Confession: I don’t shower daily. I’ve never given my children nightly baths. Too much work, and do we really need to be that squeaky clean?
Turns out, my gut instinct is correct. Our skin’s natural oils form a protective barrier which neutralizes most bad bacteria and viruses. The good bacteria thrive in this environment.
This environment is called the acid mantle, but modern soaps, shampoos, lotions, and hand sanitizers strip our skin of the acid mantle, making us more inclined to infection. It can take 2-3 weeks for our skin to rebuild its protection.
Making all these products is for other posts, but today I’m going to show you an easy-to-make hand sanitizer. It does not contain rubbing alcohol, as that product destroys both good and bad bacteria, as well as drying out the skin.
I wince every time a childcare worker pulls out commercial hand sanitizer to plop a dollop in waiting children’s hands before snack time. The warnings on the name brand sanitizer should make anyone pause. “Stop use if irritation or rash appears”; “If swallowed, contact Poison Control.” And we put this on children’s hands before they hold and eat their snacks! Does this even sound like a natural product?!
More soothing and less disruptive to our skin’s pH is a homemade version, using aloe vera gel and essential oils. I use essential oils in my basic home cleaning recipes and in my personal care products. It makes sense to use their antibacterial properties in a hand sanitizer as well.
Ingredients for Hand Sanitizer
- 5-10 drops lavender essential oil
- 20 drops tea tree oil
- 8 ounces pure aloe vera gel
- several drops vitamin E to increase shelf life and soften hands
Directions for Hand Sanitizer
Mix all ingredients together well.
Ladle into small squirt bottles, recycled from other hand sanitizer bottles. 
Take off the brand name label and put a smiley face sticker in its place. People just might ask you about it.
Since I only had a 2-oz bottle of sanitizer to dump to reuse, I made ¼ of the above recipe. After rubbing it into my hands, they dried quickly with no sticky residue and still a soft feel ten minutes later. I’m loving the smell of it too!
I modified this recipe. The witch hazel I have in my cupboard is 14% rubbing alcohol. A search for alcohol-free witch hazel will bring up some brands, but I wanted to use only what I had on hand.
Rebekah is a Stay-at-home mom to two blessings, Katelyn (5 ½) and Elliot (3), with another on the way. Parenting is the current step God’s using to mold her into Christ-likeness, along with 11 years of marriage to her best friend. Her passions are homeschooling, homesteading, homemaking, from-scratch living, worship and discipleship, and most of all, glorifying God in everything she learns and attempts. Her family’s blog is just getting started over at Hallelu-Jah Homestead. She also teaches a local workshop called Waste Not, Want Not: Practical Ways to Free Up Your Budget and Live Intentionally, sharing the journey God has led her family on over the last few years.
Have you tried any non-toxic DIY personal products, or is there a natural brand that you trust?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I hate the smell of any hand sanitizer I have seen! Where can these ingredients be purchased?
I purchased the pure aloe vera and the vitamin E from azurestandard.com, our local co-op. (It has drop locations around the country, just check!). The lavender EO and tea tree oil can be purchased inexpensively through http://www.mountainroseherbs.com, and I pick it up locally at their warehouse. The beauty of DIY is that these products are used in so many other recipes that the cost is spread for all your other care and cleaning products and a little goes a long way!
I’m a little confused about your post. Your recipe doesn’t mention witch hazel, but a few paragraphs down you talk about using alcohol free witch hazel. What is that for?
Rita, the recipe I altered (see link above in witch hazel paragraph) uses witch hazel. Mine is not alcohol-free, so I chose to leave it out. If you follow the link, you’ll see the recipe that uses witch hazel. Sorry for the confusion!
Thanks, Rebekah.
I do have another question. I sent the recipe to my daughter-in-law and she said she had heard that tree tea oil and lavender can effect hormone levels. Have you heard anything about that?
Rita
Rita, you can share this article with your daughter-in-law. http://www.mommypotamus.com/does-lavender-oil-cause-estrogen-imbalance/ The blog author Heather is a diligent researcher and I’ve come to rely on her research for those things I don’t have time to dig into myself. I wouldn’t put those oils directly on baby’s skin (for irritation), but in dilution I feel safe using it.
I wrote to the author of the 2007 piece on tea tree oil and lavender to see if there is anything new. Six years is a bit of old news.