By Cameron Probert

Tri-City Herald

RICHLAND — When Jim Batdorf tried to pick up hand sanitizer last week, he was greeted with bare shelves.

The rush on grocery stories and pharmacies since the first death caused by COVID-19 in Washington state wiped out stocks of disinfectants across the region.

Batdorf, a chemical engineer turned head distiller at Richland-based Solar Spirits, wanted to help in his own way to curb the spread of the disease.

So he put together a kit so people can make their own hand sanitizer.

“Keeping our hands clean is a key factor in the national fight against the spread of the coronavirus,” he said. “With our background in science and engineering, we wanted to do our part in the fight against the epidemic.”

The 5-year-old distillery produces whiskey, brandy, gin and vodka and is powered by solar and renewable energy credits.

Distilleries across the country have turned to making hand sanitizer.

Their access to alcohol makes them uniquely positioned to produce the cleaner. When vodka is made, it comes out as 190 proof. They then usually filter it before adding water to bring it down to 80 proof.

While Batdorf looked up recipes, he wasn’t sure if he could legally switch from producing drinking alcohol to producing hand sanitizer.

Since the crisis the state and federal governments have eased rules on what the distilleries can do.

The strong alcohol inactivates the proteins in bacteria and viruses in a process called denaturation.

They are selling the pieces to make hand sanitizer. The $20 kit includes a 750 milliliter bottle of 190-proof alcohol and a bottle that has a mixture of glycerin, hydrogen peroxide and water.

When combined, it’s enough to make more than a wine bottle-size amount of hand sanitizer.

As part of the package, people will get the World Health Organization Guidance for making hand rub.

The distillery was already back ordered for two days after their first day of sales of the kits that they are selling at cost.

“The coronavirus numbers are scary,” said Batdorf. “We don’t disagree with what the governor is doing.”

But he said it is sad to see many of his customers who run bars and restaurants struggling with closing their inside serving areas.

To place an order can go to solarspirits.com or call 509-371-1622 for curbside pickup. They’re limiting sales to one kit per person.

“We’re running the still as much as we can to keep up with demand for our vodka hand sanitizer,” the company said on its Twitter page.

But don’t try taking a nip of the vodka without diluting it. That could kill you.

Batdorf said if you’re looking to ease your stress, Solar Spirits is offering a 20 percent sale on its normal liquor.