Create Your Own HAND SANITIZER Product Line - DIY Body Care Guide! PART 1: SUPPLIES

Posted by Big Brand Wholesale.com on 15th Mar 2020

As you are probably aware, the Corona Virus is scaring the heck out of the world which has resulted in hand sanitizer selling like hotcakes... or perhaps the last hotcake on earth. So, instead of living in fear, now is the time to capitalize on hysteria and create your own sanitizer line! It's super simple and I'm going to tell you exactly what you need to have your prototypes ready in 48 hours or less:

There are lots of different recipes online but all of the recipes have similar ingredients so you can purchase the ingredients then play around with the recipe you like the most or mix recipes to innovate your own awesome product, just be sure to follow the guidelines so you know your sanitizer actually WORKS. I will include a list of recipes at the end of this article.

Step 1: Main Ingredients Regardless of Recipe Chosen

GET: Water - no explanation needed

GET: Vinegar. *Some recipes omit Vinegar, so depending on which recipe you pick you may or may not use it however vinegar kills over 90% of germs, including the Flu virus! Vinegar does NOT kill Corona as far as we know, but it is still a wonderful addition to your sanitizer when mixed with the other ingredients.

What's really cool is that you can experiment with 10+ different types of vinegar! Create unique scents using traditional white distilled vinegar to Champagne vinegar. TIP: Avoid Balsamic vinegar. Yes, it is mega delicious but the color of balsamic is not good for cosmetic uses.

If you want to go the traditional vinegar route, This is the exact vinegar my family buys off Amazon for our everyday use:

as you can see, it is a TWO PACK of massive 1 GALLON jugs, so you're getting 2 gallons total for under $30 (free shipping for Prime Members). If you want a cheaper option, Heinz is also a good brand to go with:

Heinz, on Amazon, is available through multiple sellers for $10.99. I

You can also consider other types of vinegar, or even a mixture of vinegar:

Apple Cider Vinegar *Avoid "Raw" because it has those "chunks" in it. What you want is FILTERED, like this one (around $10 on Amazon):

White Wine Vinegar- Big 17oz Bottle, under $7! In my opinion, it smells better than traditional vinegar.

Champagne Vinegar: this one is a little more expensive; around $18 however there are all different varieties available!

GET: Alcohol. You have THREE completely different options for alcohol!

A. You can use "actual alcohol" *****If you are literally using liquor, this Alcohol MUST be 60% or higher to actually KILL germs (60% = 120 "Proof")!!! Titos vodka made a public service announcement to let people know that Titos is NOT strong enough to have disinfectant properties! Titos is "80 PROOF" which means it is 40% alcohol and CAN NOT be used as a sanitizer! Instead you have to use Bacardi 151 or similar! Bacardi 151 is "151 Proof" which is equal to 75.5% alcohol, so it DOES disinfect. If you cannot find Bacardi 151 here's a couple other options: Moonshine (NOT the "Fake" moonshine. The types you see at tourist shops is usually low proof. Remember, it HAS to be 120 Proof or higher! You can also use Everclear (*great option because it does not smell strong like other alcohols!), Balkan Vodka, Hapsburg Gold Label Premium Reserve Absinthe and Spirytus. Spirytus is the cheapest price; coming it at only around $15-$17 for a standard 750ml bottle. I'm sure you can also go to your local party store and ask what their cheapest liquor is that is 120 proof or higher. NOTE: It is illegal to sell or purchase ANY FORM of Everclear in New Hampshire, Nevada, California, Ohio, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota and North Carolina.

