Hand Sanitizer

[Spanz]

A bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol at Walmart and elsewhere is less than a dollar.

i have not seen a bottle of isopropyl in a drug store around here in at least a month. all gone.
I was using the 91% to clean parts on a job site, and am down to my last bottle. ugh

 

[Lsgun1]

Adams polishes sells hand sanitizer if you're looking for it.

Adams Polishes

 

[amm5061]

Distillers don't have to worry just about the ATF, but the FDA.

The FDA Is Making It Much, Much Harder for Distilleries To Produce Hand Sanitizer

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, hand sanitizer has become an incredibly scarce resource. It's practically impossible to find…

reason.com

You mean the government is actually making it harder to effectively respond to this pandemic?

My shocked face

 

[rep308]

I bought a bottle of sanitizer at my local liquor store made by the Fabrizia Spirit Company of Salem NH, $7 for 8 oz.

 

[VetteGirlMA]

This entire pandemic is making me realize the absolute dumb luck I've had over time buying things and forgetting about them. I wanted isopropyl alcohol for use in cleaning my vinyl records because record cleaner contains mainly iso alcohol. So last year I went to Walgreens and it must have been a buy 1 get 2 free sale because I was in my garage looking at my latest bag of dog food that had just arrived from Amazon and my eyes were diverted to the shelves in my garage and realized I had 2 of the big 1 liter bottles of 91% isopropyl alcohol so I have enough to make many many batches of hand sanitizer. I have another big bottle of aloe vera in the fridge because I love driving the Jeep in the summer with top and doors off. It wasn't planning or prepping just sh*t luck.

 

[Len-2A Training]

Don’t want it? Don’t buy it. Settled. Some people do and appreciate the OP for sharing.

It wasn't a dig on the OP. It is more like a "I'll take a pass" on the price gouging by the vendor however.

Makes sense, but a lot of us have kids and elderly parents and both are like herding cats to try and get them to take proper precautions such as constantly washing hands right now, being able to give them some small sanitizer bottles at least keeps them somewhat thinking and actually using it throughout their day.

Makes sense. I was in a Hannaford's and they ran out of wipes for customers to use on the way into the store. So now they have a spray bottle (looks and smells like Simple Green) for people to use. It's been that way for a few weeks.

Not to make it political, but I’m watching snowflake storm the stores for things that I don’t know why they don’t already have..

I could go for years and I’ll be just fine

I buy things on sale and more than one, so I can't go years but still have enough to get by for probably a few months. However, milk, OJ, cheeses, fresh veggies, etc. need replenishment occasionally. So I still have to make occasional runs to the supermarket.

 

[Dennis in MA]

I'm low and not looking to kill myself to save $10 or something. Thanks.

Not for typical hand-washing but to refill the car dispensers for 3 cars. Not that we go out a lot, but when we do, it's nice to have some hand sanitizer before you do anything in the vehicle.

 

[ISOTOX]

Going to fire up the still in the back yard this weekend.....Bought me a gallon jug of Glycerin a ways back...Will go along with my other medicinal items being grown.

 

[Varmint]

I'm low and not looking to kill myself to save $10 or something. Thanks.

Not for typical hand-washing but to refill the car dispensers for 3 cars. Not that we go out a lot, but when we do, it's nice to have some hand sanitizer before you do anything in the vehicle.

+1 we're lucky we don't have to go out a lot - for people still having to work, hand sanitizer is a must. We were too late to get hand sanitizer but luckily bought a few bottles of IPA and aloe before that disappeared.

 

[Dennis in MA]

I've also got a bottle of Bacardi 151 in a pinch.

EDIT - and I found a whole bottle of 91% Iso in the cabinet just now. And a whole squeezy-thing of aloe vera.

 

[dcmdon]

They have a very in-depth write up on their costs, etc. Currently there is a $27 (iirc) per gallon tax on undiluted spirits, so purchasing the ethanol to make the sanitizer isn’t cheap to begin with. Then add in the demand for bottles and other materials. Labor, etc.

They’re actually selling at cost right now.

So again, this is a GOVERNMENT created problem. Adding taxes to un-denatured alcohol because it could be drunk.

 

[dcmdon]

I bought 2 handle bottles of everclear back in Jan in preparation for this. I've purchased Aloe gel on amazon and am making my own.

