How To Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

As you’ve probably seen all over the news, handrub formulations are either out-of-stock or super-pricey. Hopefully, you won’t make the tough choice. In this post, we share a simple way you can make your own hand rub formulation/hand sanitizer at home cheaply and easily.

The WHO recommends 70% isopropyl or higher, or 60% ethanol or higher to make your own hand sanitizer. This means, that most alcohol you might have at home won’t work.

How To Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

You can also make your own disinfectant spray using rubbing alcohol.

Ingredients To Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

Making your own hand sanitizer is easy to do and only requires a few ingredients:

  • isopropyl or  (99% alcohol volume)
  • aloe vera gel
  • an essential oil, such as tea tree oil or lavender oil, or you can use lemon juice instead

The key to making an effective, germ-busting hand sanitizer is to stick to a 2:1 proportion of alcohol to aloe vera. 

Making Your Own Hand Rub

Time needed: 30 minutes

Using isopropyl, aloe vera gel, and essential oil of your choice, here is how you make your own hand sanitizer:



For larger batches of hand sanitizer, read the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended formulation.

  1. Mix all the ingredients

    Pour all ingredients into a bowl, ideally try one that has the ability to pour.

  2. Whisk into a gel

    Mix with a spoon and then beat with a whisk to turn the sanitizer into a gel.

  3. Bottle it

    Pour the ingredients into an empty bottle for easy use, and label it “hand sanitizer.”

  4. Add Aloe Vera for touch

    The aloe vera is meant to ease the burn of the alcohol. If you have a plant at home, stripping the leaves and mashing the gel is your best bet.

  5. Add Essential Oils for the smell

    You can add essential oils, like tea tree, lavender, or whichever fragrant you want, to mask the alcohol smell. 

Here are some other uses for rubbing alcohol: