From what I've researched, dry skin's the least of your worries about using alcohol and dmso together!!! Bear in mind that dmso is a carrier of anything that's on the skin; and, that alcohol (of any sort) is toxic, esp. to the liver. The liver is essential for processing dead toxins out of the body (as are the kidneys; but, BOTH are important.) Folks using rubbing alcohol as a pre-cleaner (or nothing at all) is part of what's given dmso a bad reputation. It's NOT that dmso's dangerous - only that the person using it hasn't done their "due diligence" in the do's and dont's of using it. (Nothing personal, you're doing the right thing in asking; and, folks have just sort of been "trained" to "just open a bottle and use it" - whatever that 'it' is... Bear in mind that a lot of other folks will probably wind up reading this post, as well; so, I wanted to be sure to get my point across.
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I always use either calcium hypochlorite (MMS2) spray (1 tsp. to 8 oz distilled water, kept sealed between uses), activated MMS1, or MMS1 spray to clean the skin before using dmso.