Best Natural Ingredients to Use in DIY Hand Sanitizer

When creating your DIY hand sanitizer, it is important to create one that is safe for your skin and will kill bacteria and germs. What are natural ingredients for hand sanitizers?

In hand sanitizers, you need a germ killer and hydrating ingredient. You can add natural germ killers to your homemade hand sanitizer. Some of these natural germ-killing ingredients are ethanol and tea tree oil. The natural hydrating ingredients that you can use in your natural hand sanitizer are aloe vera gel, vitamin E oil, and glycerin. 

What are the Best Natural Ingredients for Hand Sanitizers?

We can break these ingredients into three categories: germ killers, skin hydrating, and other natural ingredients. Each one plays an important role in making natural hand sanitizer for your skin. 

Natural Germ Killer Ingredients for Hand Sanitizers

When looking for the germ and bacteria killers to go in hand sanitizers, you will notice that most of them are some type of alcohol. Alcohol is effective in killing germs. There are natural, plant-based alcohols that you can use in your natural DIY hand sanitizer.

When choosing a natural germ killer for your natural hand sanitizer, you need to be sure that the ingredient is effective. You do not want to use a germ killer that only kills just a few germs instead of all them on your hands.

When handling most of these alcohols, you should use gloves and a mask for safety. Getting pure, undiluted forms of some alcohol on your skin could irritate the skin. Also, breathing in some forms of alcohol could irritate your airways.

Ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol)

Ethanol is a natural alcohol produced by the fermentation of sugars. In the United States, it is mainly produced by the fermentation of starch in corn grain.

“Ethanol is effective in killing microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, and viruses,” mentions ChemicalSafetyFacts.org. Because it effectively kills these microorganisms, it is used in hand sanitizers.

Most DIY hand sanitizers will call for rubbing alcohol. Some rubbing alcohol will use isopropyl alcohol as the germ killer ingredient. Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. states that ethyl alcohol is less toxic than isopropyl alcohol.

Even though ethanol is a natural ingredient, it is still harmful to the skin’s microbiome. Properly follow instructions when using ethanol in hand sanitizers.

Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil is created from the steam distillation of tea tree leaves. It originated in Australia, where the aboriginal people would use it as a germ killer and in herbal medicine.

Researchers conducted a study on the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties of tea tree oil. “Despite some progress, there is still a lack of clinical evidence demonstrating efficacy against bacterial, fungal, or viral infections.” Although the researchers did find the tea tree oil is effective in killing some common bacteria that will cause illnesses. 

Natural Skin Hydrating Ingredients for Hand Sanitizers

Germ-killing ingredients can be dehydrating and sometimes irritating to your skin. Because of the harshness of the germ killer, we need to counteract their effect with a skin hydrating ingredient. 

These hydrating ingredients’ main goal is to restore moisture into your skin. Helping your skin not crack and dry out.

Aloe Vera

Aloe vera is a natural skin moisturizer that helps prevent dryness in the skin. 

It also helps soothe the skin, which is needed when applying hand sanitizers. If you use some hand sanitizers frequently, you will begin to notice that your skin will start to dry out and be irritated. Using aloe vera in the hand sanitizer will help prevent skin irritation.

When you mix aloe with the germ-killing ingredients, it will help restore moisture to your skin while the other ingredient causes dryness. These ingredients help to equal each other out.

Vitamin E Oil

Vitamin E oil is another ingredient that keeps your skin hydrated when using hand sanitizers. It is known to help improve dry and flaky skin.

Vitamin E oil reduces the itchiness caused by dry skin. Medical News Today mentions that vitamin E oil helps keep the skin moisturized, which will prevent dryness that leads to itchiness.

Glycerin

Glycerin is a natural, non-toxic ingredient derived from animal fat or vegetable oils. You can find glycerin in many skincare products because of its super hydrating effects.

As a humectant, glycerin attracts water preventing moisture loss in your skin. This helps in keeping your skin hydrated.

Glycerin also helps with wound-healing and protects the skin from skin irritants, mentions Annie Price, CHHC. These benefits are necessary when using a hand sanitizer containing a germ killer that will dry out your skin.

Other Natural Ingredients for Hand Sanitizers

In hand sanitizer, different recipes call for other ingredients to either help make the natural hand sanitizer be more gel like or smell better. Some of these other ingredients will add soothing effects to your hand sanitizer.

Hydrosols

Using hydrosols in a natural hand sanitizer adds a slight scent to the product, and it contains benefits for your skin. You can gain different benefits from each hydrosol.

For example, chamomile hydrosol gives a soothing effect to irritated skin. It is also a wonderful ingredient for sensitive skin.

You can use hydrosols in place of distilled water in a natural hand sanitizer recipe.

Xanthan Gum

Xanthan Gum is used in hand sanitizers to make them have a gel like or thicker consistency.

You do not want to add too much xanthan gum, or your hand sanitizer will have a sticky texture. No one wants to feel sticky after applying a product that is supposed to make hands feel clean.

When adding xanthan gum to a natural DIY hand sanitizer, mix it with the glycerin (if there is glycerin in the recipe). Be sure to mix it until there are no lumps. This mixture will help the xanthan gum dissolve better.

Distilled Water

If a hand sanitizer recipe or any skincare recipe calls for water, be sure to use distilled water. If you use other water, you take chances of it containing chlorine or other contaminants that do not work well with the ingredients in your product.

Conclusion

When creating your natural DIY hand sanitizer, be sure to add a germ killer and a hydrating ingredient. 

Hand sanitizers can be hard on your microbiome. Be sure that the ingredients you mix will do as little harm to your microbiome as possible. 

As we learned in 2020, it is best to wash your hands verse using a hand sanitizer. The hand sanitizer is there to help kill germs when you have no soap and water nearby.