Every recipe I've found says essentially, a 2:1 ratio of alcohol to aloe vera gel.
"Well, heck, I'll try it!" I hated chemistry in high school, but this one should be so easy even a caveman could do it.
So I grabbed the alcohol and the gel, got out my best Pyrex measuring cup, and set after it.
Great goodness, this mix seems watery! Does it thicken on its own over time?
Recipes warn not to get the mix too heavy on gel, for fear it will dilute the cootie-killing effect of the alcohol. That prevents me from dropping a few more giant globs of aloe vera gel into the cup, but I still wonder.
This just doesn't seem right. Anybody here got experience with it?
God bless America.
Posts: 14091 | Location: Frog Level Yacht Club | Registered: July 15, 2007
Yeah, my wife made some. Pretty much 2:1 alcohol:aloe vera gel. It's meant to be used from a spray bottle. It has to be thin. Only needs enough "body" to keep it from running off your hands like water when you spray it on.
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
I made some at the beginning of all this virus brouhaha. It does thicken up a bit after you whisk the two ingredients together. So far it seems to be working just fine. I take my little plastic bottle with me when I go out for supplies.
We used up the first batch, so just made another.
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Posts: 10566 | Location: FL | Registered: December 29, 2003
So the minimum alcohol needs to be 90% in order to use the 2-1 ratio.
Using 91% alcohol, 3:1 yields a 68% alcohol product, which is about the ideal level of alcohol. I am mixing it that way, with a few drops of tea tree oil (recommended on many sites).
When in doubt, mumble
Posts: 10887 | Location: South Congress AZ | Registered: May 27, 2006
I tried making it with isopropal alcohol and the aloe vera gel. To keep it at the 70 percent alcohol level the consistency was much more liquidity than Purel. Since it was basically liquid anyway I just decided to use the straight isopropal in a squirt bottle.
Originally posted by MattW: Straight alcohol isn’t good. The water acts as a vessel for the alcohol to travel and pass through the envelope and render the virus inept.
ITYM "inert?"
Anyway, my understanding was alcohol breaks down the virus' protective layer of fat, which is what "kills" it.
ISTM what the aloe primarily accomplishes is to make the alcohol more spreadable--and possibly retard evaporation?
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
Originally posted by Fundman: I tried making it with isopropal alcohol and the aloe vera gel. To keep it at the 70 percent alcohol level the consistency was much more liquidity than Purel. Since it was basically liquid anyway I just decided to use the straight isopropal in a squirt bottle.
Straight alcohol is bad for your hands. The Aloe Vera helps condition and protect your skin.
Wife heard me listening to excams video and asked me what I'm doing listening to Lab Muffin. Aren't you usually looking at stuff from SIGforum. Told her I found it between cat videos and recipe threads.
Jesse
Sic Semper Tyrannis
Posts: 21280 | Location: Loudoun County, Virginia | Registered: December 27, 2014
I haven't been able to find a bottle of isopropyl alcohol since this whole circus started. I think there may be some in the garage for removing pine sap from my truck, but I can't find it.
