DIY Hand Sanitizer with Essential Oils

The main ingredient in hand sanitizer is paranoia.  

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I am making a bold statement here that I'm sure won't surprise anyone:  I’m not a fan of hand sanitizer.  

I know that many people carry it around with them and even reflexively use it throughout the day.  Schools include it on the list of required supplies but it just seems like a bad idea to me. 

I used to use it.  In fact, when I managed a nursing unit in a hospital, I had hand sanitizer stations installed in the patient rooms, hallways, nursing station and break room.  I knew that when I used it, my hands didn't react well – dry, cracked skin and then it would sting like fire but wasn't that a sign that it was killing all the nasty germs? 

And then one of the containers leaked on the floor.  That hand sanitizer dissolved the finish on the laminate floor covering….no wonder my hands were hurting so much! 

Hand washing is the preferred method for decreasing exposure to pathogens but sometimes it just is not available as quickly as you might want.  The commercially available hand sanitizers are not the answer at least for me. 

There are studies that show that those sanitizers do kill germs – bad ones and good ones too.  Those same studies suggest that alcohol based hand sanitizers allow more severe forms of germs to grow on your hands and those germs are more disease causing and antibiotic resistant. 

There are many essential oils that have antibacterial properties and could be used in homemade versions.  Some of those oils are:  

Cinnamon       Clove      Eucalyptus     Lemon      Lime    Melaleuca (Tea Tree)

Oregano     Peppermint     Thyme     Rosemary   Lavender

My favorite to use is a blend available from Young Living Essential Oils called Thieves. Thieves is a blend of therapeutic grade essential oils and includes clove, lemon, cinnamon bark, eucalyptus and rosemary. I encourage you to consider which oils you like best and to create your own blend to use in your own version of hand sanitizer.  Here are two versions I like: 

Thieves Hand Sanitizer with Aloe Vera Gel

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons aloe vera gel

1 teaspoon distilled water

Contents of 2 vitamin E oil gel capsules (poke with a pin and squeeze out the oil)

20 drops Thieves essential oil

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a 2 oz. squeeze bottle.  Use as you would any other hand sanitizer.  

Tea Tree, Lavender, Peppermint Hand Sanitizer

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons aloe vera gel

1 teaspoon distilled water

Contents of   2 vitamin E oil gel capsules (poke with a pin and squeeze out the oil)

20 drops Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca) essential oil

5 drops lavender essential oil

5 drops peppermint essential oil

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a 2 oz. squeeze bottle.  Use as you would any other hand sanitizer.

Which oils will you choose for your own blend? Leave a comment and let us all know :) 

Thanks so much for visiting today and considering the switch to hand sanitizers with essential oils.  Tomorrow, I’ll share with you some of the farmgirl fun I've had in the past few weeks.  I hope to see you then!

Peace be with you,

Star Schipp

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