Store-bought hand wash and hand sanitisers are quite frankly a chemical sh*t storm!

We’re talking serious nasties like:

Triclosan
Found in some toothpaste and anti-bacterial hand washes, this chemical was first registered as a pesticide in the 60’s! It’s found to be behind a lot of antibiotic resistance and superbugs. After it reached the headlines on the news last year, many companies started to take this chemical out of their toothpaste and liquid hand soap ranges.

SLS and SLES
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) is what makes bubbles, usually in shampoos, dish liquid and liquid soaps. You’ll find these two nasties in up to 90% of personal care items. There is a high risk that in the manufacturing process, these two chemicals are contaminated with other chemicals known to be human carcinogens (cancerous).

Parabens
These are synthetic preservatives that come in different forms and are found absolutely everywhere. Many companies are recognizing ongoing consumer concerns, and are now reformulating their product as a paraben-free range. While this is a fantastic industry shift, you need to be careful that they’re not replacing parabens with another harmful preservative such as phenoxyethanol.  Current studies show that phenoxyethanol is irritating to the skin, hormone-disrupting and cell-mutating.

Parabens are also known to disrupt hormones, especially in younger aged people and lead to cancer when used over a long period of time. Look out for the word paraben on the ingredients list, and if in doubt, bring out your phone and Google any ingredient you don’t recognize while at the store.

Fragrance | Parfum | Perfume
These words are collective terms that can be made up of hundreds of chemicals in products.  Manufacturers are under no obligation to tell their consumers, exactly what those chemicals are.  It’s their little trade secret. Instead choose scented products that you know are naturally sourced, including pure essential oils.

Alcohol
It is added as a preservative in hand sanitisers as well as being a chemical compound that allows the liquid to dissolve and evaporate quickly.  The problem with alcohol, in our opinion, is that it is damaging to our gut microbiome as well as being incredibly dehydrating to our skin.  The last thing we want when we are trying to protect our health and our gut health from whatever nasty pathogens are going around is to damage our microbiome with alcohol, it’s counterproductive.

So, here’s how you can easily avoid all this ⬆️ and make your own non-toxic hand wash and hand sanitiser, in minutes, that actually works and is good for you AND the environment.

Hand Wash

Ingredients

2 tbsp. liquid castile soap
1 tbsp. fractionated coconut oil
20 drops essential oils
Filtered or distilled water
Foaming pump bottle (dark glass or amber PET1 or 2 plastic)

Method

  1. Pour castile soap and fractionated coconut oil into bottle.
  2. Add essential oils and give it a swish around to emulsify the oils and soap.
  3. Top up the bottle with water, making sure to not fill all the way to the top so that the pump/lid can fit back in the bottle without spilling over.
  4. Screw the pump/lid back into place.
  5. Shake to emulsify all ingredients.
  6. Now it’s ready to use.  Just make sure to give it a shake every so often to re-emulsify the contents.

Essential oil options:

On Guard and Litsea
Wild Orange and Peppermint
Wild Orange and Lemon
On Guard
Lavender and Wild Orange
Patchouli and Lime
Balance and Citrus Bliss

Hand Sanitiser

Liquid Spray Version

Ingredients

30ml empty spritzer bottle (dark glass or amber PET1 or 2 plastic)
Witch hazel (organic alcohol-free)
20 drops doTERRA On Guard essential oil

Method

  1. Add ingredients to bottle.
  2. Shake before each use.

Tips:
You could add 1/2 witch hazel and 1/2 filtered or distilled water to the bottle but witch hazel works well and evaporates the liquid quicker.
You could also add a little squirt of fractionated coconut oil to the bottle which will help emulsify the essential oils with the liquid a bit better and nourish your hands at the same time.
This recipe is for adult usage.  If you are wanting young children to use it ie. grade 1, 2 or 3 school-aged kids then you may want to halve the number of essential oil drops.  Work within the ratio guidelines as shown in this image.

Gel Version

Ingredients

3/4 fill bottle with aloe vera gel
1 tbsp witch hazel extract
10-20 drops On Guard essential oil
30ml squirt/pump bottle (dark glass or amber PET1 or PET2 plastic)

Method

  1. Combine the aloe vera gel and witch hazel together, in the bottle.
  2. Add On Guard essential oil.
  3. Shake until well combined.

Things To Note

You can source castile soap, aloe vera gel and vitamin E oil from your local health food store or online from Vitalia

As for the foaming pump bottle and travel-sized squirt/pump bottle, see if you already have some lying around at home that you can empty, clean out and repurpose.  Every little bit of plastic we save from going into landfill is a really good thing.  Just make sure with plastic that it states either PET1 or PET2 on the bottom of the bottle as this will mean it is safe to use with essential oils.

As for the essential oils, we only use and recommend doTERRA Essential Oils because we know they are of the purest quality.  If you want to get some for yourself, then you can head to our website for all the details and to order.

DIY is a personal choice and one we feel very confident in. It is, however, important for you to do your own research when it comes to the effectiveness of the hand sanitiser. We are confident and trust that the ingredients we use will fulfil their duties, and we would rather use this over a commercial product any day of the week.

DIY doesn’t have to be hard, a few minutes of effort can save you and your family a lifetime of exposure to nasty chemicals.

Much love,

Jo and Tracey x