First, I am not worried about the coronavirus. I am being more cautious about going out. We are in that “older folks” group that seem to be more likely to have complications but that’s really true about most every disease/injury.
My biggest concern is lack of products on store shelves and even that, I’m not worried about. If I want potatoes and there are no potatoes on the shelf, I’ll just make something else. If there’s NO food on the shelves at the grocery store, then I’d probably worry.
There has been a lot of talk about bad crops causing a reduction in food supplies; now we have so much of China shut down or just coming back online so I do expect there could be food shortages. Of course, I have no insider knowledge but my thoughts are that prices will go up (supply & demand), and that we may see some things in short supply. As you know, I keep extras of everything. If I have flour on my shopping list and there’s no flour at the store, I know I have extra at home so I’ll hopefully get flour my next trip. I recommend always having extra food and supplies at home. Being prepared helps us not panic when things we need can’t be found.
Speaking of “can’t be found”, that seems to be the case with hand sanitizer in many places. I’ve heard about it . . I haven’t seen it. We don’t usually use much hand sanitizer. I keep it in my car. I use soap and water when that’s available but often, I’m in the car, eat something — maybe it’s just beef jerky that I had in the car, get something caught in one spot in my teeth where food catches (it’s between two crowns and isn’t causing an issue and would be expensive to fix), and I want to use dental floss but . . my hands aren’t clean. I will use hand sanitizer then. Traveling, we always have Rita with us. If we decide to eat a snack, I’ll use hand sanitizer then. I’m not anti-hand sanitizer . . I just prefer soap and water.
We also keep Clorox wipes in the car and after pumping gas, I always use those – even when there is no coronavirus out there.
One thing I always do too .. keep hand lotion in the car. It’s easy to dry out your skin. If I use Clorox wipes, I always slather on a bit of hand cream after my hands have dried.
If you have no hand sanitizers or Clorox wipes and can no longer find them in your stores, you could put a few paper towels in a jar and keep a small container of rubbing alcohol in the car. Pour a bit of the alcohol on the paper towels and wipe your hands. This is also not great for your skin and you’ll need to use moisturizers more if doing this but do not despair if you can’t find hand sanitizers.
Hand sanitizer is easy to make and it can be made with ingredients you probably have a home. Yesterday on Facebook, I saw people posting they had gone to five stores looking for hand sanitizer and there was none to be found. I thought . . you could probably have bought all the ingredients at the first store if you didn’t already have them and made it in a fraction of the time it took to look for it.
The World Health Organization has a ‘recipe’ and info about making a basic hand sanitizer.
There are many recipes on the internet. I like Wellness Mama and here’s her recipe I’ll be making today.
Don’t overuse hand sanitizer. Use soap and water when available. But, do not worry about the lack of hand sanitizer in the store. Once you make your own, you may never buy it again.
Nelle Coursey says
Thanks for the recipe, I may have to try it.
Joyce says
I would be irritated by the lack of toilet paper at the store way before the lack of hand sanitizer! I prefer soap and water…I am also NOT the person who runs to the store for milk, bread and eggs every time there is a chance of snow. We joke about those people making a lot of French toast.
Susan Nixon says
I usually don’t use them, because then the germs get stronger. One thing I do keep on hand is Hibiclens, which started a few years ago when my younger son had MRSA and a friend told me about it. It’s the same thing doctors use to wash before surgery, and I was running low a couple of weeks ago, so I ordered some. Then the Corona virus news got bad, and I thought I’d order a couple more to have to share with friends who didn’t have any. In the little over a week between my two orders, the price for two quart jars went up $5, from the same supplier, and it was even higher at others … which was why I’d bought from them in the first place. I thought, just as you did, ah ha! The law of S & D at work! It will all average out eventually.
Heidi says
Toilet paper, paper towels, masks, hand sanitizer and anything lysol is flying off the shelves where I live. There’s no reason except someone announced people should have enough for about a week maybe two of supplies. Not sure how that became pick up of six cases of 72 rolls of TP but food I haven’t seen anything low on the shelves so apparently people aren’t worried about having enough food in the house just paper products.
Judy Laquidara says
It seems to be that way everywhere. I think a lot of the panic buying is because no one knows. Things may be better in a couple of weeks but they may be worse. I just wish everyone would keep the supplies they need on hand for at least several weeks and then we would have the run on the stores. I don’t keep hand sanitizer and prefer to make my own so I didn’t buy hand sanitizer. I had plenty of toilet paper and paper towels so I didn’t buy those. I did buy paper plates because I don’t keep those and I knew if I get sick, paper plates will be much appreciated around here.
Beth says
At least one vodka manufacturer (Tito’s) has warned users NOT to use vodka to make hand sanitizer :
”Per the CDC, hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is 40% alcohol, and therefore does not meet the current recommendation of the CDC.”
Judy Laquidara says
Correct. People need to be smart about all this. The whole concoction needs to be 60% alcohol so starting with 40% isn’t going to do any good. I use 91% and end up with about a 64% alcohol number.
patti says
i don’t go out much either and had been hearing all of the reports of shortages so looked at a few of the places i went. everything i checked was well stocked but i did notice people buying (but not over buying) disinfectants. we call it “we’re all gonna die” news reporting. just being sensible has worked for us, we could live for several months with what we have on shelves.