Calling all germaphobes and neat freaks (or anyone concerned with keeping their loved ones healthy)! If you’re looking to protect your family from the spread of disease, you know sanitary supplies and cleanliness are important.
In fact, the World Health Organization outlines five heroic acts we can all do to protect ourselves against germs and viruses — which include washing our hands and staying home when we’re sick.
But what cleaning supplies do you need? How much do you need?
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
In this article, we will be discussing the seven most common types of hygiene kits.
We’ll cover personalized hygiene kits for you and your family, as well as emergency hygiene kits for people in your community and for those around the world dealing with difficult situations, which range from poverty to natural disasters.
Plus, we’ll outline how you can help bring hope to people in need through creating your own hygiene kits that you or a local charity can distribute.
Know what kit you’re needing? Jump to that section by clicking below.
What Is a Hygiene Kit?
A hygiene kit is a collection of items dedicated to preventing the spread of germs. While hygiene kits are a useful item for everyone to have on-hand, they are often most needed in low-income communities and areas affected by disasters — where these essential cleaning items are far less readily available.
During a disaster, floodwaters, mud, and debris can all greatly increase the presence of bacteria and germs, and can drastically reduce access to clean water. Hygiene kits can be vital for people’s survival.
Hygiene kits often include travel-sized items (e.g., toiletries) stored in sealable plastic bags, which aid in protecting items from water and makes them far easier for charities to distribute to people in need.
Charities around the world will often pack and store hygiene kits to keep on-hand for quick distribution. A great volunteer opportunity for people — such as high school or college students looking to give back — is to set up a kit-building event to assemble these kits in bulk.
How To Make a Hygiene Kit
Whether you’re looking to better protect your family or hoping to provide support for a family in need, making a basic hygiene kit costs just a few dollars and takes little time to put together.
Another benefit of the simple and inexpensive nature of these kits is that it’s easy for charities and individuals to buy and build hygiene kits in bulk.
If you’re looking for ways to assist those in need, consider assembling free hygiene kits for the homeless people in your area. We’d encourage you to gather a group of friends to buy and assemble large amounts of these DIY kits for distribution. There may even be a charity in your area that will accept these kits for distribution to areas of greatest need.
Depending on the type of hygiene kit you’re building — and don’t worry, we’ll cover the most common types of kits in a moment — you’ll only need a few simple items to make your kit.
You’ll need:
- • Specific hygiene items based on the type of kit.
- • A gallon-sized plastic bag to store the items.
Optional: If you’re assembling hygiene kits in bulk, you’ll want a cardboard box to either store the kits or to use for shipping.
What To Put in a Hygiene Kit
Unlike disaster preparedness kits, which contain water, food, and other emergency supplies, hygiene kits include items dedicated exclusively to personal hygiene.
The specifics on what to put in a hygiene kit will depend on the type of kit you’re building. Below are some general guidelines.
- • Include common cleaning items, such as soap, wipes, and toothpaste.
- • Incorporate basic first-aid supplies, including bandages, washcloths, and antibacterial ointment.
- • Ensure all items are new.
- • Don’t include powders or aerosols.
7 Types of Hygiene Kits
We all understand the importance of good basic hygiene, but what specific items do you need in a personal kit compared to a family kit or an emergency kit?
In the following sections, we will cover personalized hygiene kits for you and your family, as well as emergency hygiene kits for those in your community and around the world who deal with difficult situations, including poverty and natural disasters.
1. Personal Hygiene Kits
We’ll start our list with the most obvious kit someone would need — a personal hygiene kit. Having a personal hygiene kit on hand means that you’re being proactive and thinking ahead.
Most of us can probably remember a parent or family member who had enough supplies ready for whatever sanitary needs arose. Remember Mom’s bottomless purse that had everything you could ever need?
However, when you’re on your own, you need to keep a supply of cleaning supplies handy. Thankfully you don’t need to spend a ton of money to be prepared. You just need the basic essentials.
Your personal hygiene kits should contain the following.
- • Hand sanitizer
- • Disinfectant wipes
- • Paper towels
- • Standard bandages
- • All-purpose cleaners
- • Spray bleach cleaners
- • Microfiber cleaning cloths
2. Travel Hygiene Kits
You’ve probably experienced this frustration while traveling: you arrive at your destination, check in at your hotel, unpack, and then realize you’ve forgotten a toiletry item you desperately need.
You can save yourself this frustration by purchasing a travel hygiene kit before you leave.
Websites like Amazon have a large variety of travel hygiene kit options to choose from. Find the toiletries you typically need and buy some to keep at the ready.
The next time you’re preparing to travel, you can just pull from your stock of travel kits and you’re all set.
As an added benefit, you can also have items with you for when friends and family visit and unknowingly forget to pack something in their toiletry bag.
3. Hygiene Kits for the Homeless
We’ve all encountered people who are unsheltered and have unmet needs. Whether they’re asking for help at a stoplight or waiting in line at a food pantry, our hearts hurt for our neighbors on the streets.
Most of us want to help in that moment, but are not prepared to do so. Maybe we don’t have cash on hand or are concerned with what specific aid would be most beneficial to the person in need. This is where a hygiene kit for the homeless can be useful.
