Hand Cleanser Gel (Alcohol Free)

I haven’t used hand sanitizer or antibacterial soaps in a couple of years. Partly because I have read many articles on how it just causes viruses and bacteria to become resistant (here’s a good article I just found on it). Partly because I do not like the drying effect most have on my skin with them containing alcohol. And partly because they usually contain chemical fragrances which = headache and possible migraine for me (and for my husband too).

Lately, I’ve been carrying my little “doctor kit” of essential oils in my purse and will occasionally use a drop of the protection blend on my hands after hand-shaking time at church. I also very often hear everyone else (or smell) opening and closing their antibacterial gels to sanitize their hands.

Wanting to create my own hand cleansing gel using the protection blend essential oil, I started looking online at recipes and came up with a recipe that works for me. It’s not too thick and it’s not too thin, but you can adjust the amounts of witch hazel and aloe vera gel to make it how you like.

Hand Cleanser Gel (Alcohol Free)
printable recipe here

1 part aloe vera gel (I use this gel which can be found at Walmart also.)
1 part witch hazel (It’s available unscented if you prefer.)
10-15 drops protection blend essential oil
¼ teaspoon vitamin E oil, optional
2 ounce flip top bottle (Here are the bottles I bought for this project.)

Squirt aloe vera gel into bottle. Add essential oils then witch hazel. Add vitamin E oil, if using. Screw on lid and shake. It’s ready to use!

I did eyeball the measuring for this when making my own but if you are using a 2 ounce container like I did, 1 ounce is equal to 2 tablespoons. I would do just a bit under 2 tablespoons of the aloe vera gel and witch hazel to allow room for the essential oil and vitamin E oil.

Other good ones that you could use include Wild Orange, Rosemary, Bergamot, and Lemongrass. A lot of the essential oils are naturally antibacterial because of the way God made them!

This would be a great stocking stuffer or part of a gift for friends/family with Christmas coming soon. I created some simple labels to print and cut for you. All I did for these was create text boxes in Word that were 1.5” in height so that the clear packing tape would go over the edge to “seal” them. That’s what I used here. The printable image below is available on the recipe download above.

My intentions for the Twisted Peppermint label was to use peppermint essential oil which is antibacterial and antiviral. Play around and find good combos like I did on my Essential Oil Perfume post, but be careful about using a lot of “hot” essential oils such as clove, cinnamon, thyme, and oregano. Some of my favorite essential oil combos are: wild orange & lavender, peppermint with lemon and rosemary, and just peppermint & rosemary.

You could use this idea as a gift year round - Valentine's Day, Easter, Teacher Appreciation Day, Mother's Day, etc or include it in gifts for new mothers or birthday gifts.

Let's see who is paying attention! ;) If you live in the area and are the FIRST person to comment below AND share on Facebook, then I will give you a FREE bottle of my hand cleanser gel!