Natural Bug Repellents
There are plenty of safe oils to place around the house and on your body that repel bugs. Here are a few of the best:
Citronella- repels mosquitoes and fleas
Tea Tree- repels fleas and fruit flies
Lavender- repels mosquitoes, bed bugs, lice, spiders, ticks, and fleas.
Grapefruit- repels ticks
Lemon Grass- chiggers, fleas, fruit flies, mosquitoes, and ticks
Cinnamon- wasps, ear wigs, spiders, bed bugs, and silver fish
Peppermint- ants, aphids, bed bugs , cockroaches, moths, spiders, head lice, fruit flies, and stink bugs
Geranium- found in some of the best known top brand repellents. Repels ticks, mosquitos, and flies. My favorite scent also found in my all natural deoderant by KOPARI.
Oil Of Lemon Eucalyptus- found to be the strongest mosquito repellent. Also repels fruit flies and fleas.
Recepies:
6 drops to every 3 oz of water equals 3% dilution and 3 drops for every 2 tsp equals 1% dilution.
Body Repellent Spray-
A safe dilution percents for skin is about 1%percent for a daily body spray.Add :
•2 cups of water
•60 drops of lavender oil,
•Half a cup of witch hazel or 1 tbsp of vodka for a strong repellent. However feel free to skip out on whitchhazel/vodka for a more gentle spray . Or add less. If dryness= irritation still occurs decrease amount of drops per 2 tsp and or 3 oz’s.
•One tsp of vegetable glycerin for a minimal hydrating effect .
House Repellent Spray-
Add :
• 1.5 cups of water
•30 drops of geranium
• 30 drops of lavender
•30 drops of lemon grass
•half a cup of witch hazel.
This recipe isn’t diluted enough for skin use.
Bug Repellant Bath-
Add:
• full tub of water
• 0.25% of a bottle of tea tree oil and or any oil of your choice. I like to use geranium oil.
These oils have many other benefits on the skin other than repelling bugs. Here are my 4 favorite essential oils and their benefits:
Tea Tre Oil- clears acne, treats dry skin and eczema, combats oily skin reducing sebum production, an anti-inflammatory, heals wounds/ infections/ cuts, treats dandruff.
Lavender Oil- reducess redness/ acne scars/ blotchy patches, an anti-inflammatory, heals skin irritation and redness from sun exposure/ insect bites, kills bacteria.
Geranium Oil- eliminates dead cells, tighten skin, promote regeneration of new skin, and diminish signs of aging. Used medicinally, it works as an anti-inflammatory and anti-septic agent.
Grapefruit Oil- reduced blood pressure and stress levels, suppressed appetite, stimulates the break down of fat, balances mood and decreases anxiety ( lavender oil and geranium does as well), has antibacterial and antimicrobial effects, treats acne.
Tips:
-All essential oils need to be diluted before applying to skin. Can be diluted by adding water, lotion, creams, and or a carrier oil.
-Some essential oils( especially citrus oils) can cause photosensitivity and burning(if irritation occurs- add less drops.
-It’s best to test when using any essential oil and or DIY recipe, on a small area of skin. Typically on a small area of the arm or neck before applying to your face or most sensitive areas of your skin.
- Consult a doctor if pregnant before using any essential oil.
- Essential oils can have different effects on pets. Weather it is applied or is just the scent, some may cause negative effects on specific animals.
- NEVER ingest essential oils. Buy an approved safe/ organic/ vegan product that contains essential oils and or cunsult a doctor on DIY ingredients. Also consult a doctor before ingesting products with specific essential oils . It may have negative effects on your body given many factors such as pregnancy.Tip- some vegan products contain harmful chemicals that hurt the environment and possibly your body. So make sure to investigate the ingredients.
You can mix and match essential oils in each recipe to repel different types of bugs. In my opinion it’s best to use one or 2 (and 3 if your pushing it )oil types in each recepie as to not mess up the smell of the oil, if it’s the scent that scares them away then you don’t want to change it by mixing too many scents creating a whole new scent all together ( this is just a theory of mine). I’m not too sure what it is exactly about the oils that scare them away. I feel that using too many scent may mess up the initial scent of each oil.
