3 Easy Ways to Prepare a natural disinfectant at home!

Disinfection of the surfaces at our home is essential to maintain hygiene & cleanliness. It helps in eliminating & restricting the propagation of the pathogens. Pathogens are those pesky micro-organisms that can cause disorders in human bodies. The best way to fight them is by destroying them before they enter our bodies. This makes disinfection a vital step in maintaining hygiene & health. Usually, we buy stuff related to our health  & hygiene. Do we have to buy disinfectants from the store? Can we prepare one at our home?

Disinfectants are chemical compounds that neutralize pathogens by destroying their protein structures. Many naturally potent disinfectants are capable of performing equivalent to chemical man-made disinfectants. So, is it a good idea to prepare a natural disinfectant at home? Yes, it is surely a good idea. But, if you can get your hands over natural disinfectant at the stores or a disinfectant made by a reputed brand, then that won’t be a problem as well.

In this article, we are going to cover the different simple methods of preparing a natural disinfectant at home. We will also be covering the benefits and other details of preparing a natural disinfectant at home. So, let’s begin without any further ado.

Why should you make a natural disinfectant at home? 

Why should one not buy commercially available natural or chemical disinfectants? Why should you DIY? There are multiple reasons for it. Let’s cover them one by one.

Reduction of Plastic

You must have surely heard of the 4 Rs (Recycle, Reuse, Reduce, and Recover) of waste management & sustainability. Plastic is not a biodegradable polymer. The more we use, the more we pollute. With the growing mass of plastic in large quantities, we can play an important part by reducing our contribution to it.  When you visit a store to buy a disinfectant, irrespective of its type they are packed using plastic. Preparing a natural disinfectant at home helps us to cut down this plastic consumption.

Avoids the use of Harmful Chemicals

Chemical disinfectants have small amounts of toxic chemicals to eliminate pathogens. These chemicals can adversely affect health when inhaled, especially for kids & pets. They may cause skin irritation, respiratory problems, and many more. Moreover, few chemicals used in disinfectants cause environmental pollution. To avoid these, switching to a safer alternative of natural disinfectant is always the best choice.

No Compromise with Efficiency

If you follow the proper steps of DIY natural disinfectant, then you need not worry about the efficiency of elimination of pathogens. Even if you prepare natural disinfectant at home, it has been found out by many DIYers that the efficiency is about the same. They may not be the best in elimination but are far safer than the store ones.

Save Money

All you need is a few natural ingredients and that’s it! These ingredients are inexpensive and the overall cost of preparing a natural disinfectant at home is far lesser than the disinfectants available in the store.

What stuff do you require?

For any disinfectant, it eliminates pathogens with the help of active ingredients. This active ingredient is primarily responsible for the efficiency of elimination of pathogens and the types of pathogens it can eliminate. Let’s go through a few key natural active ingredients which you can use to prepare natural disinfectants at your home.

Malt Vinegar (10% Acetic Acid) or White Vinegar (4% to 7% Acetic Acid)

Used as a cooking ingredient, vinegar is capable of eliminating pathogens with ease. It also cleans the surface. The effect is due to its acidic nature which even removes stains & rust. This added advantage of vinegar is useful as it functions as a cleaner, sanitizer, and disinfectant too. These effects of vinegar are scientifically proven.

Though it does have some issues. It is not effective in eliminating the novel coronavirus. It requires at least 15 minutes of contact time with the surface for effective elimination of the pathogens. It should not be used on iron, granite, stone, and wooden surfaces.

You can check out in detail whether vinegar is a disinfectant or not.

How to make a natural disinfectant with Vinegar at home easily?

You can make a vinegar disinfectant solution spray by preparing a solution of vinegar & water in a 1:1 ratio. Add lemon oil to the solution which gives a scent as well as strengthens the solution.

Tip -

• This disinfectant solution is ineffective against most viruses. You can also strengthen this disinfectant solution by addition of rubbing alcohol in smaller quantities (about 5% to 10% of vinegar’s quantity).
• You can replace lemon oil with any other essential oil of your choice.
• You can even make disinfectant wipes. Instead of a spray bottle follow the same procedure in a large glass container and soak cloth pieces in the disinfectant solution for a few hours or days. Before using the wipes, removes the excess disinfectant solution.

