It's that time of year again in our area. The mosquitoes are out in force already. This year we are trying a natural deet-free products. In the past we've used Avon's Skin-So-Soft(deet-free), but not all natural, with very little success.
Seven natural insect repellents:
California Baby(some Targets)
Aubrey Organics Gone!
Badger
Kiss My Face Swy Flotter
Repel
Sport Bite Blocker SPF 20
Homemade on Etsy
You can also make your own with essential oils added to either oil, vinegar, witch hazel or vodka. To name a few, these essentials oil are known for their natural bug repelling properties: lavender, eucalyptus, citronella, lemon grass, lemon eucalyptus, peppermint, clove oil, rose geranium, cedar, *neem oil, and tea tree oil.
*Neem oil stinks! I have found that citronella completely covers the smell of neem oil, so it's a good choice for pairing.
I plan to make my own, and purchase a commercially produced natural bug repellent. I have read that these products work with your skin chemistry, so no one product is good for everyone. I'm guessing that a combination of many different essentials oils that are known to repel mosquitoes is probably better than just a few.
Using natural soap scented with the bug repelling essential oils in addition to the spray might not be a bad idea for layering the protection. I think I'll look for some at either Target, Etsy or vitacost.com . Vitacost has a bar of neem soap for $1.32.
Check Vitacost.com as well. I buy discounted Dr. Bronner's products from them. The shipping is very low at $4.99 on any size order, and they ship fast. I'm trying
All Terrain Herbal Armor Insect Repellent Spray Deet-Free 4 fl oz $5.19. It's got one positive review. I'm also ordering some essential oils for some other projects - great prices as usual.
Also see :Five Plants That Repel Mosquitoes
7/09 update: I made my own and used the All Terrain. Both worked well! I still got a few bites, but then I got bites with DEET repellents as well. BTW, it works well as a natural deodorant too. I used vodka as a base, and added neem oil, eucalyptus, citronella, lemon eucalyptus and cedar essential oils. I didn't measure, but recall pouring about a tablespoon of neem oil and 2 tablespoons of citronella into an 8 ounces spray bottle full of vodka. The remaining essential oils measured out at about 10-15 drops.
I haven't tried this, but you might be able to add zinc oxide powder to your bug spray in order to give it sunscreen properties.
3 comments:
Heard rosemary is a natural repellant and local Whole Foods worker suggested eating foods containing the herb vs. spreading oils on ourselves. Don't have any idea if it works. We haven't had any luck yet with natural bug repellants - perhaps we'll try cooking some muffins with rosemary!
Very interesting post. The more we can make ourselves, the better. Thanks for sharing!
Did you know that DEET can actually melt plastic? That's not something I want to be using on my children! I did some research and learned that
Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus is the only plant-based product approved by the EPA and Center for Disease Control for use as a repellent. It is proven to work as well as DEET but without all the harmful side effects. I have tried the Cutter and Repel Oil of Eucalyptus brand and they both work great!
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