Make your own natural hand sanitizer, with moisturizing benefits, from flax jelly, and other ingredients. Keep your family safe this flu season with easy homemade hand sanitizer.
In the last article I told you about several benefits of flax seed for your homestead medicine chest. In that article I only scratched the surface.
In this article I’ll explore another use for flax — jelling it to use it as a base for homemade, natural hand sanitizer. Since flax is rich in omega 3 oil it is a beneficial moisturizer. It has the gel consistency of aloe vera gel, without the added preservatives, colours, and chemicals. Its also easier on your budget because you can make it at home, as needed.
Commercial hand sanitizers are full of toxic chemicals, artificial colours, and stuff you don’t want your kids to put in their mouth. Plus they are expensive to buy, especially if you only use them when travelling. This recipe makes a moisturizing natural hand sanitizer from a few simple ingredients that you probably already have at home. You can use this to refill a bottle of hand sanitizer that you already have on hand or use it in a canning jar with a pump dispenser on the lid.
To make flax hand sanitizer for your homestead, you’ll need:
Equipment:
1 pint canning jar, or other 2 cup container to store it in.
1 stand mixer or a strong arm and a whisk
A 4 cup pot
A large strainer, I use a cone strainer.
This first recipe is more like commercial hand sanitizers, with a strong alcohol scent. If you need a powerful cleaner that will strip you skin of 98% of the bacteria that you encounter — this is it. It will get rid of both the beneficial bacteria and the harmful bacteria.
Print
Strong flax natural hand sanitizer
Description
A strong hand sanitizer recipe with alcohol as part of the base, this will strip up to 98% of both good and bad bacteria from your skin.
Ingredients
- 3 cups of water
1/2 cup whole flax seed
2 tbsp. glycerine
1 cup of vodka (best choice) or 99% rubbing alcohol.
5 drops each of tea tree essential oil, lavender essential oil, and rose geranium essential oil, or 10 drops of the essential oil of your choice.
Instructions
- Simmer the water and flax seed together for 15 minutes. You want a fairly thick jelly since you will be diluting it with alcohol.
- Strain the gel from the flax seed. Discard the flax seed and retain the gel
- You will have 2 cups of flax jelly. Put the flax jelly in the bowl of your stand mixer, with the whisk beater and begin to beat.
- Slowly add your vodka (or rubbing alcohol) to mix well.
- Add glycerine and essential oils of your choice.
- This flax/alcohol hand sanititizer closely resembles commercial hand sanitizing products in consistency, put in a squeeze or pump bottle.
- Label and date.
Notes
It feels a bit sticky when it goes on but it is absorbed by your skin quickly. If you are concerned about the toxic affects of rubbing alcohol being absorbed by your body, I recommend using vodka in this recipe.
Ingredients:
3 cups of water
1/2 cup whole flax seed
2 tbsp. glycerine
1 cup of vodka (best choice) or 99% rubbing alcohol.
5 drops each of tea tree essential oil, lavender essential oil, and rose geranium essential oil, or 10 drops of the essential oil of your choice.
Method:
Simmer the water and flax seed together for 15 minutes. You want a fairly thick jelly since you will be diluting it with alcohol. Strain the gel from the flax seed. Discard the flax seed and retain the gel (you can feed these to your chickens or compost them).
You will have 2 cups of flax jelly. Put the flax jelly in the bowl of your stand mixer, with the whisk beater and begin to beat. Slowly add your vodka (or rubbing alcohol) to mix well. Add glycerine and essential oils of your choice.
This flax/alcohol hand sanititizer closely resembles commercial hand sanitizing products in consistency. It feels a bit sticky when it goes on but it is absorbed by you skin quickly. If you are concerned about the toxic affects of rubbing alcohol being absorbed by your body, I recommend using vodka in this recipe.
This one evaporates faster than the one below. You want it to evaporate on your hands to be effective.
Print
Flax and Orange natural hand sanitizer
Description
Natural hand sanitizer from flax with a base of orange citrus vinegar and flax jelly.
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
1/2 cup whole flax seed
2 tbsp. glycerine
1/2 cup of orange/vinegar or lemon/vinegar infusion made according to these directions.
10 drops Orange essential oil or lemon essential oil.
Instructions
- Method:
- Simmer the water and flax seed together for 15 minutes. You want a very thick jelly, so continue to simmer until the jelly is very thick. Strain the gel from the flax seed. Discard the flax seed and retain the gel (you can feed these to your chickens or compost them).