B. You CAN ALSO use rubbing alcohol, but it will have a more medicinal scent as opposed to a strong "disinfecting" scent. If you are going to go with Rubbing Alcohol, here's a fantastic option:

Rubbing Alcohol is VERY effective but also HARSH on hands. If you want to go this route you definitely will want to make sure you are adding moisturizers, such as Vitamin E oil, which we will discuss later in this article

C.You can also use Ethanol! Ethanol is 180 - 200 Proof and it is what is used in perfume and cologne! You do NOT need to invest in a 200 proof Ethanol because, if you read the beginning of this article, you only need 80 proof or higher to kill germs. Here's a great 190 proof Ethanol that is used in hospitals:

this Ethanol is under $30 on amazon for 33 ounces. You will get approximately 8 CUPS per bottle, whereas Everclear liquor is approximately 3 1/4 cups for 750ml (standard size liquor bottle AKA: "a fifth"). In my honest opinion, I believe that you could increase the other ingredients of your choice if you are using Ethanol that is high proof because it is so strong. For example, I truly believe you could increase the water quantity as well as the fragrance quantity and even add a touch of Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice to thicken it just a tad (depending on the mist size of your spray bottle) without losing ANY disinfecting properties. We will discuss the "end product" attributes more at the bottom of this article. Ethanol is also very harsh on hands!

GET: Essential oil or Perfume Oil. The most popular scents for sanitizer are peppermint, lemon and lavender but feel free to try other scents and even mix scents to create a sanitizer you love. There's so many scents available these days! If you want a stronger scent, add more. Amazon has a truly fantastic assortment of products. I personally suggest getting a little sampler kit so you can make some prototypes and decide which scent / scent combos you like best then order more of the ones you like most in a larger size bottle OR offer a variety of scents of sanitizer for your customers. Here's my top 4 Amazon Essential Oil picks ~

ONLY $8.99 - Free Ship for Prime Members:

This one is a 5-star product! Huge 18pc Set for under $30!. Scents include Lavender, sweet orange, tea tree, eucalyptus, lemongrass, peppermint, bergamot, Frankincense, lemon, Rosemary, cinnamon, ylang-ylang, sage, grapefruit, patchouli, palmarosa, geranium, cypress:

USDA ORGANIC! 100% Natural and Pure! INCLUDED IN THIS SET: Peppermint, Lavender, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Lemongrass & Orange. This set is only $12.99- $14 depending on if it is on sale on Amazon.

However, I *believe* perfume oils (AKA "Fragrance Oils") would work better than essential oils. The difference between essential oils and perfume oils is that essentials are natural and perfume oils are lab-created. Lab created oils are how we get scents like blueberry or apple. So if you want to get those really awesome scents, like Vanilla, Fresh Cotton or Ocean Breeze check out this awesome set on Amazon for under $17:

The set above comes with Baby Powder, Fresh Cotton, Ocean Breeze, Sweet Pea, Mountain Rain and Vanilla scents that are designed to be used in soap and other body care products. It has 5 stars on Amazon!

BUT, if you're like me, you LOOOOOOVE those sweet food-scents, like SnickerDoodle and Cupcake! And what's really weird is I actually don't like sweets in "real life" because I am a chips-and-dip-person, but OMG I am crazy about the scent of sweets! Anyways, if you want to make scented sanitizer that smell like treats, check out this AMAZING set! I personally own this exact set and I use it for my diffuser humidifer in my bedroom:

Did I mention it's only $9.99 for the whole set?!?!

OTHER STUFF TO BUY:

Also pick up Aloe Vera Gel and / or Vitamin E Oil. This is what helps prevent hand-cracking when constant alcohol is applied:

Tea Tree Oil: $5.99 on Amazon. Tea Tree oil is known for its disinfecting and healing qualities. It is truly a "miracle"' oil, kind of how Avocado is a "Super Food".

Earlier in this article I posted two different Essential Oil Sets that come with Tea Tree.

Lemon Oil (Giant Bottle only $8.99) or LemonGrass Oil ($7.99):

NOTES about these two oils: Lemongrass and lemon oil are completely different essential oils—although both have a lemony scent. While lemongrass oil is steam-distilled from a species of grass, lemon oil is cold-pressed from lemon peels. They also have different chemical make-ups. In addition, lemon oil is phototoxic, while lemongrass is not. Learn more about Lemon vs LemonGrass Oil Here. Earlier in this article I posted two Essential oil sets that come with Lemongrass oil AND tea tree oil. It would be more cost effective to purchase the set than to buy each bottle individually while you are creating prototypes. Once you have a product you are ready to mass produce, then you can buy bulk in only the exact oils you want to use.

