In light of the coronavirus pandemic, two distilleries in D.C., Republic Restoratives and Cotton & Reed, both came to the same realization: Sanitizer was sold out everywhere, and they both had a critical germ-killing ingredient.

“We’ve got all this high-proof booze around, why not put it to use?” says Cotton & Reed co-founder Jordan Cotton. Effective homemade hand sanitizers must contain at least 60 percent alcohol—Cotton & Reed’s is 66 percent, and Republic Restoratives’ is 70 percent.

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“You can’t get [hand sanitizer], so therefore you have to make it. In order to make it, you have to have good, high-proof spirit,” says Republic Restoratives founder and CEO Pia Carusone. “These sort of crises demand innovation.”

Republic Restoratives’ cleanser is made from 140-proof ethyl alcohol, vegetable glycerine, and hydrogen peroxide. Cotton & Reed’s is made with 66 percent ABV rum (the only spirit they manufacture) vegetable glycerine, and essential oils like bergamot, lemon, and orange.

“The oils take over [the aroma], but there’s a certain rum-iness to it,” Cotton says.

When Cotton spoke to DCist on March 15, the distillery was still open for business, staff members were using the homemade product in addition to frequent hand washing, and it was also available for customers to use in the distillery’s tasting room. Since then, both distilleries have shuttered their tasting rooms and bars in accordance with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s March 16 order.

However, alcohol purveyors in D.C. are still able to sell spirits through delivery or at their retail counters.

Cotton & Reed is open for limited bottle sales this week at a walk-up window at the distillery near Union Market, where they’re selling bottles of white rum, their Mellow Gold rum, spiced rum, and allspice dram. Customers will receive a free 2-ounce bottle of sanitizer with purchase. Cotton & Reed spirits are also available for delivery from local liquor stores through the Drizly mobile app, though no sanitizer will come with those orders. Cotton says customers who want to support the distillery can also purchase a gift card.

The distillery is also handing out free groceries and hand sanitizer to service and hospitality workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic, as part of the Friends and Family Meal initiative—a nonprofit providing food from local farmers to those workers who may be facing food insecurity. Their rums are available at other retailers as well.

Republic Restoratives, meanwhile, had made the decision to close by the time Carusone spoke to DCist, even before the mayor’s order came down.

“Doing our part to fix this problem means doing everything we can to stop people from transmitting it, and that means that doing tours and having cocktails together needs to pause for a few weeks,” she says.

Republic Restoratives started making its own hand cleanser last week, and had already planned to launch the giveaway of the product in conjunction with direct-to-consumer delivery, which started on March 16. The distillery is taking orders through its website for its variety of spirits—like their Civic Vodka, Rodham Rye, and Borough Bourbon—via delivery or curbside pickup at its Ivy City facility. Each order comes with a free bottle of the hand cleanser.

Customers who aren’t in D.C. can still purchase bottles through 1 West Dupont Circle Wines & Liquors, which ships out of the District. Republic Restoratives is providing its hand cleanser to that shop, so orders will also include a free bottle of the product.

“We don’t have all these plans laid out … it’s not a fancy-looking bottle, but it’s going to do the trick,” Carusone says. “We realized more and more people were desperate for it, so we were like, ‘Let’s just give it away.’”

As of March 18, Republic Restoratives has completed more than 300 orders for delivery or pickup since its direct-to-consumer launch, Carusone says. They have enough cleanser to last “a while.”

These distilleries are working to adapt, provide their workers some hours, and offer customers the chance to support them at a critical, potentially devastating time for small businesses.

“People aren’t going to stop drinking, in fact they may be drinking more,” Carusone says. “Our mission is to get a bottle into folks’ hands and encourage them to support us, as opposed to the multinational brands.”

Cotton agrees. “If [people] can buy something from a local company, they will appreciate their dollars much more than the big brands will,” he says.