- This big bottle is the smelliest.
I can, I can actually smell it
from the bottle top right now.
(upbeat music)
Our noses are noticing that
these are products that have been rushed out to the market.
Purell or Germ-X, which are big brand names,
have been highly formulated to be pleasing to our noses.
With the pandemic, a lot of the large brands
moved arid stock to frontline first responders
who were trying to protect against COVID-19.
Though the resulting shortage awakened secondary market of
breweries and distillers who were making alcohol
and taking that to make disinfectant.
They weren't as thoroughly experienced
in turning that alcohol into something usable.
A lot of the new products haven't been
carbon filtered enough to remove the remnants of
processing an alcohol that's derived from organic material
like corn or sugarcane.
So when you don't have that level of filtration
and then also missing the formulated perfumes
that might cover up those scents.
We are experiencing products that are half complete,
really from the point of our noses.
They are the same thing.
They just don't smell the same to our noses.
- It smells like Tito's, with Bath and Body Works.
- Smells like burnt alcohol.
- Like rotting tequila in a hot car.
- Like feet and rubbing alcohol. Arrgh urrgh!
- They really range in smell.
Some of them smell horrible.
They smell like a petting zoo at the county fair,
(goats bleat)
and have a very barnyard organic smell.
The more boutiquey brands, the expensive ones,
have really nice scents, like eucalyptus.
So there's a wide range,
but the smaller brands that I've run into,
the ones that I'd never seen before, smell horrible.
(upbeat music)
Hand sanitize that we know today
really came to life in about 1997.
The company that makes Purell is called Gojo.
It was a husband and wife team that had made a formulation.
1946.
And it was for rubber plant workers
to clean up after working.
So it's a much, much more harsher product,
but it was waterless.
And that allowed people working in the fields
to clean up very easily.
Purell, as we know it,
was developed using 70% ethyl alcohol
with propylene glycol to soften it.
So it wouldn't the skin
and that was what we still use today.
There are other brands now that
basically rip off that same formulation.
There's not all too much difference in the content.
It's really what they add to it, to make it pleasant.
(upbeat music)
I would recommend not doing that.
It introduces a lot of variables
that might result in a sanitizer
that's not only less effective,
but maybe dangerous to the skin.
(upbeat music)
There are products that can mask the scent.
And I was able to try some
and the effectiveness of masking was noticeable.
This bottle, which is actually this with the additive.
These are the additives that I was given.
So this one, it supposedly smells like cucumber.
And the additive itself smells like cucumber,
added it to this, just 1%.
Now smells like cucumber that was fed to a petting zoo.
(goats bleat)
The short answer is don't do it.
There's a lot of opportunities
to mix formulation incorrectly,
and the quality of scent is going to be hit and miss.
(lighthearted music)
I would echo the advice that I was given by Pamela Dalton,
who is a sensory specialist
at Monell Chemical Senses Center.
We should embrace the fact that there are malodors.
It keeps us from touching our faces.
I personally always carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer
wherever I go, when I leave the house.
As soon as I come back home or I have access to a sink,
I will wash my hands,
because that's just a much safer method of cleanliness.
So sanitizer is kind of like your bandaid.
It's added necessities,
but soap and water is your best bet.
(lighthearted music)
(laughs)
It doesn't get any better with time.
(laughs)
No, I actually love the process of determining smells.
I am somebody who likes smelling really funky odors.
I like durian. I like French cheeses.
Just experience the world through the nose
is really fascinating.
So pleasant or unpleasant, I'm very curious.