The rise of perfume as germ-killing sanitiser for our hands?

In short, yes you can use perfume to sanitise.

When it comes to efficacy against the COVID-19 virus FDA recommends that if you are unable to use soap and water, then you should use a hand sanitiser with more than 60% alcohol. More specifically they recommend sanitisers containing ethanol or isopropyl alcohol, which are the only forms approved for use in hand sanitisers. Methanol (wood alcohol) is toxic and should be avoided.

Perfume can contain as much as 90-95% alcohol and is therefore a potentially suitable substitute. If you were to use perfume as a substitute you might consider opting for fragrances in the “cologne” or “eau de toilette” category, as they have very low perfume oil concentrations.

However, perhaps the more pertinent question is whether you should. If you are really in a pinch and absolutely cannot get your hands on any (preferred) alternatives like soap & water, or fit-for-purpose hand sanitiser, but you happen to have a bottle of your favourite scent in easy reach then, sure.

For the most part, I figure if I can get my hands on a bottle of perfume, then chances are I can probably access soap or sanitiser as well.

In the Age of COVID-19, we have seen unprecedented consumption of alcohol based hand sanitisers. In 2020 this lead to a shortage in these products on the market. Perfume manufacturers (along with other industrial manufacturers with suitable equipment) even started to convert their factories for producing sanitiser instead of perfume when global supplies ran low.

But while it may be possible to use perfume to sanitise, I for one, am not rushing for my perfume cabinet.

Why I don’t plan on using my perfumes as sanitisers (even though I have a lot of them)

1. Cost

That smelly stuff is expensive!

I have compiled a little table below of the prices I was able to source locally for a popular and readily accessible cologne (4711, if you must know), isopropyl alcohol, basic soap (castile), and hand sanitiser.

Product	Cost Per 1000 mL (AUD)
Cologne	$50
Isopropyl Alcohol	$10
Liquid Soap	$15
Hand Sanitiser	$18

Whilst in “fraghead world”, the cologne is not that expensive (especially compared with other perfumes), it is still at a substantially higher price point than the more preferred alternatives at equivalent volumes. Although, for the record, I don’t know if I recommend using straight Isopropyl alcohol either, but we will get to that shortly.

2. Accessibility

I did touch on this above, but I think that even in circumstances of a shortage that we witnessed in the first half of 2020, it is far more likely that if I am out and about somewhere I would have more ready access to a wash basin or a hand sanitiser than perfume. This holds true even if I had to beg someone else for a squirt of their sanitiser – as most people and stores seem to have some “on hand” these days.

That said, as a certified perfume obsessive, it may be deemed uncharacteristic for me not to have a full bottle of perfume handy at all times. However, the truth is, I don’t often carry full bottles around with me, but I usually do have some perfume samples and/or decants in my purse.

3. Skin Sensitivity

Whilst isopropyl alcohol and ethanol are arguably very effective sanitisers, constant repetitive use can cause skin irritations and dermatitis. As it is, a lot of people are experiencing dry, itchy hands from the constant washing and hand sanitisation. Yet soaps and hand sanitisers are often (not always) made with these issues in mind and also contain other constituents and emollients that can help to minimise or alleviate these symptoms.

Needless to say, if you started spritzing your hands several times per day with alcohol you might find yourself experiencing some discomfort sooner, rather than later. Perfume is generally designed to be applied maybe once or twice per day. If you were to start applying it multiple times per day then that is a different story. Hence, I also don’t recommend using straight Isopropyl alcohol, either.

4. Nose Sensitivity

It goes without saying that if you spritz perfume on your hands, then your hands are going to smell like the perfume.

If you are applying perfume to sanitise your hands over and over throughout the day you are likely to choke yourself or someone around you or at least give them a headache!

Conversely, if you apply too sparingly, then it may not actually be offering you the protection that you think you are getting (in the same way that we think about SPF in make-up – most people don’t actually apply enough to give them full protection).

5. Not All Perfumes Contain Alcohol!

This may seem rather obvious, and I would assume that if you have alcohol free perfumes in your collection, you would likely know that they don’t contain alcohol. But just in case you weren’t aware…there are some alcohol-free perfumes on the market.

However, though they seem to have risen in popularity in recent times, alcohol-free perfumes still comprise only a small portion of the perfume market, and they are generally more expensive.

I realise the likelihood of this occurring is pretty minimal, but worthy of a mention anyway.

Recent studies have indicated that alcohol-free hand sanitisers can be effective against COVID-19 but there is conflicting evidence. In any case the active ingredients in these are not, as far as I’m aware, a common ingredient of perfume.

6. Weird Residue Feeling

I don’t know about you, but I am really sensitive to certain residue sensations on my skin and hands. I hate any kind of stickiness or gumminess. I also really hate anything that imparts a “squeaky” sensation to my skin if I rub my fingers together.

Some perfumes can leave a residue, possibly due to the concentration of perfume oil in some circumstances or other constituents that have been added. Consequently, I am very fussy about the hand sanitisers I buy, too, because they are not all made equal and some can feel quite terrible once applied to the skin. As such, I can’t see myself being happy with the sensation of using perfume to sanitise.

But what if I am REALLY stuck and perfume is my only option?

If you find yourself devoid of any nearby water sources (FYI, this is probably a more pressing concern than whether you need to sanitise your hands), and the store hand sanitisers are entirely depleted AND you happen to find yourself handily near a copious supply of perfume (or, OK, you just happen to have some in your bag and its more convenient than seeking out a nearby bathroom)… THEN I would suggest opting for the cheapest eau de toilette or cologne that you can find.

Why EDT or cologne? Mostly because you know the alcohol content is going to be a lot higher in those, and they won’t be as heavily fragranced (see point no. 4).

Furthermore, because EDT and cologne generally come at a lower cost than an Eau de Parfum, then it wont be quite as heartbreaking to see the level of the bottle dropping at a much more rapid pace than usual. However, I would wager if you are in a pickle and have limited options of basins and sanitisers, then your choice of perfume is also likely to be limited, so I guess…use what you’ve got!