Happy Hands ~ Soap, Hand Sanitizer, Do’s, Don’ts & Recipes!
How to keep your hands happy healthy and nourished!
By Amy Lupton
Growing up, my mom was a nurse. She is retired now, but bless her for helping so many over her career. She worked in various settings in hospitals and clinics, and the one thing she always pressed upon us was the proper way to wash your hands. (Even before it was popular).
I was an anxious child. And you could say my anxious tendencies sometimes declared I needed to wash my hands TOO much, because of what my mom taught us. Yep… those creepy crawly germs on my hands weren’t staying there for long. Fast forward 20 years, when I became a new mom, I went a little “germaphobe” on my daughter, always worried about her having clean hands…all the while knowing having a bit of dirt in your biome is a good thing.
But then my son was born… and there was no way he was having anyone wash his hands without tying him down first. He was a bit of a rough, tough red-faced bubba, and he crawled around the floor, on the deck with the chickens, and put EVERYTHING in his mouth. It was then and there I became a recovering germaphobe (or just gave up). Two kids, living on a homestead with all sorts of animals and poop…then basing my career working closely with people and doing body work…I got over it real quick. :)
But during a pandemic like we are in now, it calls for some hand washing.
And it works folks. The magic of the soap and water (even water on its own has some germ removal properties), will work wonders in keeping those germs away.
Our hands lately have definitely been taking the brunt of the washing, sanitizing, and washing again. Yes, it keeps us safe, but also can do a number on our natural skin biome. And as amazing as soap is, it naturally strips our hands of the oils that our body ironically designed to keep us protected and safe.
Washing your hands in hot water? Your hands are stripped even more of oils.
Even with this info, I don’t think we will be stopping the hand washing anytime soon, and with hand sanitizer sales skyrocketing 400% in the past month, our hands will be taking a continual oil stripping.
In order to battle this, I recommend keeping a moisturizer near your hand washing area (Liferoot’s Your Best Body Oil works fantastic for this, as it keeps your biome healthy and uses natural germ-fighting oils to keep germs at bay). Using natural based soaps, not anti-bacterial, without many chemicals will keep your hands in better shape in the long run.
And then there is hand sanitizer.
The history of hand sanitizer is an interesting one…it wasn’t actually made for the medical community like you think. It started with car mechanics! They were looking for a way to sanitize and degrease their hands without visiting the sink, and one mechanic mixed some aloe sunburn gel with some rubbing alcohol and presto! The first hand sanitizer.
Since then it has come a long way, and now is a staple of many households. :)
From its simple beginnings, commercial hand sanitizer now has a full list of chemicals added to it that can really harm the skin, the skin biome, even leach into the bloodstream and cause damage. In that list is parabens, sulfates, phthalates, artificial fragrances or dyes.
Many scientific studies have proven that the alcohol-based sanitizers (termed ethanol or isopropyl alcohol) does kill germs on hands (at around 62% of solution), but many overuse it and find it causes a whole host of things such as skin problems (eczema or rashes), endocrine disruption, and reproductive problems.
But what about natural substances such certain botanicals, essential oils, and colloidal silver? Many things in nature have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties, and can help kill germs on hands. A few are oregano, lavender, citrus, cinnamon, tea tree, and thyme.
Some natural sanitizers sold commercially can contain many not-so-nice chemicals as well, such as benzalkonium chloride, which can cause issues as well…because many botanicals need time to kill germs properly.
Hence the chemicals.
But no one is perfect and to kill germs that quickly and efficiently, you need some heavier hard hitting substances. And even if you choose a natural alcohol-free hand sanitizer, it can be less effective at doing what you want when you need it done right away.
So you all know my love for all things natural, tree-hugging and herbal.
But I have a hard time getting behind a hand-sanitizer that contains nothing but essential oils and water. I do believe that these can work very well when they have time to do so (and average time is around 5-10 minutes), but people rub and go, instantly touching more surfaces, and possibly needing to touch others, their face, or their mouths. For this reason, I can’t really see how these work as quickly as we need them. Once again, instant gratification has consequences.
