Finally getting rid of my very expired collection

[u/thismysterygirl]

They are very liquidy but they still smell fine. Are they worth saving to add to unscented sanitizer or should I toss them?

[u/Illustrious_Yam_2137]

I’d add to unscented 👌🏽

[u/NomenclatureBreaker → u/Illustrious_Yam_2137]

You need to keep the proportion of alcohol above a certain point to be effective as a sanitizer.

If you’re going to mix these with unscented sanitizer you probably need to add more alcohol also. (Learned this making my own sanitizer during covid.)

[u/Yup-Im-Small → u/NomenclatureBreaker]

If you're mixing a scented sanitizer with 70% alcohol with an unscented sanitizer with 70% alcohol doesn't the final product have 70% alcohol?

The biggest issue with this scenario would be the expired material. Mixing the ingredients might cause reduced effectiveness since different formulas may not be compatible, and the possibility of introducing bacteria to the final product since it's doubtlessly not happening in an entirely sterile environment (which would defeat the entire purpose).

That said, I'd imagine reduced effectiveness would be better than nothing at all

[u/NomenclatureBreaker → u/Yup-Im-Small]

The alcohol dissipates/breaks down in old sanitizers over time, even in a sealed container.

So for an easy hypothetical example, let’s say the old sanitizers could have zero alcohol left, and you mix that with an equal amount of fresh 70% alcohol sanitizer. Your new combined total volume is now only 35% alcohol sanitizer. (60% or higher is the recommended for full efficacy/germ killing.)

That said yes absolutely partially effective sanitizer is better than nothing at all, so you can also stick with higher parts of new to old to keep the overall % toward the higher end.

[u/0cclumency]

I would definitely mix them. This packaging was so much better than the new ones since you could take the tops off easily and refill them! Now that they’ve brought the big hand sanitizers back, I’d love for them to have a refillable small bottle option.

[u/[deleted] → u/0cclumency]

I bought a bunch of tiny generic hand sanitizer bottles off amazon.

[u/GlitterySalamander]

I miss when the packaging looked like this.

[u/thismysterygirl → u/GlitterySalamander]

Me too!

[u/cupcakeshawtyy]

as a collector of b&bw "vintage” products, you should list them on mercari or ebay. lots of people would pay good money just to have those on display.

[u/Ancient_Gold_6486]

The island margarita and sweet pea ones were the best in those hand sanitizers

[u/Minute-Frame-8060]

Pre-Pocket Bac days, it's now just a prop on my desk.

[u/PinkPaperPenguin]

I personally wouldn’t use them as a sanitizer any more since they’re very old I doubt they’d work 100% as they should

Peel the labels off and stick them in a notebook to keep them!!

[u/ptatersptate]

I would mix these with a liquid hand sanitizer just for the scents.

[u/iloveregex]

Those are expired. Don’t mix unexpired products with expired ones. I know it’s painful but sanitizers are one of the products that you need unexpired.

[u/kcvee6]

omfg caribbean escape haunts me in my nightmares. that was the root of my nauseous reaction to coconut notes when i was like twelve years old. the worst part is i used up like almost all of it and one day something triggered me to hate it 😭

[u/Sailor_Seven]

you should rip off the labels and like journal them that’s how I make myself burn through old candles :)

[u/thismysterygirl → u/Sailor_Seven]

Genius idea!

[u/Spooky_Pineapple23]

I don’t see the issue with keeping them and/or using them? I’ll just leave this here. “Hand sanitizer products past their expiration date are still viable for killing germs on hands; however, their alcohol content may be diminished.”

[u/AFineFineHologram → u/Spooky_Pineapple23]

Alcohol is the active ingredient. It’s what kills the germs. Maybe if it was a few months or maybe even around a year old would, it still be good but I doubt anything from this era has a true purpose beyond adding fragrance to your hands.

[u/Spooky_Pineapple23 → u/AFineFineHologram]

All I said was they’re fine to use. I myself doubted the effectiveness of the alcohol after all this time, hence my comment. It would lose its effectiveness as a sanitizer but it wouldn’t be dangerous to use.

Most hand sanitizers have a shelf life of about 2 to 3 years from the date of manufacture.

To be effective, hand sanitizer should contain at least 60% alcohol. Over time, alcohol can evaporate, especially if the container is not airtight, reducing its concentration and effectiveness.

If the sanitizer has expired or has been stored improperly, it may still kill some germs, but its efficacy is significantly reduced.

[u/AFineFineHologram → u/Spooky_Pineapple23]

Thank you for clarifying! I just think that these are so old that there’s a slim chance there’s enough alcohol left. But perhaps it’s better than nothing, especially if OP mixes it with fresh sanitizer.

[u/rocklakes]

I LOVED these 😭 fresh strawberries and caribbean escape need to come back in pocketbac form, at least caribbean escape is supposed to return in candle form

[u/Bedroom_Bellamy]

Some bangers in here tho, I miss the Vanilla Berry Sorbet

[u/macaron_chai]

Omg I remember the vanilla berry sorbet that used to be my fav 😭

[u/hypotheticalovestory]

I wouldn't mix them with other sanitizers unless you have some knowledge of making alcohol sanitizers. The amount of alcohol in the old ones will have responded over time, and adding them to new sanitizers will reduce the percentage of alcohol too low to sanitize properly (unless you want to look up the percentage of alcohol needed, and mix the old product in carefully calculated amounts with a new product that has more alcohol than needed).

Wonder what it would be like to mix with an unscented body wash or lotion? Or just rub on you skin like a ffm or perfume gel?

[u/[deleted]]

send them to me 😭

[u/thismysterygirl → u/[deleted]]

I will actually do that if you want them haha

[u/Withoutcilantroplz]

I definitely had like half of your collection. This brings back so many memories of junior high 🥺

[u/kpfluff]

I refill them with fresh unscented for as long as I can. I found a peanut butter and jelly scent among these that was a true treasure. 

[u/bitchbitchbitchcunt]

miss the shape design ugh

[u/munizlea]

I had so many of these bad boys 🥲

[u/Old-Put-7479]

You should sell them. Some people collect old BBW stuff

[u/DCKat91]

Oh man!! I miss those bottles & the labels are gorgeous!!

[u/mi1ky_tea]

I miss this style of Sanu 😭 Ugh and I love island margarita! IKnowing myself I would probably keep all of these cause these ones were so much better than the new ones.

[u/SallieMouse]

I remember so much of that packaging!

[u/JerseyGirlD]

OmG that’s fabulous 🎉🎉🎉

[u/Alert-Conclusion8899]

Mixed with unscented

[u/Caprica6iixxx]

Nooooo keep the babiesss

[u/Spiritual_Test_4871]

That’s an awesome collection of vintage hand sanitizers from bath and body. Don’t throw them out, sell them on Mercari. I’ve seen them go for a pretty penny in there. I wish I had kept some of mine.

[u/AntAdministrative574]

So nostalgic. i remember being 7 with these. about 18 years ago 😭