How to Make Hand Sanitizer With Moonshine


applying home made hand sanitizer
Applying Homemade Hand Sanitizer

There has been a massive shortage of hand sanitizer recently due to the corona virus pandemic sweeping across the United States and more over the world. In this time of need it frustrates me that there’s such a simple solution to the problem. Panic is not the answer instead knowledge will solve this current crisis. After all hand sanitizer is nothing more then alcohol, water and some glycerine and making alcohol is something we know a lot about around here. This article will discuss how to make homemade hand sanitizer, that will kill the corona virus (COVID – 19) using homemade moonshine (ethanol). If you are new to making your own alcohol I’d suggest you simply use it for making hand sanitizer there is plenty to learn before making moonshine that you should consume. As well as some legal issues to deal with to say the least. That said if you are interested in learning more about this amazing hobby make sure you check out the main site, as well as our Facebook group dedicated to networking fellow enthusiast.

Youtube Video Demonstration

Here’s a video that demonstrates the two hand sanitizer recipes I’ve talked about below and show’s you how to make your own alcohol for hand sanitizer using and Air Still.

Let’s first go over two of the most common recipe’s when making hand sanitizer.

WHO Homemade Hand Sanitizer Recipe:

World Health Organizations (WHO) Hand Sanitizer Recipe – This is a simple recipe that can easily be made at home.

Ingredients:

  • Ethanol 96% (Moonshine) – 1 Cup, we will talk about making this later
  • Hydrogen Peroxide 3% – 1 Table Spoon, This is not an active substance for antisepsis it simply kills bacterial spores in the solution does not affect the killing power of your hand sanitizer
  • Glycerol – 1 Tea Spoon, commonly found in the food and beverage industry, many of you have used this as a thickening agent in home made spirits. Can be found on Amazon, drug stores or your local home brew shop.
  • Water – 1/3 Cup, used to dilute the hand sanitizer down to 70% abv

Instructions:

Simply mix the above four ingredients together in a container and you’ve made your own hand sanitizer. It’s important to note the WHO recommends hand sanitizer has an alcohol content over 60% abv to be effective at killing the corona virus. So make sure you don’t over dilute your hand sanitizer. Here’s a simple dilution calculator that can help you figure out how much water you should add if you don’t have 96% abv moonshine on hand.

Finally let hand sanitizer sit for 72 hours before using this will allow any spores in the alcohol or container to be destroyed by the hydrogen peroxide.

counter top air still making hand sanitizer
Using a counter top air still to make alcohol for hand sanitizer

Hand Sanitizer With Aloe Vera And Lemon Recipe

This recipe is very similar to the WHO recipe but instead of glycerin it uses Aleo Vero as a moisturizing agent and uses no water so it forms more of a gel then a spray on application. I personally like this hand sanitizer recipe the best.

Ingredients:

  • Ethanol 96% (Moonshine) – 1 Cup, we will talk about making this later
  • Hydrogen Peroxide 3% -1 Table Spoon, This is not an active substance for antisepsis it simply kills bacterial spores in the solution ( does not affect the killing power of your hand sanitizer)
  • Aloe Vero – 1 Table Spoon, Works as a great skin moisturizer and is soluble in alcohol unlike traditional hand moisturizer.
  • Lemon essential oil – 10 drops, This adds a really nice lemon smell to your homemade hand sanitizer.

Instructions:

Simply mix the above four ingredients together in a container and you’ve made your own Aloe Vera hand sanitizer.

Once again the hand sanitizer sit for 72 hours before using this will allow any spores in the alcohol or container to be destroyed by the hydrogen peroxide.

Making your own Alcohol For Hand Sanitizer

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find rubbing alcohol or isopropanol in stores because everyone is using it to make their own hand sanitizer. I feel like there is an utter lack of knowledge out there about just how easy it is to make your own alcohol right at home. Here’s what you need:

Materials :

  • Air Still – This compact unit is all you need to distill your own alcohol for making unlimited amounts of hand sanitizer at home.
  • Alcohol Hydrometer – You’ll need this to measure the final alcohol % of what comes out of the Air Still.
  • Graduated Cylinder – This will hold your Hydrometer when making measurements.
  • Fermentation Vessel – You can either use a Carboy or simply a food grade plastic or glass container.

Ingredients:

  1. Sugar – 4 kg
  2. Bakers Yeast -1/2 cup
  3. Citric Acid – 1 tsp
  4. Water – 5 Gallons warm water between 25 – 30 Celsius

Instructions :

  1. Start with 4 Gallons of water add sugar and citric acid and mix until sugar is fully dissolved.
  2. Add yeast, let hydrate for 2 min and then give your sugar wash a shake to fully mix in the yeast.
  3. Place an airlock in your carboy or simply poke a small pin size hole in your fermenter lid to allow off gassing.
  4. Allow fermentation to finish 5 -10 days. You will know fermentation is completed when wash no longer taste sweet or off gassing stops.
  5. Pour wash into Air Still, close lid, turn on Air Still and wait for distillate to start dripping from it. Collect alcohol with either stainless steel or glass collection container.
  6. Using the Hydrometer and graduated cylinder measure you %abv (alcohol by volume) of the moonshine. You should be sitting at around 50% we need to get this up to 90% abv to use it in our hand sanitizer recipes.
  7. After running all the sugar wash though the still, collect all the alcohol and pour it back into the Air still for a second distillation.
  8. After running it a second time use your hydrometer to measure the % abv, at this point it should be between 80-90% a third run maybe required.
Making moonshine for hand sanitizer
Fermenting Sugar Wash To Make Alcohol for Hand Sanitizer

Now an Air still is by far the simplest tool to use for this and I think for the majority of people reading this it will work great for all your hand sanitizer needs. At the end of the day it’s a glorified pot still and if you would like to get 93-96% abv in a single run I’d suggest you look at getting a reflux still instead. Hopefully your able to make use of this information to keep your family safe during the Corona virus epidemic.

Sharing This Video

If you’d like to share the above video on social media here’s a link to use https://youtu.be/aDpJ3z5WkV0 If you have any questions feel free to drop me a comment below. For more information on Coronavirus (Covid-19) Please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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