Destroy germs with this super-duper easy and affordable DIY disinfectant spray. It’s like Lysol spray but cheaper and with simpler, powerful antiviral ingredients. It might look cute… but don’t let looks fool you. This alcohol-based spray is a germ killer!
Disclaimer: We are not medical professionals, and we don’t play them on the internet. We are not chemical formulators, pharmacists, or anything other than moms who like to DIY germ-fighting household products. This is not medical advice! Use at your own risk.
Make sure to use at least 60% alcohol in your disinfectant spray, or it will not be effective. Studies have shown a minimum of 62% alcohol is effective.
Don’t forget to check out our DIY hand sanitizer and DIY Lysol or Clorox wipes, too!
Who else remembers Everclear from college? If only I had known what that 95% alcohol can do to germs… I might not have been drinking it in “hunch punch”!
Let’s not kid ourselves. I totally would’ve still been indulging.
Well… she’s back!
In fact, when I went to buy Everclear for this DIY disinfectant spray at the liquor store for the very first time, I told the clerk I hadn’t bought any since college. He said,
“Did anyone ever buy Everclear? It seemed like somebody always just had some.”
Wisdom. That said: I’ve been making this super crazy easy and affordable DIY disinfectant spray as my version of a DIY Lysol spray for years. I wanted to share it with you to help you slay germs, too!
Why You Should Make This DIY Disinfectant Spray
- It’s super effective (AS LONG AS you make sure to use 60%+ alcohol. I use way, way higher.)
- It’s super cheap! You can find 16 oz. 91% isopropyl alcohol – the bulk ingredient of the spray – for $0.99, making this entire bottle about $1.
- It’s easy to customize with essential oils. I use a combo of essential oils for scent and for disinfectant and antiviral properties.
- A bit of hydrogen peroxide assists in this germ-fighting spray.
What to Use It On
Please don’t spray your kids down with this stuff!
Really, though, you can use this on most surfaces. We use it on high-touch areas like sink handles, fridge handles, doorknobs, phones, and remotes (Spraying on a paper towel first), etc.
Ingredients
We use only 4 simple ingredients in this DIY disinfectant spray, each with an important role:
- alcohol, preferably ethanol (ethyl alcohol AKA Everclear)
- distilled water
- hydrogen peroxide
- essential oils
Isopropyl Alcohol or Ethanol?
Which type of high-proof alcohol should you use in your DIY disinfectant spray?
First off, what’s the difference?
Isopropyl alcohol and ethanol are both alcohols.
Isopropyl alcohol, or rubbing alcohol, is typically used topically on skin; this is what is usually used in hand sanitizer and alcohol prep pads at the doctor. It’s easy and cheap to pick up isopropyl alcohol at places like pharmacies and grocery stores.
Ethanol is the kind of alcohol that is more often imbibed. Say no more!
Both are effective at killing germs, but some research shows isopropyl alcohol is especially good at killing bacteria, and ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) is especially great at destroying virus germs.
So whether you use ethanol (ethyl alcohol AKA Everclear, etc.) or isopropyl alcohol, it really depends on what you’re after! We like to use ethyl alcohol during winter.
Use a Little Water
It may seem logical to use pure alcohol for your DIY Lysol spray, but some research actually shows that
“absolute ethyl alcohol, a dehydrating agent, is less bactericidal than mixtures of alcohol and water because proteins are denatured more quickly in the presence of water.”
For that reason, we use mainly alcohol in our DIY disinfectant and add a bit of water + a little hydrogen peroxide + essential oils for our mix.
Essential Oils
I like to use essential oils in this DIY Lysol spray for
- scent and
- antiviral and cleaning properties
I’m not a big essential oil person, although I have dozens of bottles! We use them a lot, but I don’t belong to any kind of essential oil sales group. You can check out what Amazon has for organic pure essential oils here, but what you buy is up to you!
Here’s a list of what we like to use for antiviral or cleaning recipes (Bold denotes an oil studied for its antiviral properties):
- tea tree
- eucalyptus
- thyme
- rosemary
- cinnamon
- clove
- orange
- chamomile
- lemon
- peppermint
- lavender
Tea tree, eucalyptus, and thyme were actually studied for their antiviral properties, so we include these in most of our disinfectant blends. Clove, orange, rosemary, and cinnamon are known for their antiviral properties, too.
