And maybe add to that Isopropyl Alchahol which is what most of the gels smell of. I do believe there is an antiviral additive required and that antibacterial doesn't do what we currently need.

If anyone is unable to buy hand sanitiser, there is a specialist firm down in Dorset who is producing it – Wessex Chemical Factors. I don't mind plugging heir name as I have found them incredibly friendly and helpful and on occasion they have make up a cocktail to suit my requirements (true chemists).

I have just bought 5l of hand sanitiser , 5L of anti bac hand wash and 2L of antibac surface cleaner (to be diluted) for use in the village by people volunteering to assist neighbours. Delivery within Dorset is not dear but maybe worse by courier.

Currently I use their cutting fluids for lathe and mill, car screen wash, workshop hand cleanser (with granules), teak restorer (brilliant for garden furniture), pressure wash cleaning additive and have also obtained oil for Myford, Boxford and Centec lubrication from them (tell them what it should have and they will source the appropriate equivalent)

I think their website is currently undergoing 'redevelopment' so you might need to ring them and maybe request their catalogue.

What Surgical Spirit contains: The active substance is Methyl Salicylate. The other ingredients are Castor Oil, Diethyl Phthalate, Industrial Methylated Spirit.

..as i recall supposedly designed to taste awful and cause tummy pain if drunk

Meths (back when i was at school) was ethyl alcohol with 10% methyl and purple colourant but Google tells me it can now have IPA instead of ethanol. I can't say I've ever tried tasting it.

I'd guess the mode of action of alcohol is both dehydration and defatting when it comes to topical antisepsis. There should be other viricides about that haven't been scavenged off supermarket shelves – local farm stores would be a good start and possibly garden centres.

pgk

According to this article soap is a highly effective viricide against COVID. It basically makes the virus fall apart.

For 40yrs every surgical site I prepped got shaved, scrubbed with antiseptic soap and finally flooded with surgical spirit. None of those animals went blind as a result of it.
Perhaps industrial exposures on a daily basis for a prolonged period might do it but I'd be very suprised if ocassional rinses did. Heck I must have had my own hands in the stuff when dealing with my patients although i grant that at 70 I now wear glasses.

pgk

Wring = wrong!

I've been doing some armchair research into alcohol as a sanitiser, and I seem to have concluded that the alcohol content needs to be 90% or higher to be effective against the coronavirus.

I've also investigated the published information about methylated spirit, de-natured alcohol, rubbing alcohol and IPA (iso propyl alcohol)

With the possible exception of IPA (though it seems a big vague what you are actually buying) the others don't seem to necessarily meet the 90% alcohol criterion, so I conclude they are not necessarily effective against this particular virus. I'd hate to put my faith in something which turned out to be ineffective.

As others will by now have followed, the virus hates soap as its outer shell is a fatty protein and breaks up on contact with soap or detergent. I think this is why the medical advice has been that hand washing is the preferred and effective countermeasure against contamination, and alcohol based sanitisers are a second best expedient in the event that proper washing is impractical.

Soap, liquid soap, detergent, washing up liquid, shower gel, shampoo, take your pick, whatever is to hand.

HTH, stay safe!

Rgds Simon

There's a good explanation of why soap and water works here . It's not difficult to make DIY handrub – the WHO gives a recipe here . The ingredients for the isopropanol based mix were still widely available when I last looked. I can't see why the ethanol based version wouldn't work with meths, provided one adjusts proportions to give at least 75-80% ethanol in the final mix,

Robin.

The best defence against corona virus would seem to be quinine based malaria treatment. Some bod spotted that anywhere malaria is endemic they do not have a corona problem. How odd is that?

Does anyone actually know what the half life of this virus is. If you are out & about, it would be difficult to be sure of no infection with any sanitiser. I mean that in the sense that. I go to a café, buy a cup of coffee & a bun. Or in the supermarket I have items in the trolley. Now I have handled them all so could be infected. I go to the checkout & pack & pay. I give a £20 note from my wallet ( only buying bog rolls & a bottle of bleach) & the cashier gives me my change, could be infected. I go to my car & load my bags. I get in the car & use my sanitiser. I am pretty much doomed if there was any infection on pretty much anything I touched.

I have come back to my vehicle with infection. If it is something I have handled then when I reach my vehicle I get my keys out, unlock the vehicle , open the doors , load, get in the vehicle. I have infected everything I have touched before I sanitise my hands. Even something like my door handle could be infected. So my hands are sterile until I go to grab the handle to get out at home. Very difficult to stay safe. One scientist was saying it can stay alive on a smooth surface at room temperature for 9 hrs.

With my previous work in the food industry I had to do Hygiene courses to level 2. Because we looked after all the catering equipment. I never heard of a bacteria living so long on a smooth dry surface. I am going to do 1 of 2 things. 1: Lock myself in the workshop for the duration.

2: Withdraw all my savings, sell my assets & buy a small island somewhere in the Pacific with no running water , electric or sanitation.

Just a bit of joviality to brake up all this doom.

Steve.

It was said on TV the other night, that the virus will survive about 72 hours on a plain surface.

Maurice