Not For Human Consumption

I'm going to post a different kind of recipe today. It's not a low calorie recipe but it will help keep you healthy all the same.

With all the talk of flu, hand sanitizer seems almost mandatory. Several months ago when accounts of the "swine flu" (as they were calling H1N1 then) first started flooding the news, hand sanitizer was impossible to find in my area. If that should happen to you, or if you'd like to make your own to save money and keep track of the ingredients you're using, here's a recipe for Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer.

I know it's stating the obvious, but do not eat this! This is for using on your hands to keep them germ-free.

Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

--6 parts rubbing alcohol
--4 parts aloe vera gel
--a few drops of scented oil, if desired (purely cosmetic, to mask the medicinal smell)

(Broken down into measurements, it comes to 1.5 cups of alcohol to 1 cups of aloe vera, multipled or divided as you choose to make the amount you want.) Pour into a bottle and shake until well-mixed.

This will not be as thick as store bought sanitizer. If desired, you can add up 5 drops of tea tree oil per 1/2 cup sanitizer to increase effectiveness even further, but be aware that tea tree oil can be toxic to cats and other pets, so if there is any chance they'll be licking your hands, don't use it.

You'll find many hand sanitizer recipes on the internet, but the only ones that effectively kill germs are the ones that have at least the '6 parts alcohol/4 parts other liquid' ratio.

And how much sanitizer should you use? According to the New York Times, "Vigorously rub all sides of your hands with enough gel or foam to get them wet, and rub them together until they are dry. If your hands are dry within 10 or 15 seconds, according to the C.D.C. guidelines for health care workers, you haven't used enough."