Alcohol-based and Alcohol-free Sanitizers: What's the difference?

It’s no secret, the recent pandemic has brought us to change and/or reinforce our hygiene habits, notably hand hygiene! Whether its washing your hands for 20 seconds frequently or using hand sanitizers in public areas, these hands must be clean!

But let’s be serious, when it comes to these two options, the hand sanitizer is probably the most used since access to sinks and soap is not always given. So, you just go with it and let stores spray some on your hands, not really knowing what’s actually getting on your skin. Either you’ll be using an alcohol-based disinfectant or an alcohol-free option.

Well, it differs from place to place and from brand to brand! But what’s the difference? Let’s break it down:

Alcohol-based sanitizers:

Sanitizers like these usually contain between 60 and 90% of alcohol. Products that have a percentage below 60% have been proven less effective. The three main alcohol bases used are ethanol, isopropanol.

Ethanol is a chemical compound. It is the “alcohol” that is consumed in alcoholic beverages. The ethanol in hand sanitizer, however, is denatured. This means it can’t be ingested (unless you want to be very sick). It will not get you drunk.

Isopropanol, also called 2-propanol, is your typical rubbing alcohol. It is very fast drying and commonly used to disinfect electronic devices for example.

With the appropriate alcohol compound quantity, these disinfectants can kill up to 99.9% of the germs.

Alcohol-free sanitizers:

A The most type of disinfectants in that category are the ones that are chlorine-based (benzalkonium chloride). Usually less expensive, their antimicrobial capacities are broad. People like them because they do not leave toxic residues and are fast acting. Furthermore, they have a low incidence of serious toxicity. Alcohol-free hand sanitizers do not dry out hands and don’t leave strong smells. They create little foam after rubbing hands.

Obviously, if your hands are dirty and / or more greasy, it is recommended that you really take the time to wash them with soap and water. But in other cases, it is important to continue to disinfect your hands! To see our disinfectant products, click here.

For any questions or comment, feel free to contact us!