substitute tea tree oil for aloe vera gel?
March 7, 2020 3:49 PM Subscribe
Can I use tea tree oil in place of aloe vera gel?
Would tea tree oil be as strong as aloe vera gel in homemade hand sanitizer?
Locally, all places seem to be sold out of aloe vera.
Would tea tree oil be as strong as aloe vera gel in homemade hand sanitizer?
Locally, all places seem to be sold out of aloe vera.
I would recommend checking out this comment by monopas in one of the threads on the Blue, which gets into some of the details. tl;dr: it would be better to spray your hands with alcohol and follow it up with moisturizer. Mixing your own risks resulting in a low-efficacy version of what you're looking for. I definitely would not use tea tree oil, either.
posted by pie ninja at 3:55 PM on March 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by pie ninja at 3:55 PM on March 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
It would have absolutely zero efficacy. What lakeroon said.
posted by dmd at 4:05 PM on March 7, 2020
posted by dmd at 4:05 PM on March 7, 2020
No. It's very astringent (and expensive!) whereas aloe is mild and soothing.
posted by latkes at 4:06 PM on March 7, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by latkes at 4:06 PM on March 7, 2020 [6 favorites]
No. It's not a gel. The gel keeps the alcohol from evaporating as quickly, staying on hands to kill germs.
Washing your hands with soap and water works well if you don't have hand sanitizer.
posted by theora55 at 4:26 PM on March 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
Washing your hands with soap and water works well if you don't have hand sanitizer.
posted by theora55 at 4:26 PM on March 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
No. It has antiseptic properties, good for a little dab on a pimple or scratch. It also has antifungal properties, good for athletes foot or nail fungus. Even then it's best used diluted with alcohol. Straight up tea tree oil is harsh. It would be the substitute for the alcohol and not the aloe vera, but I don't know if it has any antiviral properties.
The tea tree oil fame came from olden days when it would be used by Australians in the same way we used Merbromin or Merthiolate. The sort of little bottle of stuff that burn when mom puts it on a boo-boo, but it did the trick. Now we have things like Neosporin and athletes foot spray in our first-aid kits that are much better for general use. (but it does do a damn good job with athletes foot (diluted with alcohol) and nail fungus.)
If you're talking about some tea tree oil infused lotion/gel or something... then yeah. But it would be the gel/lotion part and the alcohol that's the more important bit.
posted by zengargoyle at 4:32 PM on March 7, 2020
The tea tree oil fame came from olden days when it would be used by Australians in the same way we used Merbromin or Merthiolate. The sort of little bottle of stuff that burn when mom puts it on a boo-boo, but it did the trick. Now we have things like Neosporin and athletes foot spray in our first-aid kits that are much better for general use. (but it does do a damn good job with athletes foot (diluted with alcohol) and nail fungus.)
If you're talking about some tea tree oil infused lotion/gel or something... then yeah. But it would be the gel/lotion part and the alcohol that's the more important bit.
posted by zengargoyle at 4:32 PM on March 7, 2020
concentrated tea tree oil on your skin will irritate it & possibly cause chemical burns
Yup. I found out the hard way, when I was using a little bottle of it on my toes, even though the blasted stuff was already diluted down to an "appropriate: level. I still use it, diluted by the soap-maker in a bar of soap, but it can be quite harsh.
Chemically, tea tree oil and aloe vera are very different things. One's an oil, the other is a bunch of stuff in water.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:23 PM on March 7, 2020
Yup. I found out the hard way, when I was using a little bottle of it on my toes, even though the blasted stuff was already diluted down to an "appropriate: level. I still use it, diluted by the soap-maker in a bar of soap, but it can be quite harsh.
Chemically, tea tree oil and aloe vera are very different things. One's an oil, the other is a bunch of stuff in water.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:23 PM on March 7, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lakeroon at 3:53 PM on March 7, 2020 [8 favorites]