It's flu season. In addition to the usual viruses swirling about, this year we have to contend with the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus, too. Are you using hand sanitizer and regular hand washing to keep viruses at bay? Hand hygiene is a key way to avoid getting sick from the flu – and from the common cold, for that matter.

Making your own hand sanitizer is really easy. Want to give it a try? Well ... then first let me clarify the part about it being really easy!

Okay, on the one hand homemade hand sanitizer is easy to make, requiring just two or three ingredients: an alcohol, a gel to achieve that goopy consistency, and an optional fragrance (usually an essential oil or fragrance oil).

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.