The release of our Unscented Hand Sanitizer spray has raised many questions about the product, including whether you can add Essential Oils to it. Rather than provide you with a one-word answer, we feel this question deserves a deeper explanation. Read on to get our hot take on adding EOs to Edens Garden’s Hand Sanitizer.
Can You Add Essential Oil To Hand Sanitizer?
Before you go doctoring your Hand Sanitizer with your favorite Essential Oils, there are a few things you should consider.
For starters, adding essential oils to any finished product is not recommended unless the product is specifically formulated to have additional ingredients added, and our Hand Sanitizer was not formulated to accommodate additional ingredients.
Rather, we followed strict FDA guidelines when formulating our Sanitizer so that we could bring it to market as quickly as possible to help mitigate the worldwide shortage. This also meant that we were unable to add Essential Oils to our formula, though we hope to offer Sanitizers infused with our 100% pure essential oils in the future.
High-proof alcohol does a great job of preserving water-based products and solubilizing essential oils. However, without lab testing, you’ll never know just how well your products are preserved and your essential oils solubilized.
Lab testing currently shows that our Hand Sanitizers are safe and effective, though we have not tested how safe and effective they are when Essential Oils or other ingredients are added. And due to the gravity of current viruses and germs circulating, we don’t want you to risk lessening the effectiveness of your hand sanitizer.
Notice the ingredients in our Hand Sanitizer include hydrogen peroxide? Though it contains a very small and safe amount of hydrogen peroxide, this ingredient can oxidize Essential Oils, making it harmful and irritating to the skin. To prevent this, an antioxidant such as Vitamin E oil would need to be added, which would again require testing to ensure the Sanitizer’s efficacy and a deeper understanding of formulation.
Don’t add essential oils to your Hand Sanitizer unless you plan on testing the resulting formulation in a lab for safety, stability, and efficacy. The same goes for making your own DIY Hand Sanitizer which comes with many of its own problems and concerns.
If you find that other companies recommend adding essential oils to their Unscented Hand Sanitizer, be your own advocate and mention some of the concerns listed above to ensure they have considered these areas before giving their recommendation.
Can I Make My Own Hand Sanitizer?
In the past couple of years, we’ve seen an increase in people making their own sanitizers. And while it’s possible to make your own sanitizer, it’s also a bit involved and requires special tools and ingredients such as 99 isopropyl alcohol and distilled water, as opposed to aloe vera gel and vodka, which are not suitable ingredients for your homemade sanitizer.
DIY Lavender Hand Sanitizer
Does hand sanitizer need essential oils?
The CDC recommends hand sanitizer that’s at least 60% alcohol. The power of this hand sanitizer comes from the alcohol, so if you don’t have the essential oils, no worries. The important part is the alcohol! The original recipe included essential oils, but they aren’t necessary.
Does hand sanitizer make wounds more infected?
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that hand sanitizer is a biocide. Biocidal products are those used to protect people and animals, preserve goods, stop pests like rodents, and insects, and control bacteria, viruses, and fungi through chemical action. Though biocides are labeled safe to use, they are risky at some point. It is safe to use an alcohol-based sanitizer if used correctly. But it should never be used on an open wound or any delicate skin.
How to make hand sanitizer?
Using a small glass beaker makes measuring liquid amounts easy. 3. Add in the essential oil drops. If making the hand sanitizer for children, the elderly, or pregnant women, use 6 drops to 12 drops of essential oil (a 0.5% to 1% dilution). Otherwise, use 36 drops, which is a 3% dilution.
Can you use a homemade hand sanitizer spray?
Let’s embrace good hygiene, naturally. I promise it can be done. Homemade Hand Sanitizer Spray: A simple spray for when you need to wash your hands and don’t have soap and water. If you want a spray instead of a gel, this recipe is for you.