Natural Bug Repellent Garden Nursery Landscaping Guide
Natural Bug Repellent Made At Home With Essential Oils
By Pixie Matthews
The do-it-yourself craze has extended to people making insect
repellent concoctions at home. No longer do you need to buy expensive
products from the store, as you can review your options and purchase
the basic ingredients to make your own homemade, natural bug repellent
instead.
This might sound like something you should leave to professionals,
but it’s actually very simple and safe. In addition, with store-bought
products, such as a Deet insect repellent, there are usually more
chemicals involved. For the health conscious consumer, making
your own bug repellent is an ideal way to go.
Effective Ingredients For Different Bugs
The first thing you need to do when making a natural, Deet free
insect repellent, is to decide on what kind of insects you want
to ward off. Certain ingredients will be more effective than others
depending on the type of bug.
Mosquitoes are probably the most annoying insect during the summer
months, and their bites can be quite painful for some people,
and very annoying for virtually everyone. Mosquitoes are usually
repelled by the scent of oils, such as cinnamon oil and castor
oil, and so those can form your main ingredients.
Diluting The Potency With A Carrier Oil
You can’t, however, just smear cinnamon oil or castor oil over
your body. You want it to be a natural, insect pest repellent
that doesn’t smell too strong or make you look funny when you
go out. Additionally, these oils and others can be used to ward
off other insects that can cause rashes or certain types of skin
irritations, if the amount used is too concentrated.
What you need to do is mix the oil, called an essential oil,
with something else to dilute the potency. Of course water does
not mix with oil, so you’ll have to use another type of oil, called
a carrier oil, or alcohol. Cooking oil is a safe carrier oil.
Effective Rate Of 10 Percent And Avoiding Application To Sensitive Areas
Mix the two oils or the essential oil with alcohol so that there
is only a maximum of 10 parts essential oil to 100 parts of the
mix liquid; 10 percent is a safe yet still effective ratio to
use.
Once your mix is made, you can take your natural bug repellent
and apply it to your skin or spray it on your clothes. As with
any commercial insect repellent lotion or spray, you’ll need to
reapply it after swimming or if you’ve been out in the sun for
longer than an hour, since much of it will evaporate and its potency
will be weakened.
Like any other product, homemade or not, avoid applying your
insect repellent to sensitive areas including your eyes, and get
approval from your physician before using it if you’re pregnant.
Natural And Organic Insect Repellents
There’s no need to spend lots of money on a product that you
can make just as easily at home, and at a much cheaper rate. Natural
bug repellent will make you feel healthier and less concerned
about any effects it could have on the environment.
Organic insect repellent is just another item that you can make
at home and feel better about doing it. Many people also feel
that their insect repellent is more effective since they can tailor
the mixture to their own body type and to repel the specific bugs
in their area.
About the Author:
Pixie Matthews has written a number of articles on pest control, gardening and
landscaping including
Live Ladybugs,
Organic Vegetable Gardening Products,
Vegetable Gardening Tips,
Spring Vegetable Gardening,
Compost For Your Vegetable Garden,
Vegetable Gardening Tricks.
Keep a lookout for more of her articles on this website.
Little Known Bug Repellant Facts....
What are bug repellants?
Bug repellants are actually any substance
that is applied to the air, skin or clothing so that bugs do not
want to land on that particular surface. There is a huge range
of different repellants that you can use to help prevent bug bites.
Some of these repellants are marketed as organic or all natural
and are becoming a favorite choice among users.
Other repellants use chemicals to deter
the bugs from landing and biting. There are also some modern devices
that produce sound waves that ward off pesky bugs. Repellants
have changed greatly over the years. Chemicals that were once
common ingredients in many bug sprays or repellants have now been
discovered to be hazardous to the humans that used them.
It is why so much research and study goes
into every ingredient that goes into a can or bottle of bug repellant.
The idea is to repel bugs but without causing any danger to those
that use the repellant.
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