99.9% isopropyl alcohol?

[boble1]

Hi

I'm going to attempt to make my own hand gel.

I've only been able to find 99.9% isopropyl alcohol.

Is that too strong?

Thank you x

No, that's right.

You can add aloe vera or similar gel (no more than 1:2 ratio alcohol) to make it less irritant. As long as you end up with no less than 60% alcohol.

My maths is atrocious, how would you know whether you had 60% alcohol? Would it just be follow the 1:2 ratio that you stated? (So one measure aloe and 2 measures of alcohol?)

You’re starting with 100% approx. So you need your finished product to be 60% IPA and 40% aloe or whatever. In volume terms, that’s 60mL IPA plus 40 mL aloe to make 100mL gel.

(Although I’d go for 70/30 to be sure.)

Thank you

That's what I have used.

Super!

I've just ordered.

Thank you for your help xx

Where did you order from?

Stronger is better because you can add more of your moisturising ingredient without the alcohol going too low.

WHO guide here:

www.who.int/gpsc/5may/Guide_to_Local_Production.pdf

They recommend 75% (+/- 5%). I've heard 60% quoted a lot but I'm not sure where it comes from. I haven't heard any medical people say it's too low though.

They recommend adding a splosh of hydrogen peroxide. I didn't have any of this, I'm not sure if it makes much difference.

Glycerol: used as humectant, but other emollients may be used for skin care, provided that they are cheap, widely available and miscible in water and alcohol and do not add to toxicity, or promote allergy.

I used 91% isopropyl alcohol mixed 80:20 with aloe vera. Final alcohol content 72.8%

Really though, why aren't the pharmacists mixing this on site?

I ordered from Amazon. £14.99 for 1l.

It will be here on Tuesday.

If, by some miracle I find hand gel in the shops, I can always use it for cleaning apparently.

x

Really though, why aren't the pharmacists mixing this on site?

Which pharmacists on which site?

Oops posted by mistake... there’s not a lot of manufacturing capability in the NHS any more, and keeping large quantities of flammable liquid is not straightforward.

I wouldn't use it for general cleaning, it's too flammable and it gives off some hefty fumes. Bleach, Milton or Dettol are best for general disinfecting.

@LangClegsInSpace

Oh, thank you for the warning. I read it was superb for cleaning mirrors and glass.

x

Which pharmacists on which site?

The highly qualified pharmacists in all the pharmacies up and down the country, several in each town. They are fully trained and qualified to make up medicines in the shop.

This used to be common.

That WHO guide is aimed at frontline HCP, medics etc., including pharmacists, working in emergency situations. It's not aimed at us lot. It's dangerous and ridiculous that we're all buying the supplies from the pharmacists, downloading the WHO guidance for ourselves (or worse, just winging it) and mixing it up in our own kitchens.

The WHO guide includes advice for local producers or central pharmacies on appropriate production and storage conditions. They're really not insurmountable.

Pharmacists rarely make extemporaneous preparations any more. They almost always outsource to manufacturing facilities of various sizes. Bulk manufacture using flammables requires special handling precautions that most of these are not set up for.

There are a few companies that make bulk biocides that could/should be able to gear up to make hand sanitisers though, and I very much hope they are being encouraged to do so.

Yes, I realise it's not common any more and that flammable materials need careful handling. I think a lot of pharmacies could get set up relatively easily, not for the vast quantities that would be produced in a factory, but for a few litres at a time. If they have frequent deliveries they wouldn't need to store huge quantities of alcohol and it's not like the finished product would be sat on the shelves for long!

It has to be safer than selling us the ingredients and us all mixing it up in our own kitchens. Sooner or later someone's going to set themselves on fire.

It has to be safer than selling us the ingredients and us all mixing it up in our own kitchens. Sooner or later someone's going to set themselves on fire

Good lord yes. Either that or they will bleach themselves.

I’ve also seen discussion of making one’s own Calpol substitute which is rather alarming. (I’d do it, but I know what not to do!)

Yes it is very flammable so we've kept our stock in the outbuilding where we have low fire risk. Hoping to return some if possible.

Its brilliant at removing sharpie pen ink.