Homemade Hand Sanitizer Spray – DIY Hand Sanitizer with 3 Ingredients
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Want to keep the germs at bay this cold and flu season? No need to buy expensive products from the store when you can learn how to make a homemade Hand Sanitizer spray from just a few basic ingredients!
Homemade Hand Sanitizer Spray
While I’m not a big fan of hand sanitizer, since it can be drying to your hands and it usually just smells bad, I can understand that it has its time and place. If you are in a very dirty, germ-filled grocery store with nowhere to wash your hands during flu and cold season, you aren’t going to care if your hands smell a little bit from using hand sanitizer; at least they are clean!
If you’d rather skip the store version, it’s actually pretty easy to make your own DIY Hand Sanitizer Spray. You just need a few simple ingredients. Here’s the simple recipe for how to make hand sanitizer spray!
DIY Hand Sanitizer Spray
What You Need:
- 1 1/4 cup 99% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol (Where to Buy)
- 6 Tablespoons Aloe Vera Gel (Where to Buy)
- 20 drops of Tea Tree Oil (Where to Buy)
What to Do:
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together until they are well blended. Pour into a small spray bottle and use as needed. Be sure and give it a shake before using to help distribute the essential oils better.
This will make the perfect amount for a 12-ounce spray bottle. You could also pour it into smaller bottles which will fit easily into your diaper bag or purse so you can always have it on hand for those trips to the grocery store, restaurant or after playing at the park. You can find the smaller bottles in the travel section of most stores and grocery stores or purchase them online.
—Want to label your Essential Oil Hand Sanitizer Spray? These Free Printable Canning Jar Labels are the perfect fit for these smaller bottles too!
Store your Homemade Hand Sanitizer Spray in your car when traveling, but be sure to remove it if the vehicle is going to get too hot or too cold, you don’t want your mixture to freeze and make a mess in your car!
Variations and Tips for Making DIY Hand Sanitizer Spray
- You can add 1/4 teaspoon of Vitamin E Oil to your hand sanitizer spray to add moisture back into your hands with each use.
- You can also add a few drops of Lavender Essential Oil to your hand sanitizer spray. Lavender will not only make the entire mixture smell a little better but it will also add extra antibacterial properties. I buy all of my essential oils from Rocky Mountain Oils.
- If you’d like to make a more natural hand sanitizer spray, you can use Witch Hazel in place of the alcohol. Witch Hazel is alcohol-free and will give you a much gentler hand sanitizer without a strong alcohol smell. If you want a strong sanitizer that performs like the store-bought, I recommend sticking to the rubbing alcohol version above, instead of this gentler version.
- The aloe vera in this recipe should help prevent your hands from drying out as much as the store-bought hand sanitizers. If you find the hand sanitizer is starting to dry out your hands you may want to carry a small container of Homemade Lotion to use after applying the sanitizer. This will help restore the moisture in your hands and give them a much more pleasant smell!
- If you are unable to find pure Aloe Vera, you can also use Glycerin or Fractionated Coconut Oil. The purpose of that item is to help make it not so drying.
—Have leftover Aloe Vera? Find more Uses for Aloe Vera here.
Make sure to check out all the other fun Make Your Own projects we have here on Little House Living!
Want to print this recipe for Homemade Hand Sanitizer Spray? Grab the printable below!
DIY Hand Sanitizer Spray
How to make your own homemade hand sanitizer spray recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 Cups 99% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol
- 6 Tablespoons Aloe Vera Gel
- 20 drops Tea Tree Oil
Instructions
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In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together until they are well blended.
-
Pour into a small spray bottle and use as needed. Be sure and give it a shake before using to help distribute the essential oils better.
If you love to Make Your Own projects like this one, you would love my book, Little House Living: The Make Your Own Guide to a Frugal, Simple, and Self-Sufficient Life. It features 130 recipes just like this one that are perfect for your household!
Are you making your own Hand Sanitizer as part of an emergency preparedness kit? Here are some other prepping articles that you might be interested in!
