If you live in any major US city, your local pharmacies might be running low on hand sanitizer by now. Don’t panic! Instead, make your own. Homemade sanitizer has the extra benefit of potentially including lotion, so your hands might not get as dry and cracked as they tend to with traditional hand sanitizer. 

The most essential ingredient is rubbing alcohol, preferably 99% isopropyl. You can find this in the wound care section of your local pharmacy. 91% alcohol works too, but your final mixture needs at least 60% alcohol once its mixed with the other ingredients, so don’t go lower than that. 

Pour ⅔ of a cup of your rubbing alcohol in a mixing bowl, and then add ⅓ cup of aloe vera gel. The gel, which is mostly used to relieve painful sunburns, is probably not sold out at your pharmacy, so you should be able to purchase some easily. 

You can mix the two and be done after just these steps. Then, transfer it into a clean pump bottle. You can thank science writer Anna Helmenstine for giving us this recipe. 

But if you want to get fancy and add some nice scents or moisturizing properties to your sanitizer, don’t stop there. You can add 8 to 10 drops of your favorite essential oil to scent the mixture. If you want your sanitizer to do double duty as a hand moisturizer, add 1 tablespoon of whatever hand lotion you use regularly and 1 tablespoon of vegetable glycerin. 

It's really that easy, and it's a great way to spend extra time at home if your office or school asks you to work remotely.