Many have asked me to create a hand-sanitizer that is all natural, using colloidal silver, thyme, cinnamon etc, and while I do completely support these options (and have seen people selling them for a price gauge), I don’t believe they can be instantly effective like an alcohol-based one. And ask any nurse.., they will tell you that they need immediate protection and not something that could take several minutes.
Below are a few hand sanitizer recipes or you can also buy one from Liferoot while supplies last:
Hand Sanitizer Guidelines:
There are several natural hand-sanitizers out there that may not be working for you and your family, so please use safe judgment before using. It is important to use safe judgment as well when using an alcohol-based sanitizer. Here are some guidelines:
Only use when other options aren’t available, Good ole fashion soap and water is the most effective at removing germs from hands. Gloves are also an option, but not always available.
Rub hands vigorously for about 15 seconds when applying, in between fingers, and up to wrist area. Just having friction on hands will kill some germs, and will help the sanitizer to be carried across surface areas (thus decreasing the alcohol soaking in to lower dermis areas where it can cause some internal harm).
Make sure you are hydrated, as this can help mitigate some of the ethanol effects from hand-sanitizer if you are having to use it frequently.
Moisturize hands deeply when you can. Every night if you are using frequently. We recommend a weekly deep collagen hand treatment, found here in our shop).
Monitor children and their use of any sanitizer. There are times where it is needed, but remember to scale to size of hands. They don’t need as much and are more sensitive to it.
Alright, that all being said, here are a few recipes that I think are sanitize worthy. :) We do have limited supplies of hand-sanitizer for sale through the Liferoot shop, so hop on over if you need to stock up.
Liferoot Happy Hands Hand-Sani (Alcohol Based)
Using an aloe gel will make this less abrasive to the hands and dermis layers below. I have added in certain oils that are actively known for skin repair (possibly mitigating damage done to the dermis from the alcohol).
Recipe:
You will need:
2/3 cup isopropyl alcohol (This must be 91-99% to be effective according to the CDC)
1/3 cup aloe gel
10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops lime essential oil
10 drops tea tree oil
5 drops peppermint essential oil (this is optional, but I find it takes the alcohol smell away)
1 tsp rose hip oil
3 2oz spray bottles (glass works best and keeps essential oils fresher)
Mix all together, pour into bottles. Use guidelines above for use. As always, keep away from eyes, nose, and mouth and small children.
Math & Science: This recipe will yield a 63% alcohol-based formula if using 91% isopropyl alcohol, as alcohol is germ-killing agent. The added essential oils will stay on skin, thus deterring germs as they are applied on skin. The constituents of the essential oils will also help repair skin from the alcohol application
Liferoot Happy Hands Sani (non-alcohol based cleanser for hands, objects, surfaces, clothing)
This recipe will not instantly kill a bomb of germs, but will damper many in a few seconds, and more as time goes where the liquid is on the surface. This is a great recipe for electronics, steering wheels, toys, etc that you can leave for a few minutes while the botanicals do their work. Make sure you are coating the surface, as the botanicals work well with direct contact, not just a spritz here or there.
Recipe:
1/2 cup colloidal silver (this is optional, but ups germ-killing capacity considerably)
1 cup filtered water
10 drops cinnamon essential oil
10 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops rosemary essential oil
10 drops thyme essential oil
2 oz spray bottle
Mix all together, pour into bottles. Use guidelines above for use. As always, keep away from eyes, nose, and mouth and small children.
You will have some leftover, so you can save for later, put in extra spray bottles for neighbors, or use as a cleaner for the bathroom, kitchen or doorknobs. Always remember to shake before using, as the oils need to be dispersed properly before spraying.
Math and Science: This is a heavily-laden essential oil spray, coupled with colloidal silver. The reason is that there must be an abundance of essential oils to mitigate germs at the highest level in times of pandemic situations. Here is the NCBI resource that issues the individual components in each essential oil and why it does what it does (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5206475/). Here is the mechanism for colloidal silver and its properties https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6264685/.