- You will have 2 cups of flax jelly. Put the flax jelly in the bowl of your stand mixer, with the whisk beater and begin to beat. Slowly add your orange/vinegar infusion or lemon/vinegar infusion, while beater continues to beat in order to mix well. Add glycerine and essential oils of your choice.
- This hand sanitizer is as effective as the alcohol based commercial hand sanitizers but without the strong alcohol scent or toxicity. Really good for kids that will still taste everything. It takes longer to evaporate than the alcohol based hand sanitizer, so use only a small pea size amount, and rub it well into your hands.
Non-alcohol orange hand sanitizer
Alternatively try this adaptation that utilizes the citrus peel all purpose cleaner that you made during citrus season:
3 cups water
1/2 cup whole flax seed
2 tbsp. glycerine
1/2 cup of orange/vinegar or lemon/vinegar infusion made according to these directions.
10 drops Orange or lemon essential oil.
Method:
Simmer the water and flax seed together for 15 minutes. You want a very thick jelly, so continue to simmer until the jelly is very thick. Strain the gel from the flax seed. Discard the flax seed and retain the gel (you can feed these to your chickens or compost them).
You will have 2 cups of flax jelly. Put the flax jelly in the bowl of your stand mixer, with the whisk beater and begin to beat. Slowly add your orange/vinegar infusion or lemon/vinegar infusion, while beater continues to beat in order to mix well. Add glycerine and essential oils of your choice.
This natural hand sanitizer is as effective as the alcohol based commercial hand sanitizers but without the strong alcohol scent or toxicity. Really good for kids that will still taste everything. It takes longer to evaporate than the alcohol based hand sanitizer, so use only a small pea size amount, and rub it well into your hands.
Got a cold? Check out my flax jelly recipe, too.
Mountain Rose Herbs carries high quality, organic essential oils, flax seed. You can trust them for your essential oil, and herbal needs. Check them out.
I have a FREE gift for you
Grab my free ebook and learn to make DIY herbal healing salves at home now, with 14 easy to follow recipes that use the herbs and wild plants growing close to home. Salve making is one of the easiest skills to learn in DIY Herbalism.
Hi, I did your recipe: 1/2 cup whole flaxseeds and 3 cups of water and was only left with about 1/3 cup of jelly. I also added the rubbing alcohol to it and it will not mix with the jelly. Any advice?
I used a stick blender to blend the jelly with the alcohol.
I don’t have any advise. I just can rlatee to what your saying. I, too, can remember living in the country and mom sending me to the garden to get food for dinner. What a life!I am trying to get back to the simplicity and like you am looking at land and off grid living. Good luck getting your info for the greenhouse.
I only have GROUND flax seed. But I have whole CHIA seens which also have excellent mucilage properties. Think they might work instead??
As my life gets more and more complicated, I find mylsef doing more and more homesteading . I’m not sure why that is, but it has given me more satisfaction and joy then I ever expected. First, I started doing small things like making my own granola and grinding my own hot rice cereal from my mother’s old recipes. I’ve always made some of my own salad dressings from scratch. Then, I went apple picking last year and learned to can. I made apple sauce, apple butter and frozen pie filling. It started something in me. I wanted more. So I canned tomatoes and learned how to make yogurt and bread. Now I want to make kombucha and mayonnaise and BBQ sauce and jam, and and . The list goes on and on. I’m glad there are other people on this journey. I wish we all had a big kitchen to sit down and feast and toast each other. I wish I could make everyone a cup of tea from the mint I dried. Mostly I look forward to learning with you all.
Flaxseed goes rancid very quickly. How long does this stay fresh?
Whole flax seed doesn’t go rancid quickly. Ground flax seed goes rancid, if not refrigerated, as does flax oil. This is neither. This is the mucilage from flax and I haven’t noticed any rancidity. But the essential oils, and the alcohol or citrus oil would offer some protection, I think.
This sounds great. Right now I just use a tiny bit of liquid castile mixed with water but this seem so much more… presentable! Can you tell me more about glycerine? Mainly where to get it. Do you order online or find it in local health shops?
Hi, Dana, I buy glycerine in the drugstore. Here in Canada it is usually where the calamine lotion, rose water, boric acid, etc. is. You can ask at the pharmacy. A small bottle goes a long way. Glycerine is a by-product of the soap making industry. Most home made soap has its natural glycerine still in it, but commercial soap has its glycerine removed and sold separately.