When it comes to preventing the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19, nothing beats good old-fashioned handwashing.

But if water and soap aren’t available, your next best option, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source, is to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.

Unless you have a stockpile of store-bought hand sanitizer, you’ll likely have a hard time finding any at a store or online right now. Due to the rapid spread of the new coronavirus, most retailers can’t keep up with the demand for hand sanitizer.

The good news? All it takes is three ingredients to make your own hand sanitizer at home. Read on to find out how.

What ingredients do you need?
Making your own hand sanitizer is easy to do and only requires a few ingredients:

isopropyl or rubbing alcohol (99 percent alcohol volume)
aloe vera gel
an essential oil, such as tea tree oil or lavender oil, or you can use lemon juice instead
The key to making an effective, germ-busting hand sanitizer is to stick to a 2:1 proportion of alcohol to aloe vera. This keeps the alcohol content around 60 percent. This is the minimum amount needed to kill most germs, according to the CDCTrusted Source.

How do you make your own hand sanitizer?
Jagdish Khubchandani, PhD, associate professor of health science at Ball State University, shared this hand sanitizing formula.

His hand sanitizer formula combines:

2 parts isopropyl alcohol or ethanol (91–99 percent alcohol)
1 part aloe vera gel
a few drops of clove, eucalyptus, peppermint, or other essential oil
If you’re making hand sanitizer at home, Khubchandani says to adhere to these tips:

Make the hand sanitizer in a clean space. Wipe down countertops with a diluted bleach solution beforehand.
Wash your hands thoroughly before making the hand sanitizer.
To mix, use a clean spoon and whisk. Wash these items thoroughly before using them.
Make sure the alcohol used for the hand sanitizer is not diluted.
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly until they’re well blended.
Don’t touch the mixture with your hands until it’s ready for use.
For a larger batch of hand sanitizer, the World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source has a formula for a hand sanitizer that uses:

isopropyl alcohol or ethanol
hydrogen peroxide
glycerol
sterile distilled or boiled cold water