Remember not to waste alcohol on cleaning surfaces. Use a 50:1 bleach solution. Too nasty to use on your hands, but fine on mail, car doors, etc.

Please note, pure alcohol is not ideal. The problem is contact time. Its so volatile that it evaporates too quickly. You need to add something to slow that down. You can add water to dilute to 70%, or you can add something that does not evaporate quickly.

In the end the alcohol contentsholdn't be below 60%

 

[Varmint]

I’ve found a source for hand sanitizer. Ordered some tonight. They have 4 or 8 ounce bottles, individual/half case/full case, or bulk by the gallon or 5 gallon.

Not associated in any way with the source, just sharing what I found in-stock.

Go to classicshaving.com and type hand sanitizer in the search bar.

Thanks man, traded some of my soon-to-be worthless fiat currency for a couple 8 oz bottles.

 

[Varmint]

I'm still pissed we gave 4 big bottles of Clorox wipes to the kids' homerooms, a couple days before they closed.

 

[allen-1]

I bought 2 handle bottles of everclear back in Jan in preparation for this. I've purchased Aloe gel on amazon and am making my own.

Remember not to waste alcohol on cleaning surfaces. Use a 50:1 bleach solution. Too nasty to use on your hands, but fine on mail, car doors, etc.

Please note, pure alcohol is not ideal. The problem is contact time. Its so volatile that it evaporates too quickly. You need to add something to slow that down. You can add water to dilute to 70%, or you can add something that does not evaporate quickly.

In the end the alcohol contentsholdn't be below 60%

5 tablespoons of bleach to one gallon of water; dump it in a spray bottle and spritz down just about everything - except the kids, dogs and wife.

About six weeks ago, I realized we didn't have any unused spray bottles - I picked up a couple at Home Depot.

 

[dcmdon]

One note on what not to use.

Heet gas line antifreeze is largely methanol. Methanol is not an effective antiseptic.

Isopropyl and Ethanol are effective.

ISO-Heet Premium is Isopropyl alcohol and is effective.

 

[dcmdon]

5 tablespoons of bleach to one gallon of water; dump it in a spray bottle and spritz down just about everything - except the kids, dogs and wife.

About six weeks ago, I realized we didn't have any unused spray bottles - I picked up a couple at Home Depot.

There are all these X tablesppons per Y gallons , or X cups per Y gallons. I've found them to be a pain in the ass because that's not what I want to mix up.

50:1 is the same ratio as all these other methods. Its just how my brain works.

1 liter bottle = 1000 mililiters water and 20 ml of bleach.

note 5 tablespoons = 2.5 oz. 50:1 of 2.5 oz of bleach is 125 oz of water. 125 oz of water +2.5 oz of bleach = 127.5 oz = 1 gal.

Same thiing.

 

[Camhabib]

One note on what not to use.

Heet gas line antifreeze is largely methanol. Methanol is not an effective antiseptic.

Isopropyl and Ethanol are effective.

ISO-Heet Premium is Isopropyl alcohol and is effective.

Methanol kills just as well (if not a little better) than ethanol and 2-prop. It’s used as a fixative in almost all applications of cell biology. Unfortunately it’s also quite toxic to humans as well (unless you have a shot of ethanol along with it).

More important than the exact alcohol is the concentration of it. Despite what many think, 100% kills significantly worse than 70% as the lack of water in the solution inhibits the alcohol from actually entering the cells.

 

[Dennis in MA]

So again, this is a GOVERNMENT created problem. Adding taxes to un-denatured alcohol because it could be drunk.

Everyone has their little special part of government they like. Which means we all gotta pay for it.

To be honest, I'd prefer an alcohol tax over an income tax. Let those who are glomming the most benefits to pay the most and all that. Cigarettes, booze, the Juana. Tax those and eliminate the income tax. Make America 1908 Again!

 

[MX338]

If they have it at the hardware store you can use denatured alcohol. I have agallon at the house but now cant find aloe.

 

[cams]

It wasn't a dig on the OP. It is more like a "I'll take a pass" on the price gouging by the vendor however.


Makes sense. I was in a Hannaford's and they ran out of wipes for customers to use on the way into the store. So now they have a spray bottle (looks and smells like Simple Green) for people to use. It's been that way for a few weeks.


I buy things on sale and more than one, so I can't go years but still have enough to get by for probably a few months. However, milk, OJ, cheeses, fresh veggies, etc. need replenishment occasionally. So I still have to make occasional runs to the supermarket.

