Antibac hand gel: substituting with diluted disinfectant?

[Arzosah]

Hand gel is Milton's, on offer at Sainz at £1.10 for 100g. Ingredients list:
Bactericidal: 30 secs EN 1276, EN 13727+A2, EN 1500, 2x45 secs EN 12791.
Mycobactericidal: 30 secs EN 14348.
Levuricidal: 30 secs EN 1650, EN 13624 sur C. albicans.
Virucidal: Active on Rotavirus, Norovirus and enveloped virus: 30 secs EN 14476+A1
Active ingredients: Ethanol (CAS 64-17-5): 800.00 g/kg. Biocidal product (TP1)

I usually get the Cuticura one, which is also currently on offer, 250ml for £2. Ingredients list: Alcohol Denat., Aqua, Propylene Glycol, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Parfum, Benzyl Benzoate, Linalool, Active Ingredients: Ethanol 57.6%

Sainz own brand, 1l for 50p. Ingredients list: all it says is " Less than 5% Non-Ionic Surfactants Also contains: Disinfectant, Perfume,Limonene". Hmm.

I *need* hand gel during the winter months, my immune system is paper-bag standard, and between costs and the amount of plastic in the bottles, I was wondering if I could get away with just using the diluted disinfectant. Looking at the Cuticura ingredients, with ethanol at 57.6% - I mean, I know alcohol is a cleanser of some description, but that seems out of proportion. The Miltons, however - thats a lot of killing going on there! Or is it It lists ethanol is 800g/kg - so its 80% ethanol? Huh?

Is there anybody medical online reading this that can interpret this for me? I'd rather buy big quantities and decant into an appropriate container, but I'll do what I need to do. I work hard at avoiding infections during the winter months. I'd like to work smart, too

[Jamesey1981]

The alcohol is what makes it evaporate so your hands dry quickly. You could probably use the disinfectant but I can't imagine it'll be nice for your hands, have you looked online for the bulk hand gels that they have in hospitals? You can then squirt a bit into the little bottles and probably save a fair few quid.

[jansman]

The ethanol/ alcohol is the predominant active ingredient.That's where you need to be. If *I* were to use an alternative,it would be a bleach solution.Most household cleaners are bleach based.We are not supposed to use bleach on surfaces at work,but we do. It works!

Look at it this way: water at treatment plants is basically filtered and bleached to kill germs. That works for me .

[Yorkshire Andy]

Buy the bulk stuff and decant into the smaller bottles...

Lidl do some stuff for something like 45p for a pocket bottle I usually buy the clinical grade stuff or builders supplies packs

Think I paid £3 for 500ml

This might last you the winter
http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayIS ... spheader=1

[Arzosah]

Thanks guys! Bulk buying does it for me I'm happy with that.


ETA: pourable! Yes!

[Yorkshire Andy]

I find the alcohol free stuff

https://www.reliancemedical.co.uk/produ ... sanitiser/

Has a longer rubbing time I often find the alcohol stuff dries a bit too quickly before I've rubbed it all over.....

[Arzosah]

Good point - I may use a little too much each time, as I have the opposite problem, blowing on my hands to dry them

[HedgeHopper]

Hello, I just got 2xlitre bottles of Isopropol alchohol delivered from Amazon £6.50 a litre, mixed at a bout 2:1 with some shower gel it makes a good hand sanitizer (I think you are supposed to use aloe vera but thats very expensive so I tried the shower gel and it works fine, bought some very small spray bottles at boots and you get a nice fine mist from them

[grenfell]

The ethanol/ alcohol is the predominant active ingredient.That's where you need to be. If *I* were to use an alternative,it would be a bleach solution.Most household cleaners are bleach based.We are not supposed to use bleach on surfaces at work,but we do. It works!

Look at it this way: water at treatment plants is basically filtered and bleached to kill germs. That works for me .

My father never did anything "fancy" . It was soap and water most times but if his hands were really dirty he'd use bleach , straight from the bottle. Certainly shifted the muck be it dirt from the gardening or grease from the scrap . I tried it a few times myself , gets a little "hot" after a while but works.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Cheapest vodka you can find........

Splash it all over then have a shot