Apologies if this has already been posted.
www.who.int/gpsc/5may/Guide_to_Local_Production.pdf
I have been unable to find hand sanitizer anywhere so I decided to make my own. This is the recipe from WHO and differs from the Aloe vera version in that it is a watery spray and not a gel. This makes it perfect for disinfecting surfaces as well as skin, and is a lot more cost effecient than Dettol wipes, and safer than diluted bleach.
The link is the recipe you can download but I'll repeat the basic steps here:
For 1L finished product you need:
- Rubbing alcohol (aka isopropyl alcohol) 99.8%, 751ml OR Ethanol 96%, 833ml
(Other types of alcohol are not safe. If the purity of the alcohol you are using is lower, you need to be very careful that the end mixture will include 70% PURE alcohol.
- Hydrogen peroxide 3%, 42ml
(The recipe says this is to inactivate contamination in the container when you first fill it)
(This is just to keep your hands from drying out, it is not essential if you are using it as a surface spray)
- Distilled or boiled and then cooled water
Steps:
- The surface you work on, your hands and the container and tools you use HAVE to be clean, and preferably sterilized. If you are using glass bottles/measuring cups etc you can sterilize them by boiling them:
(Place in a big pan submerged under cold water and bring to boil. Boil for 10 min and let cool before you put cold liquid in them or they will crack). For plastics you can put them in the dishwasher (min 80 degrees), use steam in the microwave or a diluted bleach solution. (Rinse well afterwards!)
- You mix the first 3 ingredients (alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and glycerol) then top off the remainder of the 1L with distilled water (or water that was boiled and then cooled)
- Shake or stir gently then decant into clean, cool/room temperature bottles. Spray bottles work best since this is a watery solution. But any old bottle will do if you use paper wipes with it.
I wish I could help with where to get these ingredients,but unfortunately I don't live in the UK. I am in Europe however, and I was able to get 5L of alcohol and the rest of the ingredients online easily for a very low price. (About 1/10th the cost of hand sanitizer here). If you can find the alcohol, the rest is easy to substitute/skip and you need very little amounts of them so they are easier to find.
I made lots of different bottles for my purse/car etc and a big bottle next to the door to spray and wipe all incoming packaging, since I was quickly running out of Dettol and not able to find more. I added tea tree oil and citrus oil to it for a nicer smell and for their antibacterial properties (not for viruses but still helps with our general health and hygiene)
Wishing everyone the best of luck for protecting themselves and their families in these difficult times, and I hope this is something easy to buy in the UK and that it helps.