe has 75 percent alcohol. If you multiply that by 99 percent rubbing alcohol, that means the final recipe is about 74 percent alcohol, which is within the safety guidelines.

However, if you use a 70 percent alcohol, the final product would be around 53 percent alcohol, which isn't not high enough.

Since I don't know the weights of all brands of aloe, I can not calculate how much 70 percent rubbing alcohol you would.

To be safe, I am recommending that you use either a 91 to 99 percent rubbing alcohol or a 190 proof alcohol like Everclear.

If you do use a different percent alcohol, either rubbing alcohol or vodka, you may need to adjust your recipe.

Aloe Vera

I use aloe vera in my DIY hand sanitizer spray recipe. No matter which type of alcohol you use, it will dry out your skin. Aloe is a natural moisturizer, so it prevents your skin from getting dry.

I like this brand of aloe vera gel. It's not as thick as other brands, so it works better for a DIY hand sanitizer spray recipe.

It's 99.75 percent natural. It does contain 0.25 percent Xanthan, a plant-based thickener., a preservative, and a pH stabilizer.

I was out of that brand, so I used a green one from the store.

Argan Oil

Although the aloe vera gel does a great job at moisturizing the skin, I wanted more for my skin because my hands are so dry. I added 1 teaspoon of argan oil.

Adding argan oil is optional. You can also substitute it for another carrier oil. Learn more about the different types of carrier oils and their benefits to choose the right one for you.

Essential Oils

Essential oils are a great way to add a natural scent. Some essential oils have been proven to kill germs, but they have to be used in a high concentration.

The CDC does not recommend using essential oils to protect yourself from bacteria or virus in a hand sanitizer, so they are considered to be used for scent only.

That said, if you want to make a Thieves oil hand sanitizer, here's how to make Thieves oil at home to use.

Simply Earth also has a Defender Blend that is similar to Thieves oil. Plant Therapy has a Germ Fighter blend, and Germ Destroyer is their kid safe blend.

If you want to use a fun scent, I recommend one of these essential oils or blends:

Lavender (kid safe 2+)
Sweet Orange (kid safe 2+)
Lime (kid safe 10+)
Happy Joy Blend (kid safe 10+
Peace and Quiet (kid safe 10+)
Tranquility (kid safe 10+)
Lemon (kid safe 2+)

I used a blend of 6 lavender and 4 lemon for my DIY hand sanitizer spray recipe.

Labels

It's so important to label all of your DIY recipes. I was guilty about not doing this, so I bought some blank labels so it's easy to grab one and write on it.

I did make labels for this spray sanitizer since we have several bottles being used right now. You can download a full sheet or a single label.

You can either print them on sticker paper, which is what I do, or you can print on regular paper and use packaging tape to keep it on the bottle. The packaging tape prevents it from smearing, so you can also cover a sticker if you want to protect it from water and oils.

Click here for a full sheet of labels.

Click here for a single label.