How to Make a Waterless Herbal Hand Sanitizer

Washing your hands is one of the simplest, most effective ways to get rid of germs and avoid infection. However, when you leave home, warm running water and soap are not always a readily available option for keeping your hands clean. Carrying a bottle of waterless gel sanitizer offers a convenient, portable way to keep your hands clean and germ free, no matter where you go. Read on to learn how to make waterless hand gel sanitizer.

Things You'll Need

• Bottle or jar
• Embellishments such as ribbon, lace, label, beads
• Small bowl
• 1 C Pure aloe vera gel
• 1 tsp Rubbing alcohol
• 2 tsp Vegetable glycerin
• 5 drops Lavender essential oil
• 5 drops Tea tree essential oil

Instructions

1. Purchase the highest quality ingredients you can afford, because your hand gel sanitizer will be as pure as the ingredients you use. 100% aloe vera gel will give you the best results. Both aloe vera gel and glycerin are rich in moisturizing properties.

2. Select the essential oils you will use. You can choose these not only for their scent, but especially for their sanitizing properties. Selecting essential oils such as peppermint, lavender and tea tree, for example, are a great choice because of their antibacterial and antibiotic qualities. They will maximize the germ-fighting function of using the gel sanitizer. For the purpose of this tutorial, we have chosen tea tree oil and lavender essential oils.

3. Gather the ingredients and supplies. Use the embellishments to decorate and personalize the bottle or jar. It is best to do this before you prepare the gel sanitizer, so that it can dry in time and it will be available immediately once the gel has been prepared.

4. Place the aloe vera gel in a bowl. Pour in the rubbing alcohol and vegetable glycerin. Stir these ingredients to mix them thoroughly.

5. Add the lavender and tea tree essential oils. Mix thoroughly once more. Pour the gel hand sanitizer into the decorated container.

6. To use the hand sanitizer, apply a small amount to your hand and rub your hands together to apply it evenly over both. The phrase "less is more" is especially true for this sanitizer, because the all-natural version will not evaporate as fast as the commercial products do. It will last much longer.

Tips & Warnings

• You can adjust the texture of the gel hand sanitizer by adding more or using less aloe vera. If you add more to make it thicker, do this one tablespoon at a time to avoid adding too much.