Posted on 03/20/2020 3:45:56 PM PDT by steve86
When Jim Batdorf tried to pick up hand sanitizer last week, he was greeted with bare shelves.
The rush on grocery stories and pharmacies since the first death caused by COVID-19 in Washington state wiped out stocks of disinfectants across the region.
Batdorf, a chemical engineer turned head distiller at Richland-based Solar Spirits, wanted to help in his own way to curb the spread of the disease.
So he put together a kit so people can make their own hand sanitizer.
“Keeping our hands clean is a key factor in the national fight against the spread of the coronavirus,” he said. “With our background in science and engineering, we wanted to do our part in the fight against the epidemic.”
The 5-year-old distillery produces whiskey, brandy, gin and vodka and is powered by solar and renewable energy credits.
Distilleries across the country have turned to making hand sanitizer.
Their access to alcohol makes them uniquely positioned to produce the cleaner. When vodka is made, it comes out as 190 proof. They then usually filter it before adding water to bring it down to 80 proof.
While Batdorf looked up recipes, he wasn’t sure if he could legally switch from producing drinking alcohol to producing hand sanitizer.
Since the crisis the state and federal governments have eased rules on what the distilleries can do.
Rubbing alcohol too.
Same as the economy and stock market--on the rocks.
But it is what I do. Probably shouldn't. But I do.
Not a good idea. "Dry-gas" is usually methanol ("wood alcohol") ... pretty toxic, and is also absorbed through the skin (you don't have to drink it to get poisoned by it).
I hear you....I only make the necessary trips (for groceries and getting my husband to the doctor). I hear that the grocery store I go to is going to have “senior hours” on Tuesday/Wednesday from 7-8 am. What old person even gets out of bed at that time? I’m like you and up several times during the night and not in good shape to go anywhere at 7 am. Oh! Heck - why don’t we just stop sleeping entirely?
I try to make it to the grocery store on Tuesdays at 10-10:30 when the caregiver is here for my husband but she doesn’t even get here until 9. It’s still dark at 7 and I don’t drive in the dark. That probably wouldn’t bother you because you drive more than I do.
Sure there’s ordering and picking up but who on earth wants someone else picking out their fruits and vegetables and meats? What happens when what you would normally have on your list isn’t even available? I don’t think this has been carefully planned. Ask us seniors what hours we prefer. As for ordering “meals” - forget that. We’re supposed to stay out of restaurants and I’ll go for that but having someone else fix your meals for delivery - Oh! No!
I and others I know pick up prescriptions at the same time we go grocery shopping and the pharmacies aren’t open at those hours. Let the governors make all the rules and heap more stress on we seniors who are already stressed enough taking care of spouses and it’s a recipe for disaster. I limit my news watching and the little I see is still discouraging.
Your governor is on TV every day (what a boring man to listen to) and he never fails to mention his mother.. I’m sure she’s very well taken care of but the rest of us don’t have that support system.
I will go to the store as usual Tuesday morning and we’ll see if I get in trouble for not obeying the rules. I’ll be 84 Saturday of that week and if I get in trouble, it will be the first rule/order I’ve broken in 84 years! Time to cut loose!
I’m not looking for criticism here but I’d like to know if others are as weary as I am. The alternatives to our usual routines don’t appeal to me...
“I will go to the store as usual Tuesday morning and we’ll see if I get in trouble for not obeying the rules.”
I think you’ll be OK. I believe the special hours for seniors are there for seniors if the want to go then. But they CAN go any time. At least that’s what I took it to mean.
Couldn’t help but notice walking down the wine aisle in the market to get to another aisle, those shelves don’t have a bare spot on them. I remarked about it to a guy who was walking that aisle also and he said he noticed and wondered where people’s priorities are that no one is touching the wine. No hard liquor sold in the stores...
I never started but now might be a good time!
Saw the same thing at WM.
No bread or milk or eggs.
Huge stock of beer, wine, booze.
More beer stacked up than they have for Indy 500 week.
Distributors must have cleaned out the warehouses and shipped everything to retail.
Shaken or stirred?
Soap and hot water are still cheap and abundant.
“”At least that’s what I took it to mean.””
I would expect it to mean the same thing but I’m leery about taking anything for granted any more...CA Governor said “all people stay home” - I think Cuomo said the same thing - are they talking about EVERYONE or are they talking about government employees? I think some of it got clarified today by Cuomo - NON ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES but the question remains; government or private enterprise employees? Now it’s easy to understand why things get so messed up -no one can say what they mean without people going HUH?
I have the same question I’ve had for 50-60 years - why are NON ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES on anyone’s payroll? I know - I know - just being sarcastic...instead of screaming!!
Sure, but soap and water have no residual disinfecting effect.
If you make it 2/3 alcohol and 1/3 aloe will adding a bit of hydrogen peroxide cut it down further or not affect it?
LOL!! You're absolutely right. I don't go to bed until 3 or 4 a.m. in the morning, and get up anywhere between 10 a.m. and noon. I worked 3-11 p.m. for most of my career, and who can go home after working 8-16 hours a day, and go right to bed? Not me. I've just kept my old schedule since I retired 16 years ago. If I go anywhere, doctor appointments, the laundromat, etc., it's always after 3 p.m.
I'm with you on ordering my groceries online...I won't do it. Nobody else is going to look for the leanest bacon or other cuts of meat you want. I'll continue to do my own shopping. I usually only go once a week anyway, so it's no big deal. Besides, if I do buy a lot of non-perishable stuff, I leave it in my car, and bring it up the next time I have to go anywhere. No big deal. My sister-in-law orders her groceries from Walmart, and then goes to pick it up. I asked her what happens if they don't have what you want, and she said they will substitute it with another brand, unless you tell them otherwise. No thanks. I'm too particular about what I buy.
With New York State's prescription plan, my doctor sends my scripts directly to CVS Caremark, and they automatically ship them to me for free. The only time I ever have to go to an actual drugstore is if I need an antibiotic, and I can't remember the last time I needed one of those.
Nothing much has changed in my routine since this man-made crisis started. I had my teeth cleaned last week, and another doctor's appointment the same week, and I went to the laundromat today. Between Netflix and Amazon Prime, there's plenty to watch on TV. I got a free year of Disney+ but rarely watch it. My 10 year old MacBook Pro finally crapped the bed, and I bought a new MacBook Air, which came with a year's subscription to AppleTV...so I have plenty of movies and TV shows to watch...plus my unending collection of books. And then there's my unending family tree I can work on from time-to-time.
I was going to visit my oldest son in Troy, New York this weekend but we cancelled because there's no dining out in any of the restaurants, and that's one thing we enjoy doing when I go there. They have so many more restaurant options than here in Rome, NY.
Yeah, Cuomo is a doofus. I couldn't stand his father when he was Governor, and the son isn't any better. When he asked President Trump to send the Army Corps of Engineers to help build hospitals, or extend them, I called Cuomo's office and left a voice message. I told him he's got plenty of empty buildings, psych centers and prisons that he's closed since he's been in office, and that instead of wasting $10 billion dollars on nano-tech projects that never came to fruition, that the money could have been better spent by preparing emergency hospitals in existing empty buildings around the state so they would be there if ever needed. Many of those prisons he closed had previously been psych centers. There's an old State School for the mentally retarded about 15 minutes from me, that had been renovated to house medium security inmates. He closed it shortly after he became Governor.
He spent $15 million dollars constructing a brand new building in Syracuse, that was supposed to be a film studio, only to have the people he made the deal with walk away without any penalty. The state later sold the building for a dollar. And two of his top aides were convicted on various charges related to Cuomo's projects. All he did was line the pockets of his donors with these deals. That building in Syracuse could have been turned into a centrally located hospital, with equipment, and supplies installed for any emergency that may arise in the state. He's got free manpower with all the convicts across the state.There's plenty of inmates who quality for minimum security, along with facility community work crews who already go out, and do work in the communities surrounding the prisons. No reason why he can't use them to do the work with civilian and security supervision. They've done it that way before.
So here's an early Happy Birthday to you!! May you have many, many more!!
enjoying a glass of hand sanitizer on the rocks with plenty of olives
What a waste of good vodka.
I’d rather sanitize from inside out.
You are correct. There are brands of "dry-gas" that clearly state it is isopropyl alcohol right on the front label.
I should have clarified that in my post. There I go assuming people would check the label.
Why vodka? Is there a shortage of Everclear?
I dont see why rubbing alcohol wouldnt do perfectly fine as hand sanitizer. I keep a bottle in my truck just to wash hands with when soap and water isnt available.
Just be certain the alcohol is 90% (180 proof) or higher. I’ve been using 190 proof (95%) Everclear. 22 ounces alcohol and 10 ounces mineral oil. That is a strong sanitizer. I’m not qualified to answer about adding hydrogen peroxide...don’t want to steer you wrong.
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