At the “Pandemic Preps” section of the popular internet message board Reddit, one user on March 1 posted two recipes for “Do It Yourself Hand Sanitizer,” involving alcohol and aloe vera, linking to 2009 posts at a website called Utah Preppers. At the website Pinterest, where the standard fare is drapery ideas and cookie recipes, homebrew hand sanitizer recipes also took off in March.

Local news channels soon followed suit. Morning shows featured those segments where the smiley hostesses in pretty aprons stand before mixing bowls on a counter — and this time, they were mixing rubbing alcohol, aloe, glycerin, plus some tea tree oil. Folks on the internet found a 2010 document published by the World Health Organization that included hydrogen peroxide in the recipe.