The year was 2020. It was mid-March, and a new, highly contagious virus called COVID-19 was quickly spreading around the world. Lockdowns were put in place and millions of people flocked to their nearby stores to stock up on essentials having no idea how long they would be stuck in their homes. Toilet paper was scarce, as were everyday cleaning supplies. It was as if people were cleaning their homes for the very first time. Cleanliness was the name of the game. That included making sure we cleaned the one part of our bodies that touch everything — our hands. It didn't take long for people to start buying hand sanitizer by the truckload because they didn't know if it would be in stock the next time they made a trip to the store.

While we're not out of the pandemic woods completely just yet, it does seem as if the darkest days are behind us, and continue to fall further and further back. As restrictions begin to ease, those of us who are fully vaccinated are beginning to fall back into our pre-pandemic habits, including not rubbing hand sanitizer on our skin every five minutes. The problem is, we still have bottles upon bottles of it laying around from the panic-buying of a year ago. Sure, it's good to have around and use from time to time, other illnesses and diseases still exist, but do we need 20 bottles in a closet somewhere in our home? Probably not. Fortunately, it's kind of a wonder product; capable of doing far more than just killing germs.

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10 Other Uses for Hand Sanitizer

I discovered hand sanitizer's ability to be more than just a germ-killing product one morning while making coffee in the kitchen at work. While pouring myself a cup from a full pot, a small stream dribbled down the side of the pot and onto the white countertop. I wiped it up with a paper towel, but a light brown stain still remained. A tried a disinfectant wipe which helped a little, but you could still faintly see where the dribble had landed. Then I remembered having alcohol wipes at one point during the pandemic. They had been used up and not replaced for some time, but there was still a bottle of hand sanitizer sitting out. I squirted a little on the stain, wiped over it with a paper towel, and boom, the countertop looked brand new. This got my curious mind wondering if there was anything else I could use it for, so it was off to the internet to see what I could find. It turns out, thanks to its high concentration of ethanol or isopropyl alcohol, hand sanitizer can be used for all sorts of things.

KEEP READING: See 25 natural ways to boost your immune system

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