5 Natural Ingredients That Can Be Turned Into a Hand Sanitizer
Scarcity is inevitable, the stock of masks and hand sanitizers in various pharmacies has run out, even though the price is available it has gone up to 12x. Many elements take advantage of this national emergency situation to make a profit by giving rise to masks and hand sanitizers which are then resold at fantastic prices.
Actually, the use of masks also cannot guarantee the individual is not infected. Because according to experts ordinary health masks are not able to prevent the entry of Coronavirus which is very small.
So the most effective way to prevent this Coronavirus infection is to wash your hands frequently with water and soap or replace them with a hand sanitizer.
Unfortunately, hand sanitizers are also increasingly rare. Many people buy this hand sanitizer for their own needs. This condition forced many people to try to make their own version of hand sanitizer.
Mandatory Hand Sanitizer ingredients
Making hand sanitizers is admittedly quite easy, the ingredients are also not difficult to obtain. However, the ingredients must not be complete because there is something lacking because its main function is to kill bacteria and get rid of viruses.
According to the recommendations of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019. Materials that can be used to make hand sanitizers are those containing ethyl alcohol (ethanol), isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol) or benzalkonium chloride. Apart from these three ingredients, hand sanitizer products are unable to kill the bacteria that cause viruses.
Alcohol
Alcohol is the main ingredient that must be present in hand sanitizer products. Chemically, alcohol is an organic molecule made of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
Propanol and isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol)
Both of these chemicals are also always present in the hand sanitizer. Two other types of alcohol are common in disinfectants because they are very soluble in water, like ethanol.
Based on a report in the journal Clinical Microbiology Review 2014. Alcohol is known to be able to destroy disease-causing agents, or pathogens, by breaking down proteins, dividing cells into pieces or disrupting cell metabolism.
At least we need at least 30 percent alcohol to be able to kill pathogens. Its effectiveness will increase with increasing alcohol concentration.
Ethanol
It is the third enemy of bacterial species that cause diseases such as Escherichia coli (the cause of diarrhea), Serratia marcescens (the cause of infection in the urinary tract) and Staphylococcus saprophyticus (the cause of ulcers).
Natural ingredient
When making a hand sanitizer to eliminate the pungent odor of alcohol, we need other ingredients that are safe to apply to the skin but the smell can defeat alcohol. Usually, hand sanitizer makers will use flowers to neutralize the smell of alcohol while treating the skin of the hands.
Remember, the higher the alcohol content, the greater the effectiveness. However, the use of too often can cause the surface of the skin to become dry and even cause allergies and injuries. The bad effects of using hand sanitizers are even higher when compared to washing hands using soap regularly.
5 Natural Ingredients for Hand Sanitizer
Because hand sanitizer stock in pharmacies and drug stores is increasingly scarce, we must find other ways to get it, besides buying it at a high price. Namely, make your own hand sanitizer liquid. Here is a row of natural ingredients that we can use to make hand sanitizers.
1. Betel Leaves
Betel leaf is one ingredient that is often used as an antiseptic. Because it already contains an antiseptic, when it is made into a hand sanitizer we do not need the role of alcohol or ethanol.
Head of the Pharmaceutical Department of the Faculty of Pharmacy UNAIR, Dr. Retno Sari claimed he and his team succeeded in making hand sanitizers and betel leaves without the addition of alcohol. The following recipe and how to make it:
Material:
- Betel leaf 50 grams
- Air 200 ml
- Lime
How to make:
- Take 50 grams of betel leaves from the yard, then wash and air-dry to dry
- Cut into small pieces
- Heat water 200 ml
- Pour hot water into the betel leaves that have been cut into pieces
- Soak then steam in a pan over low heat for 30 minutes
- After that, filtered until you get extra water
- Add lime
- Stir and add water
The dominant aroma of this hand sanitizer is betel leaf which has the same effect as ethanol, which reduces the number of bacteria. To reduce the stinging betel odor and to avoid color during the filtering process, leave it for a moment and add the lime juice then strain. Instantly the color will become clear.
But it should be noted because it is made without preservatives, hand sanitizer from natural ingredients is not durable. So it is not recommended for sale, enough for personal use only.
2. Lemongrass Leaves
Besides betel you can also use lemongrass leaves as a natural ingredient in a homemade hand sanitizer. Plants that have this specific aroma are effective as a mixture of hand sanitizers but cannot work without the help of alcohol. How do you make liquid hand sanitizer made from lemongrass? Here's the rarity:
Material:
- Lemongrass leaves to taste
- alcohol around 30%
- triclosan 1,5-2%
- Aloe vera extract as much as 10%
How to make:
- Wash the lemongrass leaves clean, do not get dirt stuck
- Slice into small pieces to make it easier to remove bioactive compounds during the steaming process
- To dissolve the bioactive compounds found in lemongrass, use hot water or steam lemongrass. Do not boil it because the boiling process can reduce many compounds due to high heat exposure.