No worries Len, wasn’t directed at you. I understand the price concerns, I didn’t understand some other folks trying to mock people for actually buying some. Sometimes folks just need to say something even if they don’t really need to.

 

[ISOTOX]

If they have it at the hardware store you can use denatured alcohol. I have agallon at the house but now cant find aloe.

If you can find it Vegetable glycerin will work.....Does not need to be aloe....does not need to be 100% Aloe either....again finding it will be the issue. Good luck and stay healthy.

 

[ISOTOX]

I know it, but some things are unfortunately unavoidable. She had complications from surgery and needed to be admitted. They're being as cautious as possible, but she needed to be treated in person. She was just discharged, so hopefully she can stay clear for at least a few weeks and do all her appointments by phone/internet.

God's speed....and hoping for continued recovery.

 

[Buck F]

That's what I've been using along with antibacterial hand soap.
Unfortunately, neither is something you can easily carry along with you
like you can with a small pocket sized bottle of hand sanitizer.

I doesn't even need to be antibacterial soap - Coronavirus isn't bacteria. Coronavirus is a protein encased in a fatty capsule, soap (atibacterial or not) breaks down the fatty capsule, which is why heat is also effective.

 

[DJBrad]

I doesn't even need to be antibacterial soap - Coronavirus isn't bacteria. Coronavirus is a protein encased in a fatty capsule, soap (atibacterial or not) breaks down the fatty capsule, which is why heat is also effective.

Soap is great at breaking down fats indeed.
This is the stuff we use at work:

And the sanitizer as well:

 

[Len-2A Training]

Worth noting: Ocean State Job Lot has products arriving and they are promising not to price gouge. Lots of details here.

https://www.oceanstatejoblot.com/COVID-19-updates

Essential items are selling very quickly, so we are unable to guarantee that all products will be in stock at all times. In some cases we will be placing limitations on how many of each item customers can purchase so we can make essentials available to as many people as possible for as long as possible. We will never participate in price gouging.

The list below will be updated a few times each week, so please check back often, or contact your local Ocean State Job Lot to inquire about specific items.

Update - April 1, 2020

Hand Sanitizer: As announced in our previous update, our order of roughly 20,000 units of hand sanitizer is hitting stores currently. We have limits in place, but we expect to sell out of all units very quickly.

. . . read the rest at the link above.

 

[Dennis in MA]

My ex is a fatty capsule. And she ran roughshod over me. Maybe I was married to Coronavirus.

 

[drgrant]

A bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol at Walmart and elsewhere is less than a dollar.

Lol it's cute that people still think this. Or that 9mm is still like, 8 bucks a box.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f_DPrSEOEo


-Mike

 

[Mesatchornug]

I doesn't even need to be antibacterial soap - Coronavirus isn't bacteria. Coronavirus is a protein encased in a fatty capsule, soap (atibacterial or not) breaks down the fatty capsule, which is why heat is also effective.

Not to mention, decades of overuse of antibacterial soaps is a major contributing factor to the growing numbers of resistant bacteria (e.g. MRSA) that actually should scare us more as a species than COVID-19.

 

[dcmdon]

Methanol kills just as well (if not a little better) than ethanol and 2-prop. It’s used as a fixative in almost all applications of cell biology. Unfortunately it’s also quite toxic to humans as well (unless you have a shot of ethanol along with it).

More important than the exact alcohol is the concentration of it. Despite what many think, 100% kills significantly worse than 70% as the lack of water in the solution inhibits the alcohol from actually entering the cells.

Not from what I read at the CDC. If you have a better source. Let me know.

Re 100% alcohoo - the other problem is contact time. Alcohol's high vapor pressure means that it evaporates too fast to provide long enough contact time.

Chemical Disinfectants | Disinfection & Sterilization Guidelines | Guidelines Library | Infection Control | CDC

Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities (2008)

www.cdc.gov

From that page. I realize that we are actually talking about virucidal action not bactericidal action:

Microbicidal Activity.
Methyl alcohol (methanol) has the weakest bactericidal action of the alcohols and thus seldom is used in healthcare

I actually want you to be right. I've got a gallon of unopened Kleen Strip. But have been hesitant to use it for wipes because of its methanol content.

The MSDS on this product says 30 to 70% ethanol and 30-60% methanol.