I have a fetish for clean hands. Unfortunately since I am a mother to a preschooler, my need for clean hands is often overridden by my son's need to eat gooey, sticky foods. I know that washing hands with soap and warm water is the best and healthiest way to keep my paws clean, but when we are in the middle of a soccer game or on a long car ride a squirt of hand sanitizer is the best I can do. I used to use the grocery store brands, but after reading the list of harsh chemicals I decided to give my own recipe a try. I
searched on the Internet and found that the following recipe is my favorite:
- 1/4 cup aloe Vera gel
- 1/4 cup vodka
- 10 drops fragrance oil -my favorite is lavender
Mix ingredients together and store in a pump bottle. The mixture keeps for quite awhile and is easily portable. I find the lavender to be my favorite smell because it mixes well with the alcohol smell and it is soothing. There are many variations on this recipe all over the Internet. This one just happens to be simple enough and use household ingredients that are easily attainable, both qualities I appreciate.
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Reader comments (Page 3 of 3)
If witch hazel has all the attributes that angelita says it does,why would you need anything else?
ReplyIt was suggested years ago that we stop using alcohol on people with a high fever because it brings the fever down to quickly which can cause seizures (I never heard of the reason that it was because of the skin absorbing it.....not saying this isn't true I just never heard of it. I will have to look that up). Now it is recommended you take a bath in cool water to help bring the fever down slower. In some cases where I could not get my child's fever down with medicine and cool baths, I mixed a small amount of alcohol with water and rubbed them down with it. This was ok'ed by our family dr. We use sanitzer here at our home with alcohol in it but I have read lately of several instances of young children actually drinking this stuff and dying (makes you wonder why a young child would want to taste something that is so yucky!!!) So it does happen. Be careful using it in houses with young kids. We don't use the sanitzer every day.....just for trips in the car and that sort of thing. In the house we use soap and water :)
ReplyDO NOT USE ON CHILDREN!!! Anything with alcolol in it should not be given to young children. There was a case with a young girl who used hand sanitzer at school and had been licking her fingers (for whatever reason, possibly Cheeto's) who became extremely ill. I think she lived, however she was rushed to the emergency room very ill and it took doctors a while to figure out what was wrong with her. I forget her BAC, but it was astonishing. Remember, weight plays a huge role in absorption.
ReplyNo officer, that open container of Vodka is to sanitize my hands.
ReplyI would suggest trying to stick to using baby wipes when there is no water available. Check out www.snopes.com, type in hand sanitizers and just look at all the proven incidents when it comes to these items. It is scary to think that a curious child who is left alone for a few seconds may try to ingest these products and possible incur death becuase of it.
ReplyThose who have stated it is also lowering your resistance to germs are correct. Germs are always fighting for survival and continually evolve to overcome the latest "antibacterial" products.
wow.....if your going to all that trouble for a hand santizer, why don't you just go to treatment!!!! ha....haaa...ha....
Replyopps!! sanitizer.....nope, iam not drinkin'!! ha, haaaa....heee, hee.....
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ReplyRegarding the posters extolling the use of store-bought chemical hand sanitizers: The Triclosan that's used in most "antibacterial" soaps and hand sanitizers can help lead to antibiotic resistance, and especially has this ability when it pervades our waterways when you wash it off. Even if you don't care about the other chemicals that you're slathering on your hands along with the Triclosan, at least avoid this ingredient to help prevent antibiotic resistance, and just wait until you can wash your hands with regular soap and water, unless it's some huge emergency like doing immediate surgery without being able to wash your hands, or something like that.