Supplies of commercial hand sanitizer are selling out in the face of the COVID virus. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to make your own because they’re just alcohol, which kills viruses and bacteria, in a medium that lets you spread it on your hands.

Here’s a recipe from the reference site ThoughtCo, although similar recipes can be found online:

– 2/3 cup of 99% isopropyl alcohol or ethanol

– 1/3 cup of aloe vera gel or the equivalent

-Mix them together and, >italic<voila!>res<, you have hand sanitizer. You can add drops of scented oils to make it smell nice if you wish, and it’s easier to apply if you put it into an old liquid soap bottle with a pump.

That’s all there is to it.  You can tweak the measurement, but alcohol needs to make up at least two-thirds of the material by volume for the mix to be effective.

Of course, no hand sanitizer is perfect protection. Washing your hands with plains soap and water frequently is important, as is avoiding people who are obviously sick. 

The Centers for Disease Control has a ton of material on ways to avoid the disease at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html