- Prepping on a Budget
- Survival Prepping
- Prepping Supplies
- Disaster Preparedness for Children
- Create a Mini DIY Emergency Kit
- Food to Stockpile
Do you use hand sanitizer or do you skip it? What other essential oils do you think you could add?
This DIY Hand Sanitizer Spray Recipe was originally published on Little House Living in June 2013. It has been updated as of March 2020.
I am very frugal and love all your ideas!
I have aloe Vera juice will it work I just don’t have aloe gel
No, they are completely different. You need the gel.
What do you mean by parts?
Lets say you need to add 1 part water to 2 parts vinegar for a recipe…that means you’d add 1 cup of water and 2 cups of vinegar, or if you add 2 cups of water then you’d add 4 cups of vinegar.
What can you use in place of the alcohol? A 4 year old girl in pre-school licked her hands after using hand sanitizer, and was rushed to the hospital. They had to pump her stomach and treat her for several days before releasing her. The alcohol did some liver damage. You never know what little children will do, so I need something without alcohol.
I’ve been trying to find something without alcohol but it’s nearly impossible. I think the best substitute in this case would be regular hand washing or maybe even just carrying wet wipes.
Hi, I’ve used witch hazel in my hand sanitizer instead of alcohol.
Also, maybe she was allergic to the essential oil?
It could very well be. I have allergies to certain essential oils.
Witch Hazel is a MUCH better option that rubbing alcohol. The tea tree oil (use more than a few drops) is antibacterial so the alcohol is not needed. I use about 1 cup pure aloe vera gel, 2-3 TBSP low alcohol content witch hazel, choose…30 drops tea tree and 10-15 drops lavender EO…OR…40-45 drops Four Thieves Oil, and 8-10 drops vitamin E oil to preserve. Works great!
I use the witch hazel too. My skin is so sensitive that I really don’t want to use the alcohol.
The aloe doesn’t seem to be mixing in well. Or does it stay
like that?
This is a really good idea! It’s way better than the horrible Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer! It has chemicals in them that increases your chance of CANCER!!!
Do you have to use aloe vera? I don’t have any and its pretty expensive. Are there any substitutes for aloe vera?
You may be able to use something else but I would recommend Aloe Vera, it will keep your hands from drying out. Check at a health foods store…you should be able to find it for less.
Bulk Apothecary has Aloe Vera at a decent price. I haven’t tried it yet, but I love their other products!
In order to kill germs, hand sanitizer must have at least 62% alcohol. Anything less & the germs don’t die. Do you know if your version has that? I just wonder if the Aloe Vera gel & essential oils dilute the alcohol to less than the minimum requirement. I love, love, love your blog! I always look forward to reading it! I only mention the hand sanitizer because I really dont want you getting sick.
That would depend on if you have 70% or 91% isopropyl rubbing alcohol. If you would like to stay above the 60% you may need to adjust the added ingredients as needed. This sanitizer recipe is not meant to replace washing hands.
The above question is very valid, because of your six parts lo24 parts rubbing alcohol, your recipe would not be an effective method to kill germs. Does proportions in need to be clipped, and then some, with 91% rubbing alcohol at least being a 2 to 1 ratio.
Sanitizer does not clean your hands. It disinfects it. Let’s not say that sanitizer makes your hands clean. It disinfects your hands if you’re in a place where you don’t have access to water and soap/detergent.
Hi Shawn, Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the world. I just got a whole lot smarter reading your response. Cheers to the proper wording police of the internet.
Hi, I am unable to find 91% alcohol, if I use those with 70%, should i reduce the amount of aloe vera and oils, if so, how much of these do you think I should use?
Where can you find the spray bottles
Thank you! I did not have aloe vera, so I used 91% isopropyl alcohol alone with a 4 thieves essential oil mix. Will the alcohol alone harm the essential oils? Thank you, your information is very much appreciated.
I only have isopropyl Alcohol 99%, what can I do to make it to 70%?
This is the perfect concentrate for sanitising. I use this strength with aloe vera. It’s lovely 🙂
I have aloe vera not the aloe gel will it be okay
Are you supposed to boil ingredients before bottling?
