Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Use rubbing alcohol as an antiseptic
• Method 2 of 3: Use rubbing alcohol as a cleaning agent
• Method 3 of 3: Using rubbing alcohol in other ways
• Tips
• Warnings

Isopropyl alcohol, or rubbing alcohol, is a very useful tool. It can be used as an antiseptic, as a cleaning agent, and even as a survival aid. Rubbing alcohol is not intended for drinking, and anyone who accidentally swallows it should seek immediate medical attention. Knowing how to safely use rubbing alcohol in your home can help you treat wounds and keep your home cleaner.

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Method 1 of 3: Use rubbing alcohol as an antiseptic

1. Clean your hands with rubbing alcohol. Most commercially available hand sanitizers contain rubbing alcohol. A hand sanitizer is used to disinfect the hands, and you do not need water or soap. Rubbing a hand sanitizer on your hands for about 30 seconds (or until the liquid has evaporated) will kill most of the bacteria on your hands. Hand sanitizer often contains other ingredients, such as a moisturizing ingredient to keep your hands from drying out, but these ingredients are not necessary for the product to work properly. If you can't wash your hands with soap and water or you want to make sure your hands are completely clean, you can use rubbing alcohol to disinfect your hands.
   • Pour a small amount of rubbing alcohol into one of your palms.
   • Rub your hands together vigorously for about 30 seconds, or until your hands are completely covered in the alcohol and it starts to evaporate.
   • Know that rubbing alcohol and hand sanitizer will not remove dirt from your hands. If your hands are clearly dirty, you may need to wash your hands with soap and water to remove the dirt from your skin.
2. Treat wounds with rubbing alcohol. One of the most common uses of rubbing alcohol is to treat wounds. This is because rubbing alcohol is an excellent antiseptic. It kills germs by coagulating the protein of each germ. When a germ's protein has solidified, the germ will die pretty quickly.
   • Pour a small amount of rubbing alcohol onto the skin around a wound. This can help with stab wounds, where germs can get into the wound that do not belong there. When the wound is clean, you can dress the wound and get medical attention if necessary.
3. Disinfect the skin before giving an injection. Certain medications, such as insulin, must be injected into the body. Before giving an injection, it is important to disinfect the skin to prevent bacteria from entering the body.
   • Pour a 60 to 70% rubbing alcohol solution onto a clean cotton swab.
   • Thoroughly wipe the skin where you will be giving the injection. Do not wipe the same area twice.
   • Wait for the alcohol to dry completely before giving the injection.
4. Disinfect medical devices. Some household medical devices, such as tweezers, can become contaminated with bacteria. These bacteria can then end up in a wound. It is therefore important to disinfect medical devices before use. You can do this with rubbing alcohol.
   • Thoroughly wet the tips of the tweezers with rubbing alcohol. Let the alcohol dry before using the tweezers to make sure all bacteria on the tweezers have been killed.

Method 2 of 3: Use rubbing alcohol as a cleaning agent

1. Remove stains with rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol can be surprisingly effective at removing stains. Simply mix one part rubbing alcohol with two parts water. You can put this mixture in a spray bottle or pour it onto a rag or towel to remove stains from fabrics.
   • Rubbing alcohol can be used to treat grass stains before putting a garment in the washing machine. Apply the rubbing alcohol to a stain and rub the fabric thoroughly. Leave it on for ten minutes and then wash the garment as usual.
2. Clean your bathroom with rubbing alcohol. Because rubbing alcohol has antiseptic properties, it is often used to clean areas with a lot of bacteria, such as bathrooms. Pour some rubbing alcohol onto a paper towel and rub it over bathroom surfaces like faucets, sinks and toilets to quickly clean and disinfect these surfaces.
3. Prepare a glass cleaner with rubbing alcohol. In addition to other cleaning applications, rubbing alcohol can also be used to make an effective glass cleaner. Simply mix 500ml of rubbing alcohol with two tablespoons of ammonia and two tablespoons of dish soap. Mix everything together thoroughly and then apply it to your windows with a spray bottle or sponge.

Method 3 of 3: Using rubbing alcohol in other ways

1. Remove a tick. Some people say you can scare a stuck tick by applying rubbing alcohol to make it easier to remove. Even if this doesn't work, experts recommend using rubbing alcohol to kill and preserve a tick after removal. This makes it easier for doctors to determine whether the tick was carrying Lyme disease.
   • Use a clean cotton swab to apply rubbing alcohol to the area where the tick is lodged in the skin. If you don't have cotton buds, pour a little rubbing alcohol directly onto the skin.
   • Use clean tweezers (preferably after sterilization, which you can do with rubbing alcohol) to grip the tick's body as close to the surface of the skin as possible.
   • Gently pull the tick up without causing the tick's body to break off anywhere.
   • Drop the tick into a jar or bottle that you have placed in a little rubbing alcohol. Make sure the tick is completely submerged.
   • Use rubbing alcohol to clean the surface of the skin where you removed the tick.
2. Get rid of bad smells in your sneakers. Use a vaporizer to squirt rubbing alcohol into your sneakers. The rubbing alcohol will kill the bacteria causing the bad air, leaving you with clean, odorless sneakers.
3. Remove nail polish. If you run out of nail polish remover, you can use rubbing alcohol if you don't have anything else. Pour a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab and rub your fingernails vigorously to remove your old nail polish. You won't be able to remove your old nail polish this way as easily as with regular nail polish remover, but it will come off.
4. Don't use rubbing alcohol to cool down feverish skin. A common folk remedy for fever is to apply rubbing alcohol to the skin. The alcohol is thought to have a cooling effect when it evaporates. However, pouring rubbing alcohol on the body can be very dangerous, especially in children. A number of children have even fallen into a coma after their parents used rubbing alcohol to treat a fever. That's why it gets strong not recommended to use rubbing alcohol to ease the symptoms of a fever.

Tips

• Dress wounds daily with wound ointment and a sterile bandage.
• Always have first aid equipment such as a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution, sterile dressings and wound ointment ready to use in an emergency.
• Allow enough time for the rubbing alcohol to air dry before dressing a wound or giving an injection.

Warnings

• Do not apply rubbing alcohol to deep wounds.
• Don't use rubbing alcohol to cool down feverish skin. This is very dangerous and is not a medically sound method of treating a fever.
• Do not swallow rubbing alcohol. If you accidentally swallow rubbing alcohol, immediately call 112 or the National Poison Information Center (NVIC) on telephone number 030-2748888. Symptoms include being drunk, intoxicated, coma and even death.