Sanitiser cleaning up across country

A CAIRNS cleaning supplier has risen to meet the demands of the coronavirus pandemic by producing thousands of litres of quality hand sanitiser.

Northern Chemicals has been producing cleaning products for over 40 years at 157 Hartley St, Portsmith.

Sales director Susan Cooper said there had been a spike in demand for disinfectants, hand wash, hand and surface sanitisers and personal protective wear since COVID-19.

“We ordered raw materials in early March, however due to strong demand for a superior moisturising agent it took a lot longer than expected to receive the raw material from France to make our hand sanitiser,” she said.

“We made our first batch four weeks ago and did some test batches to make sure we were 100 per cent happy with our product being a new line. One of the first people to try our first batch were two police officers who came into the shop and they both loved it.”

To date, Northern Chemicals has made 2500 litres of product.

Along with the minimum 70 per cent ethanol required to kill germs, they added cosmetic grade emollients to give it a silky moisturising feel and protect hands from drying out with constant use, and have also added a natural citrus oil for a pleasant light fragrance.

They have since sold to schools, many government departments, Queensland Police Service, local businesses and to some wholesale distributors who will on-sell the product.

“We sent a large order to Darwin last week and have another one to go to Perth so our product is in demand around the country,” Ms Cooper said.