How to Make Homemade Sanitizers for Your Hands and Home

When you want to kill germs and bacteria around your house and on your hands, why would you use a store-bought product that just contains toxins or other harmful ingredients? It kind of defeats the purpose, replacing one evil with another. You can create your own eco-friendly and safe alternatives at home. Here are some DIY home and hand sanitizers that are effective, as well as easy and inexpensive to make at home.

Alcohol-Free Home Sanitizing Wipes

Rather than buy a tub of sanitizing wipes at the store, you can make your own that are all-natural and much safer for the environment and your home. First you’ll need to create the sanitizing liquid in a large bowl. The ingredients you’ll need to combine first are: one-fourth cup water, one-fourth cup pure Aloe Vera gel, one-fourth cup witch hazel, and one tablespoon apple cider vinegar. It is optional, but you can also add one tablespoon of vegetable glycerin to lessen dry skin from using the wipes.

Finally, you’ll add essential oils, which are the true germ and bacteria killers. All essential oils have sanitizing properties, so you can choose your favorites. The best and most common choices are tea tree oil, peppermint oil, mint, thyme, cinnamon, and lavender. You can experiment to create a mixture that smells best to you. The most common combination is tea tree and peppermint. Add ten drops of each to the mixture. Then, put a thick stack of paper towels into the bowl. When they’re wet (do not leave them in for a long time), put them into an empty baby wipes container for easy access and storage.

Alcohol-Free Hand Sanitizing Gel

It’s very easy to create your own hand sanitizing gel. All you need to do is mix one cup on pure Aloe Vera gel, one to two teaspoons of witch hazel, and one-fourth teaspoon of tea tree oil. Since tea tree oil has a very strong scent, if you find it unpleasant you can add a couple drops of another essential oil that you like, such as lavender, rosemary, lemon, rose, or basil. When you’re finished, you can use a funnel to put the mixture into whatever storage container you like, such as a small pump bottle. Shake the bottle to make sure everything is mixed well together. When used often, this gel can be drying to your hands. Be cautious if you have sensitive skin, and use lotion to keep skin hydrated.

All-Purpose Home Sanitizing Sprays

There are many different recipes for all-purpose home sanitizing sprays. Some use essential oils, and others use natural products like vinegar. One very simple way to create a sanitizing solution is to combine equal parts of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. It’s a very effective germ and bacteria killer. Another spray that uses vinegar requires one-fourth to one-half cup of white or apple cider vinegar for every cup of water. You can also add a few drops of a pleasant-smelling essential oil. Just combine in a spray bottle, and you’re all set to disinfect.

This article was written by an awesome guest poster of Home Jobs by MOM. Jerome Tonge is a chemical expert and writer who loves to blog about everything from basic poison control tips to the benefits of safety data sheets.

Photo Credit: Chica and Jo

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