Hand sanitisers have become a significant part of our lives since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic. When we are out and do not have the access to soap and water, it is our sand sanitisers that protect us from the deadly virus. Taking benefit of this hard time and showing their opportunistic sides, some manufacturers have started to supply fake hand sanitisers in the market with the logo of some renowned brands. This is an illegal means to earn money and can put these people behind bars if caught. More than this, what’s important is that supply of ineffective hand sanitisers in the market can put various lives at risk of contracting COVID-19 which can be deadly in some cases.
Therefore, today we will tell you a few cost-effective ways to check the quality of your hand sanitiser.
Tissue Paper or Toilet Paper Test
Take a small piece of tissue paper and draw a circle on it with the help of a ballpoint pen. Keep the tissue paper on a flat surface and pour a few drops of your hand sanitiser in the middle of the circle. Now, wait for the sanitiser to diffuse and move out of the circle. Notably, a gel hand sanitiser may take more time than a liquid sanitiser to diffuse. If your sanitiser contains enough alcohol and is effective, the line drawn by you will dissolve in it and the colour would start to spread out. In case the sanitiser is fake, it will diffuse past the line without dissolving the ink.
As per the principle of paper chromatography, the ink present in the ballpoint pen does not dissolve in water but quickly dissolves in alcohol leading to the spread of the ink. Less alcohol content in a solution cannot dissolve the ink.
Wheat Flour Dough Test
Take a small bowl and add one tablespoon of wheat flour or any other flour that quickly forms a dough with water. Now, add a tablespoon of your sanitiser. Now, try to make a dough by kneading the flour and sanitiser. If you succeed in doing that, your hand sanitiser does not contain enough alcohol and is fake. Original hand sanitiser won’t make the flour sticky and will eventually dry up. This is the most effective test to detect if your sanitiser is original and contains 60 per cent alcohol.
Notably, flour requires water to turn into a dough as it helps in making the gluten and carbs to swell and become sticky. On the other hand, alcohol does not let the gluten and carbs to hydrate and competes with them for water molecules.
Hair Dryer Test
Take two small bowls. Add 1 tablespoon of hand sanitiser in one and some water in the second one. Heat up your hairdryer and then dry both at the same temperature and using the same way. If your hand sanitiser contains enough alcohol, it will dry up faster than water as alcohol has a much lower boiling point than water.