Chemist charging £15 for sanitiser!

[Ilovecupcakke]

Aibu to think this is wrong and opportunistic. Obviously its because of coronavirus. This is so annoying ad I use it regularly as im immunocompromised.

[fantasmasgoria1]

Apparently there is one independent pharmacy in leicester selling small bottles for £10

[Newjez]

It's in my Lidl. Restricted to two per person.
It's 70% stuff. 50pence for a small container.

[Cohle]

glam got the amounts wrong. Its supposed to be 1/3 cup aloe gel and 2/3 cup vodka/surgical spirit. This recipe would be 66% alcohol while still being a gel

No it wouldn't because the vodka isn't pure alcohol to begin with. Vodka in the UK is 40% ABV.

[Gingerkittykat]

Another one chiming in to say not to use vodka to make your own.

[SerendipityJane]

seems there's some confusion between surgical spirit and vodka going on here. Thank goodness I prefer Scotch

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Surgical spirit is 90% ethanol. So if you fill a bottle just over two-thirds full with it, and top it up with aloe vera and a bit of lavender or teatree, you are easily at the 60% alcohol level.

Not easily. Two thirds of 90% is just 60%. And not all rubbing alcohol/surgical spirit is necessarily 90%.

All very well making your own to avoid stomach bugs. But viruses are very different.

[myself2020]

Are you absolutely sure its the same one? some of the more specialised ones are expensive

[woodchuck99]

glam got the amounts wrong. Its supposed to be 1/3 cup aloe gel and 2/3 cup vodka/surgical spirit. This recipe would be 66% alcohol while still being a gel

No it wouldn't. Your calculation assumes that vodka and surgical spirit of pure alcohol which is not the case. Surgical spirit is about 70% vodka usually less so if you dilute with aloe vera the alcohol concentration will be well below 60%.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

And this, people, is why teaching maths is important. It could save your life!

[SerendipityJane]

And this, people, is why teaching maths is important. It could save your life!

Or, taking the reverse view, Darwin in action

[MrsTerryPratchett]

[woodchuck99]

Anyway, the surgical spirit is out of stock everywhere too so no easier to make your own than to buy it.

[Aridane]

Soap remains cheap as chips as does water

[SerendipityJane]

Anyway, the surgical spirit is out of stock everywhere too so no easier to make your own than to buy it.

And across the land, 1,000 stills fire up 80% abv should do the trick ...

[Abraid2]

(Not easily. Two thirds of 90% is just 60%. And not all rubbing alcohol/surgical spirit is necessarily 90%.*


Boots own brand: 90%. Superdrug is 95%.

Why would you use vodka when surgical is so cheap? And what is rubbing alcohol?

[SerendipityJane]

And what is rubbing alcohol?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubbing_alcohol

Please don't drink it.

[woodchuck99]

Boots own brand: 90%. Superdrug is 95%.

But out of stock in both so no easier to get than hand gel,

[londonrach]

Report to trading standards and they said they deal with this. Yanbu

[woodchuck99]

You could also report this to the Pharmaceutical Society.

[PhilCornwall1]

do have every sympathy for people who are immunosuppressed and can't get hold of things like this. It's probably not effective against coronavirus anyway, so it's not as if it's of any use to the rest of us.

I'm immunosuppressed and have been told for hand washing, soap and water is the best thing to use (advice from the hospital). I've never bothered with sanitiser and I'm not going to start now.

[YouokHun]

Make your own!
Get some aloe vera gel (it's usually in the after sun section) put in one third and top it up with surgical spirit or vodka (a drop of lavender essential oil if the smell is too bad) that wont cost too much plus you can make lads and drink the remaining vodka or if you use surgical spirit it's cheap anyway.

Rubbish @GlamGiraffe, as others have said this wouldn’t be adequate. You’re not a shill for Forever Living are you? Every time I hear Aloe Vera mentioned I expect an MLM stealth pitch!

[Frownette]

@hankyspanky it's ok, I think most people can see it's a nice offer

[Cheeseandwin5]

Whilst I dont think YABU,
I suppose if they ppl are willing to pay than why not.
If you don't like it don't buy it. I am sure there are many times where they are making very little money

[user1497207191]

I'm immunosuppressed and have been told for hand washing, soap and water is the best thing to use (advice from the hospital). I've never bothered with sanitiser and I'm not going to start now.

Spectacularly missing the point there. No one is saying hand gel is better than soap and water. What they're saying is you need to use gel when you can't use soap & water, i.e. public loos with no soap, on public transport, before eating a bag of crisps etc - basically hand gel is far better than not washing your hands at all.

[Winniewonka]

You only need hand sanitizer if you're unable to wash your hands. Hand washing when you have the opportunity with soap etc will kill far more germs. Just try not to touch your mouth, nose and eyes.
I'm not saying this from an "I'm alright, Jack" point of view. Three people have been diagnosed with it in the town where I work.