CLEVELAND, Ohio — The CDC says it’s always best to just wash your hands with soap and water with a good scrub. But if that isn’t available and you are going to make your own hand sanitizer, not all alcohols will work.

•  Not all hand sanitizers are effective
• Using soap and water is the best thing you can do
• If you’re making it yourself, it has to be more than 60 percent alcohol

“So that means when you use one of these recipes you might find on the internet —and there are many on the internet right now — I checked myself. It's like going viral in its own way, these make-your-own hand sanitizer recipes. I saw two yesterday on Facebook for my friends and so, you have to start with something that's higher than 60 percent alcohol, because you're going to add something to it and dilute it down,” said John Protasiewicz, chair, chemistry department, CWRU.

John Protasiewicz is a chemistry professor and department chair at case western reserve university. He says there are very few alcohols —like vodkas— that have high enough alcohol content to kill germs.

“Talking about using rubbing alcohol for example, and you can make certain that you use something that's at least 90 percent rubbing alcohol, if you're going to use one of these recipes that calls for two-thirds alcohol and one-third aloe vera gel,” said Protasiewicz.

Protasiewicz says you have to be careful putting too much alcohol on your hands.

“Alcohol will pull the water from your hands and then it'll dry and crack, and therefore your hands will be more susceptible to infection or viruses getting in though your skin,” he said.

If you are using a large amount of hand sanitizer, make sure you’re using a moisturizer often. 

But again— your best option is soap and water.