I also include lemon because it’s just the best, no? Not only does it smell clean to me, but a study showed it was actually more effective at decreasing stress than lavender.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Some research has shown that certain viruses “can be efficiently inactivated by surface disinfection procedures with 62–71% ethanol, 0.5% hydrogen peroxide or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite within 1 minute.”
Have you looked at the back of your Lysol spray recently? It recommends letting that stuff sit for ten minutes, but here we have alcohol (ethanol), paired with a smidge of hydrogen peroxide, being “efficiently inactivated” (Heck yeah!) within one minute. All about it!
Note that they refer to ethanol here, too, rather than isopropyl alcohol. For this reason, we personally use ethanol alcohol in our spray, AKA Everclear.
If you’re making 16 oz. of spray, that factors to a little less than half a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide, so a little goes a long way here. Note again that you need a 62-71% ethanol solution for effectiveness.
But How Do I Know if it’s 62-71% Alcohol?
It’s more complicated than you’d think, calculating solutions, but there’s a great resource out there to help you. I asked my mathematician friend to help me out, and he wrote up a very clear explanation of this calculation. Check it out!
In his calculation, we’re aiming for about 75% final alcohol percentage.
You can also use this online calculator:
DIY Hand Sanitizer / Disinfectant Recipes calculator – We’re making about 16 ounces here, which is 473 milliliters.
I use a little less hydrogen peroxide than this calculator suggests and I aim for a lower overall alcohol content, based on the above data, but you can simply use a bit less and the alcohol percentage will stay higher, MAKING SURE you do end up with at least 60% alcohol content, though. Reminder: it will not be effective at less than 60% alcohol content.
Again, I’m not a chemist, so you should err on the side of strength here. I also recommend ordering a 0-200 proof alcohol hydrometer so you can test homemade hand sanitizer, DIY disinfectant spray, DIY disinfectant wipes, etc.
That’s it! Remember: we aren’t doctors, and we don’t play them on the internet. MAKE SURE THAT your disinfectant spray is at least 60% alcohol, preferably 62% minimum, or it will not be effective.
Make use of this calculator to help you in determining the percentage, and make sure you know the alcohol percentage and type (whether it’s isopropyl alcohol, AKA rubbing alcohol, or ethyl alcohol, AKA Everclear, vodka, etc.) of your ingredient.
Yes, but only high-proof vodkas that are 130 proof (65%) MINIMUM, and don’t add any water. The higher the proof the better.
We recommend using this spray on surfaces, like kitchen counters, toilets, and other high-touch, high-traffic areas.
You could potentially use this as a hand sanitizer in a pinch, but the alcohol can be harsh on your skin! Try our DIY hand sanitizer recipe here!
Some viruses can remain on surfaces up to 7 days, although some only stay around for 24 hours. Bacteria tend to live on surfaces for a much shorter time, from a few hours to a few days.
Kitchens and bathrooms tend to harbor germs, as do cell phones, keyboards, money, and workspaces.
DIY Disinfectant Spray (DIY Lysol Spray)
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 ounces distilled water
- 12 ounces 95% ethyl alcohol like Everclear. You can use other types of alcohol, too. See Notes for other alcohols
- 1/2 teaspoon hydrogen peroxide
- 30-45 drops essential oils as desired See Notes for recommended essential oils.
- 16-ounce spray bottle
Instructions
- Pour water and hydrogen peroxide in a 16-ounce spray bottle. Drop in desired essential oil blend, optional. Fill bottle with ethyl alcohol, about 12 ounces, and shake well to combine. Spray and wipe down on high-touch areas or anywhere you'd like to disinfect.
Video
Notes
- tea tree
- eucalyptus
- thyme
- rosemary
- cinnamon
- clove
- chamomile
- peppermint
- lavender
Cheryl Malik is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind the healthy, flavorful, family friendly recipes at 40 Aprons. She’s been a blogger for 10+ years and is known for her delicious recipes and detailed recipe instructions. Cheryl is a mom of three who lives in Memphis, TN.
Lynne says
I’m so happy to find this recipe. My question is this: how do you find 16 ounces of ethyl alcohol for under a dollar?? I’m praying you respond, I see this isn’t a brand new post. Thank you in advance!
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
Hmmm, I’m not sure! We haven’t been able to find it for that amount of $!