Orange Oil $8.99

The same essential oil set I have mentioned multiple times also contains orange oil! I'm telling ya, that one set has damn near all the oils you need!

Witch Hazel - 16oz (1 POUND!) Under $5 with Free Shipping!

Ok, so a LOT of recipes say to use Witch Hazel *instead* of alcohol BUT I am exceptionally skeptical about this. I do realize it is generally listed as a "natural" disinfectant according to holistic sources HOWEVER, according to doctors it DOES NOT HAVE STRONG ENOUGH PROPERTIES to fight virus germs ON ITS OWN. So..... if you want to add Witch Hazel; GREAT! But also make your sanitizer at least 60% actual alcohol.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

To make an effective hand sanitizer, the final product needs to have at LEAST 60% alcohol. OregonLive recommends a two-to-one ratio of 91% isopropyl alcohol to aloe vera. This means, if you are putting 1 teaspoon of Aloe into a bowl you MUST add two teaspoons of qualified alcohol / disinfectant! Basically, you can NOT make a "lotion" or a thick gel because you risk diluting the actual disinfecting properties to the point that they will no longer kill germs. In the next article we will be discussing packaging and we will delve into the consistency of your product more
You can NOT use perfume or body mist as a disinfectant or scent because the alcohol proof is not high enough to kill germs!
As we mentioned earlier, "Any" liquor will NOT work, it MUST be 120 PROOF or higher! This eliminates the majority of common liquors people usually keep at home.
If you are adding to your recipe or taking away from your recipe, make sure you keep track of the final ingredients so you can use them on your ingredients label.
Its a great idea to make multiple different batches of products and test them. Play with different amounts of each content and scent and see what you like best!
A 120 proof liquor is going to be more gentle on hands than a 190+ proof alternatives. The higher the proof the more it will dry out skin.
Every ingredient mentioned smells different. if you mock up a concoction of rubbing alcohol + champagne vinegar + water + vitamin E oil + cinnamon oil + orange oil it is going to smell completely different than a recipe that calls for Everclear + water + Aloe + Orange Oil. Have fun creating! A little tiny tweak, such as mixing 7 drops lemongrass oil with 9 drops tea tree oil is going to produce a different aroma than 3 drops lemongrass + 13 drops tea tree oil. Small, small, small batches is the best way to experiment!
Another tip: Make a bunch of samples. Let them sit overnight (sealed) and smell / use them the next day. When I created my lotion and hair care line I learned that it is easy to overload your sinuses and the product can change overnight after it has been blended.

FINAL WORD: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE... if you look up other recipes online be VERY CAUTIOUS because during the time I researched I discovered that almost ALL of the recipes do NOT meet the requirements to actually kill germs! Instead the author of the recipe is aiming to create a product that smells super good or moisturizes. If you want something that smells good, buy a perfume! PLEASE do not create a product that does not genuinely WORK.

RECIPES LIST:

Vinegar + Witch Hazel (**I would substitute Everclear or Rubbing Alcohol) + Aloe + Essential Oil Rubbing Alcohol + Fragrance + Aloe Gel

Vinegar + Aloe + Essential Oil Rubbing Alcohol + Essential Oil + Aloe

Lemon, Orange, Tea Tree and Vitamin E Oil + High Proof Liquor + Water

Lavender, Tea Tree and Vitamin E Oil + Rubbing Alcohol + Aloe Gel

Liquor + Aloe Jelly + Germ Defender / Germ Fighter or Germ Destroyer

5 Different Recipes on Mom.com

NEXT - Read Part 2: How to Pick the Right Sanitizer Bottle: