As you would suspect we have been receiving a lot of questions on How to make Hand Sanitising Gel or Hand Sanitising wash.
This article is published to provide you with facts for making sanitising wash and gels in Australia. We trust that this will help you navigate through some of the misinformation out there, when it comes to how to make both Hospital Grade and DIY Home Sanitizers!
What makes a sanitizing product ‘sanitizing’? And when is it hospital grade?
First let’s define the difference between Sterilisation and Sanitising. With sterilisation all bacterium are killed whereas with sanitising we remove most, but not all. Sterilisation kills all micro-organisms including spores. Sanitisers are only effective on 99.9% of the micro-organisms when applied and strong enough.
Sanitizing therefore means the formulation when applied removes dirt and micro-organisms, but typically a few dormant bacterium may remain. You often see claims on sanitiser branded products such as ‘kills 99.9% germs’.
There are 2 types sanitisers ; an AI (Active Ingredient) or Alcoholic Gel formulations according to the TGA.
to summarize
• Sanitizing can be achieved with a minimum of 60%w/w full strength ethanol or isopropyl alcohol in a formula – whilst this is still effective, it is not as efficient as hospital grade products.
• Hospital grade sanitising can only be achieved by using at least 70% w/w full strength ethanol or isopropyl alcohol –this is the minimum level required to achieve hospital grade sanitization
• Hospital grade sanitizing is also possible with Active Ingredients but these are not available to other than pharmaceutical and associated industries.
Can I use methylated spirits?
NO– do NOT use denatured ethanol ( methylated spirits ) in sanitising formulas. Only use pharmaceutical grade ethanol or isopropyl alcohol in these formulas. Denatured ethanol and methylated spirits contain bittering agents / industrial co-solvents that are not suitable for continued topical application, and thus not suitable to use in these formulas.
Can I use Gin, Vodka or other strong spirits?
NO– Gin, Vodka and strong spirits, are are not sufficiently strong enough to provide effective sanitizing.These contain at best, 40-50% alcohol and have different flavour ingredients. Even if you used these straight, they fall short of the minimum alcohol strength required
Can I use essential oils and herbal extracts to sanitize?
While some essential oils ( eg Tea Tree , Lemon Myrtle, Eucalyptus Oil) and herbal extracts (eg Witch Hazel) have some antibacterial or antifungal activity, they are not considered ‘broad spectrum’ enough to be properly effective at sanitizing. Again according to the TGA advertising these with unsubstantiated sanitising claims is against the law. The sanitizing agents and concentrations we have used in our formulas will provide broad spectrum sanitizing activity
Why is there no preservative in the sanitiser formulation?
When formulations contain high levels of ethanol/isopropyl alcohol ( higher than 60% alcohol), these formulas are ‘selfpreserving’. These formulas kill micro-organisms – they don’t need additional preservative.
Important aspects to consider when manufacturing, selling and shipping
• You don’t need essential oils in the products, they are only added to cover some of the alcohol smell. Remember, they are not adding to the sanitizing effect, they are simply there to make the product smell nicer.
• DO NOT USE bergamot, bitter orange, grapefruit, lemon or lime in leave on products, especially multi-use leave on products like hand sanitizing products. These essential oils contain a phototoxic agent that can leave permanent stains on your skin when exposed to the sun.
• These products are at least 60% ethanol/isopropyl alcohol = they are HIGHLY FLAMMABLE!
• NEVER ship via air – only by road
• Find out the Dangerous Good labelling requirements for your local region and make sure your product labels and shipping containers comply
• Even organic ethanol is highly flammable, the same rules apply! So, check this carefully to make sure your products comply
• Store and use the ingredients and finished products carefully
• Use only spark-proof manufacturing equipment
click on button below to download formulation
to access some of the ingredients click on the individual ingredients to follow the links