Why does hand sanitizer turn from jelly to water?
In: Chemistry
Alcohol, which is most of it, is a very thin liquid. The “thickeners” they add prevent splashing like you’d have if you just put vodka on your hands (note, vodka doesn’t have enough alcohol in it to make a good hand sanitizer). Other ingredients prevent chapping of hands from the drying effect of the alcohol.
These ingredients have a pretty low melting point, and your warm hands, plus the friction of rubbing your hands together, melts them and you get the thin liquid you spread around.
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