After being eaten alive on the long weekend by killer mosquitoes, I knew that we needed to go on the hunt for some bug repellent so the mosquitoes won’t carry off my kids. Standing in shoppers drug mart, my husband and I began
reading labels. We very quickly found no ingredients on most of the name brand containers, warnings about not using near plastic furniture, and warnings not to use on kids under 12 years old. If it’s going to eat your plastic lawn chair, what the heck is it doing to your body and why on earth would you use
it???
So we headed to our local health food store to see what we could find. They had a couple of really interested options ... essential oils, patches and even a homeopathic remedy. We decided to give essential oils a try since we needed them anyways. One recipe we found in the store used lavender, lemongrass and peppermint essential oils.
When we got home with our small baggie of essential oils I started mixing. In a small spray bottle I put some water (I used RO water but you could use distilled water as well), next I added approximately 30 drops of each oil (lavender, lemongrass, and peppermint), fill remainder of container with water, put on the lid and shook really well before taking aim.
The big test came at Violet’s school picnic ... 3 hours spent in a park, after some rain, walking in long grass and treed areas ... a recipe for hungry mosquitoes.
The results ... other than on my right elbow (which got a crazy number of bites as I forgot to spray it), this recipe seemed to help deter the bugs. And it definitely helped to keep the bugs off my kids. As with any bug spray (even the nasty ones that contain deet) you will need to reapply when the bugs start biting you again, so use a small spray bottle that can easily be carried with you.
So would I tweak my next batch?? I’m not sure yet, we want to give this recipe another try but here are some suggestions for how to keep the bugs at bay....Some of the information I found suggested that the more essential oil you use, the stronger the smell, and the more repellent it is. You could change up the oils you use with some of these essential oils – citronella, clove, rosemary, tee tree, cajeput, eucalyptus, cedar, or mint. Try wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts that are of tightly woven fabric in light colours. Mosquitoes are at their worst at dawn and dusk, so aim to spend those times indoors. And below are the directions for a mosquito trap (going to try this too), placed under you picnic should keep the mosquitoes away from those tasty ankles.
What’s next on my list of things to make this spring?? Something to take away the itch when you do get bitten ... my mosquito bites (from the long weekend) are starting to drive me crazy!!!!
reading labels. We very quickly found no ingredients on most of the name brand containers, warnings about not using near plastic furniture, and warnings not to use on kids under 12 years old. If it’s going to eat your plastic lawn chair, what the heck is it doing to your body and why on earth would you use
it???
So we headed to our local health food store to see what we could find. They had a couple of really interested options ... essential oils, patches and even a homeopathic remedy. We decided to give essential oils a try since we needed them anyways. One recipe we found in the store used lavender, lemongrass and peppermint essential oils.
When we got home with our small baggie of essential oils I started mixing. In a small spray bottle I put some water (I used RO water but you could use distilled water as well), next I added approximately 30 drops of each oil (lavender, lemongrass, and peppermint), fill remainder of container with water, put on the lid and shook really well before taking aim.
The big test came at Violet’s school picnic ... 3 hours spent in a park, after some rain, walking in long grass and treed areas ... a recipe for hungry mosquitoes.
The results ... other than on my right elbow (which got a crazy number of bites as I forgot to spray it), this recipe seemed to help deter the bugs. And it definitely helped to keep the bugs off my kids. As with any bug spray (even the nasty ones that contain deet) you will need to reapply when the bugs start biting you again, so use a small spray bottle that can easily be carried with you.
So would I tweak my next batch?? I’m not sure yet, we want to give this recipe another try but here are some suggestions for how to keep the bugs at bay....Some of the information I found suggested that the more essential oil you use, the stronger the smell, and the more repellent it is. You could change up the oils you use with some of these essential oils – citronella, clove, rosemary, tee tree, cajeput, eucalyptus, cedar, or mint. Try wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts that are of tightly woven fabric in light colours. Mosquitoes are at their worst at dawn and dusk, so aim to spend those times indoors. And below are the directions for a mosquito trap (going to try this too), placed under you picnic should keep the mosquitoes away from those tasty ankles.
What’s next on my list of things to make this spring?? Something to take away the itch when you do get bitten ... my mosquito bites (from the long weekend) are starting to drive me crazy!!!!
Homemade mosquito trap
1.Cut the top of the bottle as shown 2.Put 200ml hot water in the bottle, stir with 50gram brown sugar. Put the sugar water in cold water to cool it down until 40C (temperature).... | 3. After cooling down, put the sugar water in the bottle then add the yeast. No need to mix the yeast with the sugar water. When yeast ferments, it creates carbon dioxide. 4. When you cut the bottle, don’t throw the top part away because that’d be needed for step 4 - you see they put the top upside down to fit into the bottle.... 5. Put black paper around the bottle since mosquitoes like dark places and carbon dioxide. This mosquito trap will then start working. Mosquitoes fly around the corner, so the best place to place the trap is at some dark corner. |
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