Rubbing Alcohol (IPA) or Ethyl Alcohol (Ethanol)

They are the best natural active ingredients for the preparation of disinfectants at home. They are easily available & inexpensive. At 70% concentration of alcohol, the best results are found. They are capable of eliminating a wide range of pathogens including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes. They even eliminate the novel coronavirus. Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) at 70% concentration is recommended by CDC for disinfection purposes.

They too have a few issues. Though they don’t require a high contact time with the surface due to their higher volatility, it becomes difficult to ensure the minimum required contact time to eliminate the pesky pathogens. It also gives off a strong alcoholic odor. For safety purposes, their storage must be in a dry cold well-ventilated place away from flames as alcohol is highly inflammable.  It should not be used on lacquer or varnish finished products as alcohol destroys their effects.

Note - Never mix alcohol & bleach for disinfection purposes. It causes a reaction between both these substances to give toxic compounds as the product. 

How to make natural disinfectant with Alcohol at home easily?

1. You can either use ethanol or rubbing alcohol. Check the alcohol percentage and dilute it accordingly to get a minimum of 60% concentration of alcohol (as recommended by the CDC). If you have 99% rubbing alcohol, then take 4 parts of alcohol and 2 parts of water.
2. If you want to remove the alcoholic odor (or not), then add lemon oil. Lemon oil itself is an effective disinfectant capable of destroying bacteria. Moreover, it also removes any stains on the surface. Alternatively, you can also add lemon juice or lemon peels. Add them to the spray bottle. 
3. Further, add the required amount of alcohol to the spray bottle till it gets filled. 

Tip - 

• If you’re using lemon peels or lemon juice, then let the solution settle for a week or two. This allows the lemon oil to mix well with alcohol.
• Before spraying, shake the disinfectant solution properly.
• After spraying the disinfectant on the surface, allow it to disinfect for a minute or two. 
• You can even make disinfectant wipes. Instead of a spray bottle follow the same procedure in a large glass container and soak cloth pieces in the disinfectant solution for a few hours or days. Before using the wipes, removes the excess disinfectant solution.
• You can replace lemon oil with any other essential oil of your choice (though not recommended). Check out the benefits of lemon oil.

 Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide acts as a highly effective disinfectant at the concentration of 3% to 10%. They aren’t the best natural disinfectant active ingredient but eliminate bacterial pathogens quite well. They should not be used on fabrics & upholstery as they may whiten them. They can be used as an alternative to bleach.

Note - While buying, always check whether hydrogen peroxide is food-grade or not. 

How to make a natural disinfectant with Hydrogen Peroxide at home easily?

Transfer hydrogen peroxide to a spray bottle. If necessary, dilute the spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide anywhere between 3% to 10%. Spray & wipe surface for disinfection.

Application of vinegar before spraying hydrogen peroxide gives better results. Once applied to the surface, vinegar solution cleans & sanitizes the surface. Wipe the surface clean and then spray hydrogen peroxide disinfectant solution. It should be noted that vinegar & hydrogen peroxide should not be allowed to interact with each other. It causes the triggering of a spontaneous reaction that gives toxic & dangerous peracetic acid.

Bonus

Do you love Lysol disinfectants? Want to prepare a DIY Lysol disinfectant? Add rubbing alcohol & water in a 2:1 ratio in a spray bottle. Add around 20 to 25 drops of lemon oil to the disinfectant solution and allow it to settle. Before spraying, ensure that you shake it vigorously. 

Tip - 

Use lukewarm water for the preparation of the disinfectant solution.

You can also check out our blog on the best natural disinfectants.  

Conclusion 

Preparation of natural disinfectant is a go-to DIYer thing. If you are a DIY enthusiast and pro-environment, then preparing natural disinfectant at home is surely the way to go. With quite a few options of active ingredients for the preparation of natural disinfectants, the selection task of active ingredients won’t be too difficult to achieve. 

The best option will surely be going for the alcohol one, but each one of them has its pros & cons. The application of a combination of these disinfectant solutions is surely the best option. Vinegar disinfectant solution acts as a sanitizer, cleaner & disinfectant which surely would be a good idea to start with. Followed by spraying an alcohol-based or hydrogen peroxide-based homemade disinfectant. Finally, the choice is yours.

Stay Safe! Stay Healthy! Stay True!