Tito’s Vodka Isn’t a Hand Sanitizer Substitute, Warns Tito’s Vodka

Just as basics like bread and water disappear from grocery store shelves before a natural disaster, health essentials including soap, toilet paper and hand sanitizer are in high demand (to the delight of price gougers) amid the current coronavirus outbreak. The resulting shortage of hand sanitizer—combined with articles like this one from USA Today, which they’ve since corrected—have inspired folks to make their own homemade hand sanitizer using vodka, an idea Texas-based spirits purveyor Tito’s Handmade Vodka has since taken to Twitter to advise vociferously against.

Per the CDC, hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is 40% alcohol, and therefore does not meet the current recommendation of the CDC. Please see attached for more information. pic.twitter.com/J5ifkV3Jah

— TitosVodka (@TitosVodka) March 5, 2020

Per the CDC, hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is 40% alcohol, and therefore does not meet the current recommendation of the CDC. Please see attached for more information. pic.twitter.com/3gS4Cv92Xn

— TitosVodka (@TitosVodka) March 4, 2020

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Per the CDC, hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is 40% alcohol, and therefore does not meet the current recommendation of the CDC. Please see attached for more information. pic.twitter.com/OMwR6Oj28Q

— TitosVodka (@TitosVodka) March 5, 2020

Per the CDC, hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is 40% alcohol, and therefore does not meet the current recommendation of the CDC. Please see attached for more information. pic.twitter.com/luRcEyZlUg

— TitosVodka (@TitosVodka) March 4, 2020

“As soon as we saw the incorrect articles and social posts, we wanted to set the record straight,” a Tito’s rep told The Daily Beast. “While it would be good for business for our fans to use massive quantities of Tito’s for hand sanitizer, it would be a shame to waste the good stuff, especially if it doesn’t sanitize (which it doesn’t, per the CDC).” Judging by the company’s Twitter feed, they’ve been cautioning customers against this for almost 24 hours, sending the same statement to each would-be amateur alchemist. Darwin wouldn’t approve, quite frankly.

Meanwhile, as Americans scramble to fashion a deadly disease deterrent out of liquor, the president is out here contradicting the World Health Organization’s coronavirus mortality statistics based on a “hunch,” and claiming on Fox News that those afflicted with the virus can just “go to work” and “get better.” That’s not to mention that, as of a week ago, a non-zero percentage of Americans believed the coronavirus had a connection to Corona beer. It’s classic Trump-era stuff, folks—everything’s so damn stupid and scary at the same time.