How to make sanitiser at home

People out on the streets was a rare sight during the Covid-19 lockdown earlier this year. In fact, when the 1st lockdown was implemented in India, a survey from Statista said that 50% of the residents were not able to buy any name-brand sanitiser and 26% of the total survey respondents ended up buying non-branded sanitisers. This was partially due to the panic-buying that commenced after the lockdown was announced and also because of production not being able to keep up with the roaring demand. An effective sanitiser, and a mask if your first line of defence against the coronavirus outbreak. Next comes a comprehensive health insurance plan, or a specific plan like Corona Kavach family floater plan which will help you secure your savings against the ongoing pandemic.

Hence, if there is one thing we learned from this, it's that we should know how to take our health in our own hands. Did you know that you can make your own hand sanitiser at home in just four simple steps?

How to make a W.H.O Approved Hand Sanitiser?

Here are the ingredients & their respective quantities needed to make 1 Litre of WHO approved hand sanitizer -

Follow the below steps to make hand sanitiser-

Step 1

Take a large, closed-lid container and pour the alcohol(Ethanol/Isopropyl alcohol) and hydrogen peroxide in it using a proper measuring cylinder.

Step 2

Now, measure the glycerol and add it to the above mixture. Because of the viscosity of glycerol, it tends to stick to the walls of the measuring cylinder. Hence, the cylinder should be rinsed with distilled water, and the same should be done to the container.

Step 3

Then top the container with 1 litre of cold, boiled or sterile distilled water. Use a clean spoon or whisk to mix the ingredients together thoroughly and close the lid tight immediately to avoid any evaporation of the mixture. The same can be achieved by closing the lid and shaking the container thoroughly.

Step 4- Pour the mixture into smaller, un-used spray bottles or a big 1-litre spray bottle that you want to use. Post this, the final spray bottles need to be kept in quarantine for 72 hours before you start using them. This allows any germs present in either the ingredients or new spray bottles to be destroyed.

And your homemade hand sanitiser is ready-to-use!

Reasons for making you own sanitiser at home

1.            Not having to buy sub-standard sanitiser with risky formulations

2.            Not having to spend a lot of money to buy a small quantity

3.            Use of simple and readily available ingredients

4.            Ability to control the mixture, say decrease the alcohol content a bit if you have sensitive skin

Lastly, remember that you need to take following precautions regarding this sanitiser as well –

1.      Keep out of reach of children.

2.      For external use only.

3.      Use a small portion on the back of your hand, to check for any allergies.

4.      It is highly flammable, hence should be kept away from heat or flame.

Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK144054/