No
Thanks for allowing me to comment on your blog. I’ve used 70% alcohol, Cactus Oil &, Tea tree essential oil. It came out wonderful, and my hands are soft &, the scent is not bad at all.
No, Alcohol is flammable..please keep away from flames
So smart! Thank you.
Hello,
I clicked on the link for the aloe vera and it came up with different products. I noticed a powder as well. What gel are you using specifically? Thanks a bunch.
I use any gel that has 100% aloe vera and the least amount of other ingredients.
I have aloe Vera growing in pots. Can I use the fresh in this recipe? I love this web site and am telling my family about it as well as my friends.
Yes, you can use fresh but you will probably want to store the mixture in the fridge (in between taking it places) to help it last longer.
I have 99 percent isopropyl alcohol, do you kkow how much aloe vera to add to make 65%
Great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
LOL, what good timing. All our local stores are out and I like my husband to have hand santizer for at work when he can’t stop to wash his hands on the job until his break time.
Thanks, Merissa!
Mine is really thick… I had to use the sun aloe vera that I keep refrigerated… any suggestions? Can I dilute it with water? I tried using witch hazel to dilute it, but it didn’t help. I’m afraid it’s going to be too strong now. And I don’t want it to go to waste. 😔
I wouldn’t dilute it due to lowering the alcohol content. Instead of using it as a spray you may just need to use a smaller amount as a “gel”.
Thanks for this. Very important
If I’m right the measurements for the sanitizer won’t fit a 2 oz spray bottle.
1 1/4 c of rubbing alcohol is 10 oz of liquid plus you add the other ingredients. Unless I misunderstood and the recipe is for multiple bottles but I didn’t see any mention of that.
Sorry about that, it’s should have said a 12 ounce bottle. It can also be poured into smaller bottles and I’ve updated the post to make that more clear.
Hi, I can only find Laboratory-Grade Denatured Ethyl Alcohol on the link you provided. Is this what you use? Is it ok to use that?
Thanks,
Lynn
If it is 99% alcohol it should be ok. It may be mostly sold out right now online.
I mixed 2/3 cup 99% isopropyl alcohol with 1/3 cup 100% aloe Vera gel and the aloe Vera turned white and clumped together into what looks and feels like paper pulp. What went wrong?
Mind did the same thing dont know what we wrong
It sounds like the alcohol is reacting with something in the aloe vera that you are using.
One cup alcohol to 1/3 cup aloe Vera gel Mix
The same thing happened to me.
Thank you for this! Perfect timing. Stay well. 💖
I would think the alcohol content would prevent any spoilage. They us it in tincture for cooking.
I couldn’t find aloe Vera gel so I made a spray, 12oz isopropyl alcohol 99.9%, 2 tsp glycerin, 1 tbls hydrogen peroxide, 3 oz distilled (boiled water) cooled, mix together put in a spray bottle. ❤️ It’s easier than the gel and doesn’t dry your skin or leave a sticky residue, I also added essential oil for fragrance, sweet orange.
I notice the aloe gel is clumping and not mixing into the other ingredients. What should I do? Thanks
I just tried making this and the aloe Vera gel thickened into weird stringy stands that could be ripped apart. Is that normal?
Are you using straight aloe vera? Or does it have added ingredients? I always use it right from the plant so I’m wondering if there are additional ingredients that are causing an odd reaction?
I let my solution sit over night, and then I read to strain it, when using aloe vera. That gets rid of the any thick residue, and it blends better.
Good morning, I just found your site. I wanted to try the hand side sanitizer But the link fir aloe vera says it’s out of stock. Do you have another link / suggestion for an aloe vera that I can use to make this recipe?
I’m really new to making my own stuff so I’m not sure which ones are good ones to buy. . what are good or not? I appreciate the help. Also thanks for having this stuff out there For people like me who just want to try to learn something new and do something better for the family. Thank you Jenn
Here’s one that I’ve purchased before: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JBJWTT3?amp=&crid=39I5VBCPGVEF8&sprefix=aloe%2Bver&th=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=lithouonthe05-20&linkId=d632a8b3bf399f0d998467d6f9b91aa6&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl