Homemade Hand-Sanitizer + FREE Printable Labels | Caitlin De Lay Caitlin De Lay Blog

Hand-sanitizer has become a precious commodity in the last few months. Who would have thought?! Since I haven’t been able to find any in the store, I thought I’d make some of my own homemade hand-sanitizer using simple ingredients I already had laying around my house!

This homemade hand-sanitizer recipe is effective and super easy to make. Also, it doesn’t have all the added chemicals and fragrances the store-bought products do!

Disclaimer: This hand-sanitizer is a concentration of 60% alcohol, according to the CDC recommendations. This hand-sanitizer has not been tested in a lab and has not been proven to kill COVID-19 virus. This hand-sanitizer is not intended to replace hand washing. As always consult your healthcare provider if you have concerns about using this product.

hand hygiene

Of course, the best form of hand hygiene is washing your hands with soap and water! This hand-sanitizer is not intended to take the place of hand washing, but it is a great alternative when you don’t have access to soap and water. It’s perfect to keep in your purse, diaper bag, or car for a quick clean!

The CDC has a great article about When & How to Use Hand Sanitizer on their website.

This post contains affiliate links.

what you need

isopropyl alcohol 91% or higher

According to the CDC hand-santizer needs to have alcohol concentration of 60-95% to be the most effective. Anything less than this or non-alcohol based is not effective in killing germs. I will be using 91% alcohol because that’s all I had at home. Once this is mixed with the other ingredients, it will have a concentration of 60% alcohol. You can use a lower or higher percentage of alcohol, but just know you will need to adjust the recipe so it’s still 60% total concentration. (Vodka and other such forms of alcohol do not have a high enough alcohol content to be effective after mixing.)

aloe vera gel

Aloe is the thickening agent in this recipe. It is a natural moisturizer and counteracts the drying effect of the alcohol.

vitmain E (optional)

Vitamin E oil has a lot of benefits, but I am using in this recipe as an additional moisturizer.

essential oils

This is a great way to add a nontoxic fragrance to your hand-sanitizer! At first, the hand-sanitizer smells pretty strongly of alcohol. Once it is rubbed in, the essential oil scent stands out.

Some essential oils are said to have anti-bacterial/anti-viral properties; however, their anti-bacterial/anti-viral effect is not significant enough to rely on for killing germs! I used lavender and grapefruit in mine!

amber bottles (optional)

You can use anything you have handy, but I got these 2 oz glass amber bottles from Amazon, and they are so cute! They came in a 12 pack with spraying tops. For this recipe, the sprayer works better than a pump, because the hand-sanitizer is more of a liquid concentration.

2×2 square labels (optional)

The cheapest I have found these is from Amazon. They come in white and brown. Click here for the link.

how to make homemade hand-sanitizer

ingrediants

2/3 CUP ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL 91%
1/3 CUP ALOE VERA GEL
1 TSP VITAMIN E (OPTIONAL)
10-15 DROPS ESSENTIAL OILS
AVERY LABELS – 22816 (OPTIONAL)
2 OZ BOTTLES

instructions

Stir ingredients together until well blended.
Pour hand-sanitizer evenly into 2 oz bottles.
Yields about 6 ounces.
Download labels. Print on the Avery 2×2 labels. Place on the bottle. (If you don’t have the proper stickers you can still print the downloaded file and use packing tape to attach to the bottle.)