The Story Behind our Hand Sanitiser
As you will know if you follow the journey of Laura Thomas Co that my girls and I were in Vietnam and Cambodia in January. The purpose of our trip was to officially open the school we had spend the past 18 months fundraising to help build.
IMAGE | The group who fundraised £45,000 to build a school in remote Cambodia.
Our trip was split into three parts. Firstly, Central Vietnam and the beaches, coastlines, and city of Hoi An. Secondly, Cambodia and Siem Reap and the official school opening visit. Then thirdly, back to Vietnam for Ha Long Bay and Hanoi.
IMAGE | Laura and her girls in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.
It was in Hanoi while having breakfast in the little hotel, on the TV Breakfast News, that across over the border in China, Wuhan has been closed and this new virus has caused many deaths and News images where showing bleak scenes of people queuing for food and medicine and streets empty of cars and life.
Seeing these images, stirred a feeling inside me. I’m not normally a ‘take notice of news’ person but my intuition was taking hold. Deep down I knew this was serious.
Unknown to us at the time, Hanoi confirmed their first two cases of COVID-19 the day we left Hanoi and the clinic that held the two Chinese nations with the virus was only a few streets away from our little hotel. We were amid the virus.
Fast forward two months and we now know how this virus has played out. It’s been awful for all of us in so many ways. However, it has brought communities together and we must see the positives as much as we can.
On return to Scotland, I discussed with our team at LT Co what we would do should this virus reached our shores. I’m sure they thought I was mad. We discussed what we would do, how we would react to a lockdown like Wuhan and how the business would pivot.
It was then that the makings of our Tea Tree Hand Sanitiser were developed and tested for sale. A product we had already started to research in 2019, our sanitiser felt like a good product that was aligned and relevant to our other LT products. Sanitising gel is a product I always have in my handbag anyway well before all of the COVID-19 situation.
We have been blown away by the demand and the feedback we have had on this new product.
Made with 99.9% alcohol which is strong enough to kill a virus on your hands and enriched with aloe vera and witch hazel which will make sure your hands will not dry nor crack. Then the addition of Tea Tree essential oil was added as an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal agent and is a product that I’m passionate about having used it for years on wounds, athlete’s foot, fungal nail infections, on animal cuts and even in a homemade multi-purpose cleaner at home. It’s a wonderful natural oil that should be used by all for so many purposes.
Thank you so much if you have purchased some out our hand sanitiser within the last 4 weeks. We have sold over 2000 units and have been given such positive feedback on it and how it smells and is kind on hands.
Thank you, love Laura xx
“Many thanks to you guys making the products to meet demand at the moment. One of these will go in hubby’s pocket to keep him safe (NHS working in hospital admin at a hospital) and the other spray to my next-door neighbour with 2 tots under 3 who can’t rub their hands together to disperse gel. That’s 5 people you are directly helping and countless others indirectly as a next-door neighbour is front line too. Stay safe too to all the team. Sending love and virtual hugs”. Adrienne, March 2020.
“Thanks for churning out all the soap and sanitiser. Got ours a week or so ago. Glad you guys are a source, and it’s always nice to support a local business”. Tom, April 2020.
