BE SANITISER SAVVY

Do It Yourself Non-Toxic Hand Sanitiser

Our world has changed – no longer do we blithely go out all day and wash our hands when we get home. Now every time we change stores, try on an article of clothing, or even look at our fellow humans, we are being asked to sanitise our hands.

Now that is not all bad, but there are several concerns that I have:

• Some of this cheap stuff is downright toxic – in fact, the ingredients read like a Year 12 chemistry experiment! There are a number of real nasty players in some of these products, including Polypropylene glycol, and triclosan, which of course is by far the worst and was banned by the FDA as a probable carcinogen (Cancer causing substance) in 2016.

• Frequent use of hand sanitisers are destroying the acid mantle of our skin and the naturally occurring “good guys” – this will not only lead to irritation, but also to an increased risk of skin infections – we are killing the good soldiers by trying to keep the bad ones at bay.

• This in itself , creates an in balance in our environments, actually allowing the “baddies’ to proliferate.

• We are relying on the sanitisers so much, that we are actually forgetting good old soap and water – this cannot be good!

But the nature of the current beast known as “that” pandemic, must mean that we do take the utmost care – so here are a few tips on how to stay “Sanitiser-savvy”:

• Go for the natural, or even organic varieties – they will not contain the harmful chemicals and will rely on alcohol instead to basically desiccate and dry up the bugs.

• Wash AND dry your hands after every 5 sprays with the sanitiser, to wash off residue and to save your skin – do NOT use the anti-bacterial stuff as this defeats the purpose: Good old fashioned soap and water – wash for 3 minutes ( Sing The “Happy Birthday” song) and this will manually remove any microbes and residues from your skin. And remember DRY them well – dry hands are clean hands!

• Moisturise your hands morning and night with a natural non-antibacterial moisturiser to keep skin intact.

• Make your own – hand sanitiser is actually very easy to make and here is the recipe!

RECIPE:

•Clear methylated spirits – 70%

• Boiled water, or aloe vera gel (I prefer water as the aloe makes it sticky) – 30%

• Essential oils of your choice: If you want that “Clean” smell, try eucalyptus and clove. But essentially anything will do; my favourite is lavender and I am also partial to a cinnamon/clove mix – it’s very warming. Or you can try lemon/lime and peppermint for a cooler scent.Just mix it all together in a spray bottle – a funnel comes in handy!

The water is added so the alcohol will stay on the skin a little longer, time enough to kill!

Clear methylated spirits is essentially ethanol and denatured water – it’s the purple stuff that contains the methanol, which is toxic – so always the clear please and if in doubt, check the products ingredients and MSDS – available from the company’s website