These hygiene kits are excellent to have in your car, ready to give out whenever you see a need.
Items to include are listed below.
- • A comb
- • A bar of soap
- • A hand towel
- • Stick deodorant
- • Shampoo (3 oz.)
- • An unopened toothbrush
- • Toothpaste
In addition to having these kits on hand, you might also consider building some homeless care kits.
Instead of hygiene items, these bags include the following.
- • Food items, like protein-filled bars with a long shelf life
- • Water
- • Hand warmers
- • Emergency blankets
If you’re really looking to make a difference in your community, we’d encourage you to organize a group of friends and family to build and assemble these kits. The next time you see a person in need, you will be ready to provide support!
A hygiene kit for unsheltered individuals, combined with a care kit of food and water, is a great way to share kindness.
4. Menstrual Health Kits
In lower-income communities, areas affected by disasters, and many impoverished countries around the world, women often fall behind on education, miss out on employment opportunities, and lack menstrual health resources.
You can play an active role in empowering women in your community and around the world through the creation and distribution of menstrual health kits.
These kits include the following.
- • A bar of soap
- • A washcloth
- • Pairs of women’s underwear (Small, Medium, Large, and X-Large by kit)
- • A package of sanitary napkins
- • Nighttime sanitary napkins
Providing these kits helps keep girls in school, restoring their confidence and dignity.
5. Men’s Hygiene Kits
Strong and healthy men contribute to stronger and healthier communities. However, often in areas of poverty, men will sacrifice their own health to ensure that their families are cared for.
By neglecting their own personal health, men often find themselves sick and unable to provide the care and support their families truly need.
You can help fill this gap by providing men’s hygiene kits.
A men’s hygiene kit includes the items below.
- • A comb
- • A bar of soap
- • A hand towel
- • Stick deodorant
- • Shampoo (3 oz.)
- • An unopened toothbrush
- • Toothpaste
Help create and maintain stability for families and communities in difficult times by ensuring the men in these areas have what they need.
6. Family Hygiene Kits
In difficult times, it’s important to ensure the entire family is supported. In disaster areas or locations where supplies are scarce, parents are unable to properly care for their children and conditions can get much worse.
With family hygiene kits, you can help your family and families in your community be better protected.
These kits should include the following.
- • Hand towels and washcloths
- • Toothbrushes
- • Toothpaste
- • Bars of soap
- • Shampoo
- • Disposable razors
- • Sanitary napkins
- • A box of assorted bandages
- • Stick deodorants
- • Combs
- • A pair of fingernail clippers
- • Wipes
- • Tissues
In addition to kits that support the entire family, it’s also important to have specific supplies ready to care for babies.
Items recommended for baby care kits are below.
- Size 2 or size 5 diapers
- Baby lotion
- Diaper cream
- Baby wipes
- Baby shampoo
- Baby washcloths
Looking for a way to extend support beyond your community? Consider building kits for charities in your area that ship these hygiene products internationally.
You can even donate financially, which allows charities to assemble hygiene and care kits directly on-site at crisis zones. This reduces shipping costs and helps your money go further.
By partnering with charities, your impact is magnified beyond your city and can help provide aid to people around the world.
7. Disaster Cleanup Kits
While it’s vital for people affected by disasters to have access to clean water, food, and personal hygiene items, people need access to cleaning supplies in order to start the process of rebuilding.
That’s where a cleanup kit comes in.
These disaster services kits include the following.
- • Paper towels
- • All-purpose cleaners
- • Spray bleach cleaners
- • Dish soap
- • Disinfectant wipes
- • Large trash bags
- • Work gloves
- • Microfiber cleaning cloths
- • Sponges
- • Scrub brushes
- • N95 face masks
- • A 5-gallon bucket with removable lid
Story: Hygiene Kits Help Refugees From Ukraine
The war in Ukraine has forced more than 3 million refugees to seek shelter in neighboring countries. There has been an outpouring of support from people compassionately motivated to assist those affected by this crisis. One primary way people are supporting refugees is by providing hygiene kits.
Currently, there is a big need for baby care kits and menstrual health kits. As long as war continues displacing Ukrainians — primarily women and children — demand for both hygiene and infant care items will grow.
Can I Donate To Create Kits?
Yes! Monetary donations for kits allow partners to be involved in a tangible and specific way while meeting one of Convoy of Hope’s greatest needs for a wide range of responses.
Donations given for kits are used to purchase supplies, such as soap, sanitary items, diapers, toiletries, and other necessities. Items for kits are purchased in bulk and then put together by volunteers at Hands of Hope. Once finished, kits are sent to those in need — in this case, refugees throughout Europe.
By donating to create kits, your money goes further quicker. And while donating physical kits can be useful, donating funds saves time and money — both of which are especially valuable during times of disaster or crisis.
Can I Build a Kit for Someone in Need?
Absolutely! In disaster zones and low-income communities, Convoy of Hope delivers the kits you pack to thousands of people in need every year.
Whether it’s one, five, or 500, Convoy of Hope takes great care to deliver kits put together by individuals, churches, and companies.
If you are interested in building kits, please fill out the form below and a team member will reach out to you with instructions.
Register Kits
