How to Make Hand Sanitizer with Homemade Lemon and Orange Extract

Hand sanitizers are now part of our everyday life and will be used in large quantities during the current global situation due to COVID-19. Due to a surge of demand for hand sanitizer around the world, the price of hand sanitizer is increasing. Therefore, it would be much more cost-effective to make homemade hand sanitizer. This study aims to test if a homemade sanitizer made from lemon and orange and 70% isopropyl alcohol is as effective as commercial hand sanitizer. The homemade sanitizers are kept in close-lid jars for 6 weeks to fully extract the flavour. The Principle of Paper Chromatography is used in testing the effectiveness of the homemade hand sanitizer. The ink which is used in a water-resistant ballpoint pen does not dissolve in water but very quickly dissolves in alcohol. This causes the ink to move along the front of the diffusing sanitizer and spreading out. If the alcohol content is less, the solubility of the ink is not sufficient and the line does not move. Therefore, the quality of homemade hand sanitiser is as effective as commercially-made hand sanitizers.