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Did You Know? You Can Make The Most Effective Insect Repellent Formulas At Home

by HollyThomas

For a family in mosquito country, needing to use mosquito repellents throughout the Summer is just a fact of life. The thing is, the main ingredient in the most popular products is DEET, which has recently been called into question as potentially damaging to children's developing nervous systems -- and potentially harmful to adults as well. Yes, there's evidence to the contrary as well, but is it worth the chance? Anything you put on your skin is immediately absorbed in to the bloodstream. The folks making it known that DEET might be dangerous don't have a grudge against the DEET makers -- they have no reason to make an issue unless the potential for harm was there. Given that, did you know that making your own natural formula is totally easy? And that there's natural ingredients that have been shown to be 10 times more effective than DEET? You can make gallons at a time if you want! So here's a primer on making your own effective insect repellent formulas at home, and even how to use these same ingredients to repel the buggers from the space around you as well.

Making your own natural, and even "all organic" if you like, mosquito and insect repellent formulas is as easy as it gets. These will be exactly the same as any of the natural over-the-counter products you'll find in your local health food market. All you do is choose your base -- be it unscented lotion or a liquid to spray that "holds" the essential oil, add the essential oils to it, shake well, and there you have it.

What you might find especially interesting is that you can use these same oils in an aromatherapy diffuser to repel insects from your living room, or even your bedroom as you sleep. Just set the diffuser on low and fill your room with one of the oils, or a great smelling blend of oils and maybe you (or your kids) won't have to worry about getting bitten all night.

So are you ready to mix up your first batch of topical mosquito repellent? You'll need to decide whether you want a spray or a lotion. For either of these, the recommended concentration of essential oils is between five and ten percent - that means anywhere from 120 drops to 240 drops total essential oil in four ounces of base. To help you chose: A lotion will probably remain effective for a longer time after application, though the spray can be easier to use -- you can spray it on your clothes if you like. For your base for a spray, you can use rubbing alcohol (perhaps not the finest scent, but it's inexpensive), vodka (yes, this time you want cheap alcohol!) or witch hazel (a natural plant extract based in water -- probably the easiest on the skin, but does not hold the oils in suspension as well, just requiring more of a good shake before each use). For a lotion, any unscented lotion will do, and there are many organic unscented creams available through natural product suppliers.

Which essential oils to use? The most common ones in many of the natural repellents is Geranium or Rose Geranium. Geranium is nice because the aroma is appealing to many people, so you won't mind using it. The you'll find Citronella, Lemongrass, Cedarwood and sometime kind of mint, be it Spearmint or Peppermint. But the grandaddy essential oil for mosquito repelling is actually Catnip. Research was released a few years ago that noted Catnip to be ten times more effective than DEET! In all the natural formulas, you'll find a blend of oils, as it's likely several oils combined will be more effective than any single one alone.

You can put all these oils together like this: When making 4 fluid ounces, fill your empty bottle up with just under 4 ounces of your base. If you'd like to use just Catnip essential oil, simply add 6 milliliters (120 drops) of Catnip essential oil to your bottle, shake well and you're done! If you'd like to use these other oils, try adding to your base: 8ml Geranium (or Rose Geranium), 3ml Cedarwood, and 1ml Peppermint. Feel free to mix and match with what you have on hand to give you a 10% concentration. At the same time, if anyone using the formula finds it too intense, make something with a lower concentration.

You can use precisely these same formulas for repelling insects from the space around you, just of course without the base cream or spray. The most powerful aromatherapy diffusers are "cold-air nebulizing diffusers" which make a mist of pure essential oil. They don't mix the oils with water and they don't warm them to evaporate them. The trick here is to find the right concentration of essential oil in your surrounding air to do the job; you'll want to use the least amount necessary. A good place to start might be diffusing a single oil, or blend, at the lowest setting continually -- this isn't something you do if you're wanting to smell the oil -- as your nose will become accustom to the aroma -- but might be best for mosquito repelling. If this works, then try running the unit only 15 minutes at a time ( a mechanical appliance timer will help here), decreasing the "on" period until you get to the lowest setting that keeps the bugs away. This way you'll conserve your essential oils, and make repelling mosquitoes all summer more affordable.

And there you have it -- a quick look at how easy it is to use essential oils as insect repellents during these Summer months, with the great relief knowing you're choosing organic and natural oils over questionable synthetic ones for your health and the health of your family.

About the Author: Frank Cole

More on the healing effects of essential oils can be found at http://www.anandaapothecary.com.

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Did You Know? You Can Make The Most Effective Insect Repellent Formulas At Home