Scientists at the Open University whip up 30 litres of hand sanitiser for Milton Keynes Hospital

As stocks run low all over the UK, a photo of the OU team with the bottles of sanitiser was tweeted yesterday by the chemistry department.

The Tweet stated: "Well done to Mike Batham and other technical staff from @OU_STEM for producing 30 litres of WHO standard hand sanitizer for @MKHospital"

It prompted a reply from one home-made sanitiser maker saying: "Maybe you can tell me why my homemade isopropanol and aloe vera gel mixture didn't mix but coagulated?"

The chemistry department helpfully replied: "Think people add emulsifying agents such as propylene glycol to stabilize the mixture. Mike's mixture was ethanol and glycerol in the main, I believe:"

The department, which is part of the Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics at the OU, followed instructions from the World Health Organisation when making the sanitiser.

The WHO guidelines, to be found here, recommend Isopropyl alcohol, a small amount of hydrogen peroxide and glycerol, mixed with sterile distilled or boiled cold water.

Experts have warned non-scientist members of the public against making their own hand sanitiser, saying it is easy to make a mistake with the concentration of alcohol, and this could damage skin.