Local e-cigarette manufacturer shifts to making hand sanitizer to help fight COVID-19

ORLANDO, fla. - With the world right in the middle of a pandemic, an Orlando company that usually makes liquids for vaping is shifting its focus to a new product for them: Hand sanitizer.

Westman Products in Orlando has shifted half of its manufacturing business from e-liquids to hand sanitizer to help solve a nationwide shortage.

"Never saw ourselves in the hand sanitizer business,” said co-owner Sean Sleiman. "Having the machinery, having the bottle connections and raw material sources, we thought it was the best move."

All of that machinery that they normally use to bottle their liquids, Sleiman said transitioned perfectly to sanitizer production.

He said the company got CDC guidance on how to properly make the product and FDA regulation to start producing it on a large scale.

Workers at Westman Products in Orlando fill bottles with hand sanitizer.

Now, along with its Monster Vape Labs products, it's also cranking out countless bottles of "Clean Hands 24/7" sanitizer.

Sleiman said the company even invested in new equipment and 30 new employees to help get the sanitizer into essential hands that were struggling to find supply.

"We have made bottles for emergency services for the State of Florida. We've made bottles for Orange County Sheriff's Office,” he said.

With communities across the country now working to reopen, Westman is pushing its sanitizer production hard trying to see that businesses and companies have supply options for hand sanitizer so they can get back to work safer.

"We've really been trying to get it out to as many people around the country as we can,” Sleiman said.

The company is producing Clean Hands 24/7 in small spray bottles and Sleiman said the company is also working on a gel version.