Hand Sanitizer. In theory, it’s a good thing, right? Remove germs, stay healthy. The problem is, in order to work well, hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol. Something containing as much as 4 shots of vodka in it not only is a fire hazard, it’s not good for our skin.

Thankfully, there’s an alternative. Many essential oils are anti-bacterial, purifying, germ-destroying and/or naturally cleansing. To make the essential oil as convenient as commercial hand sanitizers to use and apply is a pretty simple process.

Here are all the supplies you need:

2/3 cup aloe vera gel (get the purest gel you can find—try a health or whole foods kind of store)
¼ cup water
½ teaspoon vitamin E or almond oil
15-20 drops essential oil (choose an oil that is naturally cleansing or purifying or germ-destroying such as cinnamon, clove, melaleuca, or my personal favorite,  On Guard (which contains cinnamon, clove, wild orange, eucalyptus, and rosemary)*

Here’s the simple steps:

Mix the ingredients together and store in a glass jar with a lid. Fill up smaller, plastic containers with the hand sanitizer as needed (I use ones like these which are super cheap), for ease of carrying around in purse, car, backpack, etc. Although it’s best to store essential oils in glass for the long term, storing products with small amounts of oil (like this recipe) in plastic isn’t harmful.

*On Guard oil blend has been studied in the lab and found to be very effective against bacteria, mold, and other unwanted bacteria or pathogens, but other oils are also beneficial. I’m partial to On Guard because it smells like Christmas with its clove, cinnamon and orange scents. Win/win in my books.