FWIW, these are the folks I get my sunscreen products from and they just sent an email showing in stock at fairly reasonable prices, all things considered: https://www.rmsunscreen.com/handsanitizers.aspx

Thanks Doug

The product is 62% alcohol. 70% is the minimum concentration for sanitization. This is what is taught in the dozens of hospital based infection control classes I have attended over the years.

I have no healthcare background, but the the CDC COVID-19 hand sanitizer page says that while 70% is the minimum when the alcohol is isopropanol, when the alcohol is ethanol (as in this sanitizer) 60% is sufficient, so the 62% ethanol in that sanitizer should be okay.

Specifically: "CDC recommends using ABHR with greater than 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol in healthcare settings".

The USP comments: "laboratory data demonstrate that 60% ethanol and 70% isopropanol, the active ingredients in CDC-recommended alcohol-based hand sanitizers, inactivates viruses that are genetically related to, and with similar physical properties as, the 2019-nCoV."

However, the CDC page states: "laboratory data demonstrate that ABHR formulations containing 80% ethanol or 75% isopropanol, both of which are in the range of alcohol concentrations recommended by CDC, inactivate SARS-CoV-2." (Those are the concentrations in the standard WHO formulation that the FDC provided emergency authorization for).

So, 80% ethanol has a rather stronger endorsement.
[Update: while that was my initial conclusion, for SARS-CoV-2, the paper (below) doesn't suggest a difference between 60% and 80% ethanol for efficiacy vs. SARS-CoV-2]

[Update: I think I found the paper (a preprint) the CDC is referencing, and it concluded 30% of either alcohol, for 30 seconds, was sufficient in inactivate COVID-19 (30 seconds?! what happened to "20 seconds"!!) The peer reviewers may find flaws in it, of course.]
[Day later update: reading that paper more carefully, it suggests other subtleties, like the glycerol percentage in the standard WHO formulation making it less effective than a reduced glycerol formulation, etc.]


I've seen several companies selling the WHO formulation by the gallon online, like: Rescue Essentials Froggy's Fog, Santolubes, Just Hand Sanitizer I have no personal experience with this sanitizer formulation, and no experience or connection with any of these companies (other than buying signal mirrors from Rescue Essentials (who do provide a safety data sheet and other links)). Note that the WHO formulation is a liquid, not a gel.

A few San Diego Distillers brew 10K gallons of sanitizer Having micro-breweries and micro(?) distilleries has its advantages.

Given the sudden drop in demand for automotive fuel, I expected to see diversion of ethanol from automotive fuel additive to hand sanitizer production, and sure enough:

https://ktvo.com/news/local/iowa-biofuel-companies-donate-ethanol-to-make-hand-sanitizer

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-b...r-idUSKBN22231G

That's great news, rafowell! We need it, too. I got a couple bottles today that I ordered like two weeks ago. Overpaid a little but not drastically.

Thanks for the link Doug, just ordered some.

For those of you buying the 'liquid' sanitizers above, I'd strongly recommend putting them into a pump-type bottle. "A little goes a long way" is putting it mildly.

I've been using the liquid type at work for the last month, and about 1/3 of a pump is more than enough to wipe down your hands ... and sometimes your wrists and forearms too.

Not to mention it's incredibly flammable.

I'm seeing hand sanitizer again at the local dollar store.

I picked up a bottle yesterday from a local place that's making it and packaging it in specially labeled booze bottles. Just dumb luck that I found it at a store I rarely go to and only $11 for a liter.

I'm not seeing my favorite brand anywhere yet (Purell with Aloe) but hand sanitizer is easy to find where I live, and has been for some weeks.

We tend to buy in bulk for things we use a lot of, fortuitous timing meant that we had quite a bit of hand sanitizer and toilet paper before the current crisis. We haven't had to change grocery item purchases significantly.

Locally, including COSTCO, still no hand sanitizer or wipes. TP and Paper Towels are becoming somewhat more available. Perhaps not exactly the brand you prefer, but available.

Yep, right now we can't always be choosy!

Haven't seen hand sanitizer in any of the retail outlets, but businesses seem to be able to source it as part of their walk-in and walk-out protocols.

Doesn't matter to us, though. We always have substantial amounts on hand. I use it a lot, mostly as a waterless hand cleaner. Especially in winter. Great for taking off oil and grease, or an accidental splash of gas. Used right away, in generous amounts, then washed off with water or snow (really!), and there's no lingering gas smell on my hands.

Hmm! I guess I haven't been out much. Strolled through a few stores I haven't visited in a while, and found there's sanitizer available ... but at laughable prices.

I had to brave Costco today and they had 1 L bottles of the thin 80% alcohol stuff for $9.99, not a terrible price nowadays. But I have one bottle of the same stuff (although different brand) that I haven't opened yet and a gallon in UPS limbo awaiting delivery.

Hi,
Went to local dollar tree this morning
cashiers had hand sanitizer at checkout
maybe 40 bottles of 8floz

in the medicine section
about same amount of
70% isopropyl alcohol (never seen that before)
and maybe double the amount of 50% isopropyl alcohol


isopropyl bottles are easy to squeeze ... rough handling closed bottles will make them weep

no soap refills on the shelf ... clerks say trucks drops off stuff once a week, then each day whatever was stacked first gets loaded onto shelves

The Dollar Tree here seems to be well stocked with sanitizer as well. I've bought a few bottles, one to leave at work, one for the car and one for home.

Well,
went today,
they and didn't have any isopropyl
or sanitizer
or soap refills

Luck of the draw

It seems to go in waves.

We were in Coscto today and they had 32 oz bottles of Sanitizer. And, plenty of TP We were at Walgreens and they had a whole section of shelving out front with various brands of sanitizer, none of which I recognized. Largest size was 16 oz., most were 10 or 8.

Watching TV news this AM. Apparently several brands of sanitizer, all produced in Mexico, are toxic - made with methanol, not ethanol. Brand names were not mentioned

For those with the bulk bottles of hand sanitizer, check out the Pocket Atomizer Bottle. Three 10ml polypropylene atomizer bottles for $5. FWIW, YMMV and all that...

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-an...ured-eskbiochem

That is appalling. Methanol is a useful substance, but should never be inhaled (vapour) or applied directly to skin. And it isn't even an effective disinfectant!

AlwYs stick with Purell if you can get it