According to the CDC, the WHO, and other organizations, the best defense against coronavirus (COVID-19) is about 30 seconds of vigorous hand washing with soap and hot water. They also suggest that hand sanitizers that are above 65% alcohol by volume offer some degree of protection. (Good luck finding name-brand hand sanitizer in a store or online.) The good news: you can easily make it at home. Here’s a low-tech hack.

Mix 2/3 cup of isopropyl rubbing alcohol (99% by volume, not the 70% stuff you usually get) with 1/3 cup of aloe vera gel (any brand, unscented if you can find it; also, check the gel package labeling to see if there is any isopropyl alcohol in it, and adjust your rubbing alcohol to aloe vera gel ratio accordingly). Put it in an old hand sanitizer bottle (or empty liquid soap dispenser) and sanitize to your heart’s content. It’s that simple.

Importantly, there are very few health professionals recommending hand sanitizers as a protective measure against COVID-19. In an interview with the New York Post, Dr. David Dowdy, an associate professor of infectious disease and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, said, “Ultimately, I don’t think the panic of sanitizers is warranted,” adding that he uses hand sanitizers when seeing patients. “This is less because the sanitizers are unlikely to be effective against the coronavirus — they probably are effective, though they haven’t been proven and don’t offer long-lasting protection — more because the current risk of infection by the coronavirus in the USA is exceedingly small.”

I have no way of knowing what the coronavirus risks are in the USA, but I wanted to share this low-tech hand sanitizer lifehack with our community.

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