Can Natural Products Cut It?: Efficacy of hand sanitizer and wipes
Update as of 3/5/2020: Although this was an interesting experiment, I do not advise DIYing hand sanitizer. The stakes are too high, and the margin for error is massive (between appropriate dilution/preservation and sufficient alcohol content to be effective). This is a product to buy. There are still more natural options than Purell, and I very much enjoy mine from Young Living and The Honest Company, but I’m not making any homemade batches.
Since making a concerted effort to use more natural products, I've been enjoying a life free of caustic fumes, artificial fragrances, and harsh topical applications. My home smells sweeter, I feel better, and it's all unicorns, rainbows, and dewdrops-on-roses-and-whiskers-on-kittens kinda bliss.
...but is it? Are these products actually working? Or am I skipping through my essential oil-scented home not knowing I have some bubonic plague festering on my doorknobs, or smallpox on my hands? What's that on my phone? The latest Instagram post from one of the Kardashians? No, it's consumption!
In my nightmare all the diseases are old-timey. I don't know why.
Also I clearly do NOT follow the Kardashians on Instagram, lest I lose all credibility here.
Time for another test. I've already tested my beloved Thieves Household Cleaner, and I'm confident my home is clean with that sucker. If you'd like to read about those tests, check them out here.
This time we're looking at hand sanitizer and wipes. The line up is below:
We have Purell, Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier, a homemade recipe of aloe gel and EOs, and some grain alcohol to add to the homemade blend to test it with and without alcohol.
For wipes we have Seedlings Baby Wipes, Thieves Wipes, and Antibacterial Wipes.
The plan was to test Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier against the big dog Purell, and compare those with a popular homemade recipe using aloe gel and EOs, and another homemade recipe with the addition of alcohol for hand sanitation.
For wipes on a phone case, the plan was comparing Thieves wipes against advertised antibacterial wipes, and compare with Seedlings wipes that aren't marketed as germ-fighters but rather just a way to mechanically wipe a phone.
Here's the methodology:
- I used pre-filled agar petri dishes
- For testing the phone or my hand, a sterile cotton swab dipped in distilled water was rubbed over the entire surface of my palm or the phone case for 10 seconds
- The phone case filth was after a week of use (I normally wipe it every few days with an antimicrobial wipe from work, but I purposely abstained this week). The hand germs were from petting my dog, touching several doorknobs in our house, touching the floor, and touching my sneaker sole. Though in retrospect I could have just touched the phone case....
- My palm and phone were divided up into different zones for each test.
- Sanitizer was applied in a pea-sized amount to each zone, and rubbed in with a sterile gloved finger (different finger used for each test) for 10 seconds. They were then allowed to air dry before swabbing.
- Wipes were wiped in the designated zone on the phone case for 10 seconds and then allowed to air dry before swabbing.
- Hand washing was done with homemade, non-antibacterial soap for 20 seconds in warm water. Hands were dried with a non-sterile paper towel before swabbing.
The recipe for the homemade sanitizer is from Aromahead (I've seen many variations but they all seem to originate from this one). I modified it slightly as I used polysorbate instead of Solubol, and I reduced it for the size of my container. The original recipe is below and was intended for a spray bottle, as the Solubol adds more liquid. It is formulated for kids.
- 2 oz aloe gel - 2 ml Solubol
- 4 drops each tea tree and lavender EO -2 drops cedarwood EO
I halved the aloe in the recipe for my container, and increased the relative EO amounts slightly to 3 each for lavender and tea tree, 4 orange (I like the smell), and still the 2 cedarwood. This brings us to a 2% dilution for 1 oz of carrier. I also used 12 drops of polysorbate to emulsify the EOs instead of Solubol. So my recipe was:
- 1 oz aloe gel - 12 drops polysorbate
- 3 drops each tea tree, lavender, and orange EOs - 2 drops cedarwood EO
(mix EOs with poly first, then add aloe)
*note - my aloe gel already had a preservative in it, potassium sorbate
- To make a version with alcohol, I added 1/3 oz of 151 proof grain alcohol to the aforementioned recipe.