- Steam for 15 minutes.
- Filter the results of steaming (this is a pure extract of lemongrass leaves).
- Add about 30% alcohol.
- Add 1.5-2% triclosan. Alcohol and triclosan function to attack microbes so that the cell walls are damaged.
- Add aloe vera extract as much as 10%. Aloe vera functions to thicken the liquid so that it is easier to use on our hands.
3. Orange Peel
The recipe for making hand sanitizer made from orange peel was found by students of the Faculty of Industrial Technology (FTI) Makassar Muslim University (UMI) Makassar.
Even though it uses orange peel, the actual anti-microbial function is still obtained from alcohol. Orange peel only functions as a deodorizer. How do you make their version of hand sanitizer? This is the material and how it is made.
Material:
- 150 ml of 70 percent alcohol
- 50 grams of aloe vera gel
- A little squeezed orange peel extract
How to make:
Alcohol and aloe vera gel are mixed together and stirred for 15 minutes. After that, leave it for a moment and add a small piece of lemon peel that has been squeezed.
Alcohol acts as an antiseptic that can kill and ward off bacteria. Aloe vera gel or aloe vera to soften the skin and function as a thickener.
Meanwhile, orange peel extracts as a deodorizer. The mixture is considered as a killer of germs, bacteria, to the coronavirus. All ingredients used are natural except 70 percent alcohol.
The Head of the FTI UMI Makassar Laboratory, Dr. Rismawati Rasyid, guarantees that this hand sanitizer will not cause irritation. This is due to the addition of aloe vera gel which functions to soften and moisturize the skin, thus preventing irritation.
4. Mangrove Leaves
If the recipes for making hand sanitizers that have sprung up on social media involve more aloe vera gel. This time a different recipe was made by UNM Students (Makassar State University) by creating a hand sanitizer from mangrove leaves.
Indeed there is no official research that confirms that mangrove leaf extract is effective in killing Coronavirus, but this step is still worth trying at least to reduce bacterial exposure.
What materials are needed and how to make them? The following explanation:
Material:
- Mangrove Leaves
- carboxymethyl cellulose or CMC NA
- aquades
- glycerine
- propylene glycol
- 96 percent alcohol
How to make:
- The first step is to make mangrove leaf extract by drying the mangrove leaves in the sun for 4 days
- If it is dry, destroy the mangrove leaves using a shredder such as a blender, the mangrove leaf powder is filtered until smooth.
- On the other hand, the CMC NA mixture and distilled water are then heated. The mixture of these two ingredients must be cold so that it can be mixed again with glycerin and propylene glycol.
- Mix thoroughly all the mixture, then add 96 percent as much as 60 percent alcohol to the product. Furthermore, the mangrove leaf extract that has been made earlier is inserted into the product.
- The ingredients that are mixed will change shape into a gel. As for the anti-microbial, it is obtained from alcohol. While mangrove leaf extracts also act as antimicrobials plus antioxidants.
This product can be mixed with essential oils to produce a distinctive fragrance. But this is optional.
5. Essential Oils
Essential oils are known to have antibacterial, antimicrobial, or anti-fungal properties so that they are used as ingredients for hand sanitizers.
If you want to get a more complex hand sanitizer recipe, you can mix essential oils with various other ingredients such as white vinegar, fruit tongue, and alcohol. Quoted from Kompas, this is how to make a hand sanitizer made from essential oils.
Material:
- Essential oil
- White vinegar
- Aloe vera
- Colloidal silver
- alcohol
How to make :
120 ml (half glass) filtered water or aloe (base) 120 ml (half glass) white vinegar 10-12 drops of essential oil 1 tablespoon of colloidal silver and isopropyl alcohol. After all the ingredients are prepared, mix them in a bowl or special container that is easy to use and you can carry them with you.
That's a natural ingredient that we can use to make hand sanitizers. It should be noted that all of these natural ingredients have not been clinically tested or do not yet have scientific evidence that can show it can kill the Coronavirus. In addition, the use of hand sanitizers with 70% alcohol content is also not recommended for the long term.
Because the contents of harsh chemicals can make the skin dry and damaged, so it makes it easier for bacteria to enter the inside of the body and even cause infection.
Therefore there is no better effort than washing your hands regularly with soap for 60 seconds. Practice WHO handwashing standards to ensure your hands are clean before touching other parts of your face and body. In addition, protect yourself in insurance that suits your needs.