Angelina says
This article is great specially today were people are very health conscious. However, can I use just a plain tap water? We use 3 stage tap water filter in our home.
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
Yes, that should work!
Jasnoor Sandhu says
I have just a few questions about the recipes, the first is about the alcohol proportion, I was wondering if I could use rubbing alcohol instead of eythal? and also I would like to know if essential oils are necessary in the recipe, because I have sinus issues that cause certain scents to give me a headache.
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
Rubbing alcohol has a lower alcohol content, but sure. 🙂 It just won’t be as strong!
Alyssa says
Question do you think this would be helpful to spray on the kids backpacks and things they take to school if used a fine mist sprayer?
Amelia Camurati says
Definitely! We use it all over the house these days.
Veronica says
Do you think you could just spray this and walk away if the sprayer used could make it a fine enough mist? Kind of like the 7th generation aerosol cleaners? I’m looking for something easy like that to clean my toddler’s mountains of toys so I don’t need to spend a ton of time wiping everything down. ?
Amelia Camurati says
If given time to dry, sure!
Jamie Scherdin says
How long do you have to let this sit before wiping?
Ray says
2 minutes should be enough. Corona virus outer protein shell denatures ( breaks apart) in twenty to thirty seconds after exposure.
Maria Hocbo says
Can I use smart water since it is distilled?
Amelia Camurati says
You can!
Cass says
Can this safely be used on clothes temporarily? I live in a small apartment and don’t have easy access to washer to wash clothes every night, so I tend to use lysol sprays and the like on clothing.
Amelia Camurati says
The hydrogen peroxide could definitely cause some yellowed discoloration of your clothing, especially dark fabrics.
Tonya says
Can I use 70% isopropyl alcohol? And should the glass bottle be a dark color? Thanks so much!
Cheryl Malik says
Yes, you can use 70%. A darker bottle can help with the ingredients degrading over time, but I honestly use mine up so quickly that I don’t worry too much about it! You can also store your spray in a dark, cool place like a cabinet, and that should help, too!
Jessica says
Can I use this on soda surfaces like a couch or chair?
Amelia Camurati says
Sure!
Judith says
Is using distilled water a must? Over here where I live it’s been close to impossible to find distilled water these days in the stores,(along with cleaning and disinfectant sprays).. Prior to the whole Shelter In Place starting back in March, distilled water was very easy to find. But then so was everything else.
Amelia Camurati says
It’s ideal but not necessarily required. If you can’t find distilled, at least use filtered.
Barbara V says
Pls pls pls tell me if you can make this to be an aerosol to spray for use in the house or hotel room.
Amelia Camurati says
If you had the right kind of can, definitely! You can also get a fine mist spray bottle that would be similar in dispersion.
Haydee Syffus says
The only thing you have to worry about is traveling with a flammable liquid. I would check with the TSA about flying with it.
Amelia Camurati says
Definitely this!
Robert says
Thanks for sharing this wonderful information.
Amelia Camurati says
You’re welcome! Hope it’s handy.
Heather says
Can you use half and half on the two types of alcohol?
Amelia Camurati says
Yep!
Michelle says
Thank you so much for this recipe and the links to the research! I want to share that in my research on using Hydrogen Peroxide for cleaning, I’ve read it needs to be kept in dark bottles or it degrades with exposure to UV rays. 🙂
Amelia Camurati says
This is a great tip! Thanks! I bet that’s why many hydrogen peroxide bottles are opaque!
Vickie says
You’ve been asked a couple of times about the distilled water, but haven’t replied. I have the same question. I don’t want to buy distilled water in a plastic container. Do I have to use it?
Amelia Camurati says
You can use filtered water instead of distilled, but some bacteria can get through a standard water filtration system like a Brita or Pur. Distilled is best, but if you don’t have it or don’t want to buy it, filtered water is your next best option here.
Jean F says
Hi Cheryl, This article is so helpful. I have a couple quick questions. I am trying to whip up a batch of the wipes but I do not drink alcohol and the only rubbing alcohol that I could find in stores was the 70% version. I only have either tea tree or cinnamon essential oils. Do you think I should still add the water or is that going to dilute my alcohol percentage too much? How would you adjust the hydrogen peroxide amount for this? I was planning to use the tea tree oil but I am wondering if the solution would be effective without any essential oils. Thanks for an excellent article!