When summer approaches and mosquito season comes, all my family get bitten like crazy. I like to make my own natural home made mosquito spray which is a natural bug repellent as I don’t like to use the conventional products that contain nasty and harmful chemical ingredients. Therefore I’ve brought to you natural solutions, which are the best and healthiest ways to keep mosquitoes off anyone.
Mosquito bites are the itchy bumps that appear after the mosquitos use their mouth-parts to puncture your skin and feed on your blood. Most mosquito bites are harmless, but occasionally a mosquito bite causes a large area of swelling, soreness and redness. This type of reaction is most common in children.
Here are natural ways that will help you to keep the mosquitoes away:
1. Natural homemade mosquito spray
It is very easy to make your own mosquito spray – it literally takes just a few seconds to mix it and it’s a great alternative to the conventional mosquito repellents that are full with harmful chemicals.
Ingredients:
12 oz bottle witch hazel
30-50 drops of one or more of the following essential oils: citronella, lemongrass, peppermint, eucalyptus, basil, rosemary, tea tree, geranium, lavender and thyme. The more oils you use, the stronger the spray will be.
A funnel
An empty spray container
An empty mixing jar for mixing the contents
Directions:
Pour the witch hazel in the mixing jar and add the essential oils. Shake well and place in your spray bottle using a funnel. Shake it before use. Make sure you don’t get any in your eyes, and when using for your kids just place a little bit over a small area to make sure they are not allergic to any of the essential oils.
2. Aromatherapy burner
Another way of using essential oils is to vaporize them, and this can be done by using an oil burner. To use an oil burner fill the bowl at the top of the burner with water and add a few drops of essential oils from the list above (a mixture of few oil types is preferred), then place a tea light candle underneath the bowl. The heat will evaporate the water and the essential oils, creating a 2-3 meter radius of mosquito free zone.
Make sure not to leave the tea light candle unattended and don’t let all of the water evaporate from the bowl. If you are interested to learn more about essential oils you can find useful information in my e-book Magical Aromatherapy. This book will help you to discover the power of essential oils and the most effective ways to use them.
3. Cleaning with essential oils
When you wash your floors, add 20-40 drops of citronella essential oil (or mix with the other essential oils mentioned above) in a bucket full of water and a little bit of soap and wash the floors, especially near the entrances. You can also clean the windows by filling a spray bottle with water, a little bit of soap and add 10 drops of citronella essential oil (or mix with the other essential oils mentioned above). Shake well and spray onto window surfaces and wipe off with a lint-free cloth or paper towel.
4. Grow mosquito repellent plants
You can grow your own citronella plants around your yard and outdoor eating areas. They can be grown in the ground or in a pot or container and enjoy full sun and well-drained soil. Citronella is generally hardy in warm climates, but requires plenty of water. Keep the plant indoors if the overnight temperatures are below freezing. Other good plants that repel mosquito are lemon balm (also known as horsemint), ageratum (also known as flossflowers), marigolds, catnip, peppermint, rosemary, lavender, basil and garlic. You can also keep some of these plants on your windowsills to keep the mosquitoes away from your home.
You can also crush and rub catnip, citronela, lemon balm and lavender directly to your skin to deter mosquitoes.
4. Apply neem oil
Neem oil is extracted from the Neem tree which is native to India and is a natural insecticide. To make an effective natural insecticide mix neem oil and coconut oil in equal parts and rub it on your body to keep mosquitoes away.
6. Mosquito traps
There are several versions of these traps, either with beer or brown sugar and yeast or with liquid dish soap added to water. There are mixed results with these, but you may want to try them yourself.
Here are the instruction for how to make your own natural brown sugar and yeast mosquito trap:
Cut the two liter plastic bottle in half. Please do not discard any of the two parts (as you will need to use both parts).
Mix the 1.7 oz (50 grams) of brown or white sugar with 150 milliliters of hot water. Allow the mixture to cool.
Pour the mixture in to the lower half of the plastic bottle. Add 0.03 oz (1 gram) of dry yeast but do not mix. The yeast will produce carbon dioxide (Insects are attracted to the CO2 gases released when the yeast attacks the sugars).
Place the top of the plastic bottle into the bottom of bottle, upside down.
Cover the circumference of the bottle with tape or cloth, not covering the top. It is recommended to wrap the trap in something black as mosquitoes and most other insects are attracted to black.
Each bottle works effectively for up to 2 weeks. After this time, replace the bottle with a new one by following the above steps.
7. Eat garlic
Some people swear that eating garlic daily repel mosquitoes. It hasn’t been proven effective in scientific studies, but if it doesn’t repel mosquitoes, at least you will enjoy the health benefits of garlic.
8. Rotating fan blades
The rotating blades of a fan create currents of air which disturb mosquitoes which can only fly in still air.
9. Garden maintenance
– Get rid of any stagnant water sources in your yard which are good breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
– Clean out your roof guttering regularly to prevent stagnant water.
– Mow the lawn regularly and trim shrubs, as too much grass and foliage can create breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
10. Beer drinkers beware
According to several studies, just a single 12 oz bottle of beer can make you more attractive to these insects. It is still unknown what is the exact reason for that, but you can use it for your own advantage: give your friend a few bottles of beer so that the mosquitoes will be attracted to him/her (instead of a mosquito spray, just get a beer buddy).
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