Tis the season for sugarplums, twinkle lights, good cheer…and who knows what else while you’re running around town making your list and checking it twice!
Now I know there’s a whole school of thought that germs aren’t bad and we should all just relax and shake the hands of strangers, and open bathroom doors without using a toe/Matrix maneuver, and just go on eating that soft pretzel that fell on the floor of the mall food court.
I’m not in that school.
I’m in the school of thought that I’m exposed to plenty of germs between scooping up my four-year-old when she comes home from school, fondling my iPhone half the day, and our bathrooms that seem to only get cleaned when guests are coming over.
I can handle my family’s germs, but when I leave our house I’d like my own personal plastic bubble, thankyouverymuch. Which is why I love hand sanitizer!
Homemade Hand Sanitizer – makes a great gift this holiday season!
I confessed to my hand sanitizer addiction last year and a reader – who knows I like to keep things as all-natural and non-toxic as I can – suggested I try making my own. Most store-bought hand sanitizers contain parabens and other toxic chemicals that should be making the naughty list. I’ve always known this, of course, but in my mind I was willing to sacrifice chemicals for cleanliness.
Well now I don’t have to!
This homemade hand sanitizer – made using Young Living’s Thieves essential oil blend – gives me the cleaning power and protection I need without the chemicals and harmful ingredients I’d rather skip on. I love having the options of both a gel hand sanitizer and a spray hand sanitizer (for things like shopping cart handles or to wipe down tables in public) so I made both. They make a great gift for a loved one this holiday season!
Check out my video below to see how easy it is to make your own homemade hand sanitizer in a gel or a spray:
Gel Homemade Hand Sanitizer
3 Tablespoons Organic Aloe Vera Gel
1/4 teaspoon All Natural Vitamin E Oil
8-10 drops of Young Living Thieves Essential Oil*
I purchased my travel-sized contains for my gel hand sanitizer in the travel-sized section at Target, but you can also find them here: travel-size hand sanitizer containers
Spray Homemade Hand Sanitizer
1/4 teaspoon salt
8-10 drops of Young Living Thieves Essential Oil*
Distilled Water
2 oz travel-sized essential oils spray bottle
Add oil to salt to be absorbed, and then fill bottle with distilled water. Shake to mix.
Some of my fellow essential oil-loving blog friends and I are having a Facebook party tonight at 8:00pm CST featuring handmade gifts you can make this holiday season using essential oils. Click on the graphic below to RSVP and join us!
Also, please be sure to check out their fantastic posts, videos, and how-to’s for some great, healthy, homemade goodness this holiday season!
Peppermint & Lemon Body Butter
Homemade Thieves Hand Sanitizer
Citrus and Christmas Spirit Brown Sugar Scrub
Homemade Thieves Foaming Hand Soap
DIY Scented Christmas Ornaments
*There are two ways you can enjoy Young Living’s Essential Oils:
- Sign up as a Retail Customer (it’s free!) to shop Young Living and pay retail prices.
- Sign up as a Wholesale Member (which requires the purchase of a starter kit; prices and products included vary) and receive products at a 24% discount.
(Please sign up using my referral links above and I will receive a credit for your purchase at no additional charge to you. Thank you!)
I purchased the Premium Starter Kit from Young Living (one of the starter kit options you’ll see if you sign up as a Wholesale Member) because it’s a great way to buy the most popular everyday oils at a huge discount (and I like discounts).
I’m just getting into essential oils and I feel like I read somewhere that they can start to break down plastic. Are you having any issues with that? I have two little ones at home and with tomorrow being my first day back to work (at a school) after maternity leave, I’d love to whip some of this up for us!
I know that lemon essential oil must be contained in glassware or it will eat away at plastic (because of it’s detoxing power; it wants to leach those chemicals out of plastic). I have not heard about this issue with Thieves and have not experienced any issues with using my plastic squeezable containers for this recipe (or my plastic dispensers for my foaming Thieves hand soap).
Hi! Thanks for posting such great, easy recipes! Wondering your thoughts on making the gel hand sanitizer without the Vit. E oil. I was hoping to whip up a few little bottles for my son’s teacher, but I do not have Vit. E oil on hand. Do you think it would still hold up/last a reasonable amount of time without it? Thanks!
The Vitamin E is both a preservative and helps keep hands soft, but as far as still working as a SANITIZER, this recipe will still work without it. I’d just be sure to make a small batch (like this small, travel size) versus going for a full jar of hand sanitizer. Good luck, and great idea for a teacher gift!
Hi! Do you think fractionated coconut oil could be used instead of the vit e? Thanks!!
Hey I have two questions. The first is what size travel size container did you use for the gel based hand sanitizer and the second is would it be ok to use a plastic spray bottle for the spray hand sanitizer. Thanks!
I just made this- although I didn’t have organic Aloe I used what I could find at Target.
It’s awesome. I swear it’s like hand lotion
Is there anything that can be used as a substitute for the Aloe gel? I have a few customers who are allergic to aloe. What a great site you have!
Thank you, Jeanie! I personally haven’t tried any other kinds of homemade hand sanitizers without aloe gel, but I did an internet search and found this site which has a couple of aloe-free options: http://mom.me/mind-body/9630-5-homemade-hand-sanitizers/ I hope that helps!
Hey there. I accidentally forgot to add the oils to the salt before i added the water…will it still sanitize okay? Should I just shake it well before using it to mix the oil into the water?
Yep! I definitely wouldn’t throw it out – I treat my Thieves like liquid gold! 😀 I’d give it a good shake before each use and just be sure to add the oil to the salt for next time. So glad you decided to give this recipe a try, Ashley!
put in half as much witch hazel as water to break up the oil, but shake each time
I’ve read else where that Epsom salt can be used as well but I see you used table salt! Which do you prefer and why?
Hi Dusty! I have a quick question about this… I bought my aloe vera gel through your link but I noticed the bottle says to refrigerate it after opening. This may sound dumb, but do you refrigerate your hand sanitizer? I saw on some other EO Facebook groups people were refrigerating things that had this gel in it but I wondered if you’ve had success not refrigerating it?