- After all petri dishes were prepped and labeled, they were taped shut and put in a box and left to sit on our cable box (toasty warm up there) and periodically were treated to a little fireside snuggle to get even warmer. How romantic. The results below were after the recommended 3 days incubation.
Ok, on to the results! Be prepared to be disgusted. Each picture is labeled with the bacteria colony count. They are hard to see in the pics both due to lighting and some condensation on some of the dishes, but I assure you I counted and recounted each one multiple times. I will review the results below the pics.
So let's review the hand outcomes.
The hand control was disgusting. 30 colonies. I made an effort to make it disgusting, so... well done me? But still, think of how many times you touch your doorknobs or shoes or pet and DON'T immediately wash your hands. Yuck.
Purell, Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier, and Hand Washing were all tied with only 1 itty bitty colony each. I guess they're right when Purell often advertises killing 99.99% of germs! Nicely done, all of you!
Now, here is where it got weird for me.
The Aloe and EOs had NO bacteria colonies. Nary a one. Yet the Aloe and EOs PLUS the addition of alcohol, had 6. This was not at all what I expected. Here's the best I can figure.
As is, the original Aloe and EOs was diluted to 2% with those powerhouse oils. When I added the alcohol, I didn't add more EOs to maintain the same ratio. I didn't think I needed to, assuming the alcohol would do the trick. Perhaps that assumption was incorrect. Another possibility is that coincidentally, that little segment of my hand where I used the one with alcohol happened to be germier than the one without alcohol. I'm not sure. But in any event, probably warrants more testing with a 2% blend with alcohol. Another time!
On to the phone.
Ok. You guys. Phone cases are DISGUSTING. I sanitize mine every few days normally, and this was only a week of exposure. There are some of you, (yes, I'm looking at you), who probably NEVER sanitize your phone. Get up right now, and go wipe it down. Because you're gross. I mean that with love, but GROSS.
Actually, wait, come back! Read on first to see what you should wipe it with, right? Sorry I called you gross. Please stay.
The control was horrifying. 52 colonies. I can't even.
Seedlings was... interesting. Only 3 colonies, sorta, but whoa they were 3 of the hardiest bacteria colonies EVER. These things were building a civilized society in that dish. I swear I could see scaffolding, and if I leaned in really close I could hear them arguing about the astronomical price of utilities lately. Word, little germs, my propane bill sucks too. Sooooo can we call this sort of effective at manually removing bacteria? I guess. But the ones that remained meant business.
The antibacterial wipes did well with only 2 colonies left. And not the Renaissance ones like the Seedlings. These things, evolutionary-wise, were at best figuring out the wheel and maybe bronze tools.
Thieves Wipes? What now? Zero colonies. Nada. Zilch. The Big Donut. Rock on with your bad self, Thieves. Take a victory lap - you earned it. I think I heard the germs in the Seedlings dish whisper about electing you as their president.
So to sum up:
Hand control - 30 colonies
Purell, Thieves Purifier, and Hand Washing - 1 colony each
Aloe and EOs at 2% - 0 colonies
Aloe and EOs and alcohol - 6 colonies
Phone control - 52 colonies
Seedlings Wipes - 3 colonies, already formed their own boy band
Thieves Wipes - 0 colonies
Antibacterial Wipes - 2 colonies
Limitations of the experiment were inconsistent incubation temps, though all the dishes were consistently and equally inconsistent, if that helps the science of it at all. Another limitation is that this only tests bacteria and maybe fungi, as viruses don't grow in agar.
So there you have it! Natural products continue to amaze me with their effectiveness. Whether you use pre-formulated Thieves Hand Purifier or make your own with aloe and EOs, you're got a winner. And Thieves Wipes will take the horror right off your phone. Better than advertised antibacterial wipes, per this test.
Ok, NOW you can go clean your phone. Because you're still gross.