DIY Hand Sanitizers and Disinfectants
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1 hours
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Beginner
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- 10-30
Luckily, you can make some powerful basic cleaners from the comfort of your home with a few household ingredients. To protect against serious threats like COVID-19, you'll want to go beyond the natural cleaning solutions we often recommend, and work with materials that have been certified by authorities as effective against this particular threat.
Alcohol Hand Sanitizer
The simplest solution is alcohol, bleach, glycerin and water. The United States Centers for Disease Control recommends solutions with at least 60% pure alcohol content. That doesn't mean 60% vodka and 40% water—most drinking alcohol is already just 40%, so diluting it with water would make it even less effective.
Start with a highly concentrated alcohol like 99% isopropyl. Pour four cups into a clean glass or plastic container, then add a quarter cup of household bleach (3% hydrogen peroxide), taking care not to get any on your skin.
Next, add four teaspoons of glycerin, which will keep your hands from drying out when you use the finished product. Top it off with a cup of water that has boiled and cooled, and pour it all into your favorite dispenser. The total alcohol of this solution should be 75%, which you can test with an alcoholmeter.
Let the solution rest for 72 hours to make sure any germs still inside have died.
Bleach Surface Disinfectant
To make a bleach cleaning solution for wiping or spraying surfaces, start with household bleach intended for disinfection (some, such as those designed for clothing or whitening, may not be suitable). Make sure the expiration date has not passed—the solution won't be strong enough if the bleach has lost its punch.
Never mix household bleach with other cleaning products like ammonia. Complete this process in an area with good ventilation, and protect your hands from exposure to the bleach.
Mix five tablespoons of bleach (1/3rd of a cup) into one gallon of water, or four teaspoons of bleach into one quart of water. The resulting mixture can be used to clean surfaces, and will be effective against coronaviruses. When applying the solution, keep the area well ventilated and leave the mixture on the surface for at least one minute.
Aloe Gel Hand Sanitizer
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![Charles Ramos, Jr.]()
Charles is an Expert Reviewer for Doityourself.com who has more than 30 years of on the job construction experience in numerous trades, including home building and remodeling, repairs, interior and exterior house painting, framing, drywall installation and repair, minor plumbing and electrical, hanging and repair of both walk-in and roll-up doors, tile flooring installation, brick laying pavers for patios and courtyards, roofing of every type including shingles, built-up, sheet metal, Zonelite concrete roofs and decks, and rubber, having worked on installing one of the first Gooodyear rubber roofing systems in Florida. He also worked on the suspended roof system on the Florida Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg.  Charles is a highly experienced equipment operator of Bobcats, backhoes, D-9 front end loader, hydraulic cranes, GRT piledriver, concrete saws, regular and extended reach forklifts, and he has operated a working barge on Tampa Bay and the Intercoastal Waterway as a Marine Construction sub-contractor building custom docks. Charles has vast experience in housekeeping in private home, medical facilities, business offices, restaurant, heavy industrial, and hotel-motel settings. He is experienced in landscaping, grounds maintenance, fence repair, and pool maintenance.  Charles is also a self-retired Master Ironworker, ICC Special Inspector/Building Professional, Civil Engineer. Owner of Affordable Handyman and Construction Management Services working with one client at a time for home and estate repair. Since 2013. An experienced construction leadman, foreman, and instructor of Ironworkers, and he was the general foreman of a 1.12 mw solar farm project in Chowchilla, California in 2016 Charles Ramos, Jr holds a degree in housekeeping from Alexander Training School of Alexander, Arkansas since 1977.
