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.
In addition to making a topical lotion, aromatherapy offers the ability to diffuse natural insect and mosquito repellents inside your house -- something you'd never do with synthetic chemicals. Not something you'd want to be breathing all the time! But aromatherapy diffusers, particularly nebulizing diffusers which allow you to control the concentration of essential oil in the air, can disperse pure, natural, organic aromatics throughout the day or night to keep those critters away.
So how about it -- prepared to make your first all-natural topical mosquito repellent? The basics are this: Your concentration of essential oils is anywhere from 5 to 10 percent. The higher number is most common, but if you find you or your loved ones are sensitive to such a strong formulation, just lower the amount of oils a bit. Some of these essential oils are so effective, as we'll see, that a 5% concentration will work just fine. First, choose your base: either an unscented lotion or, if you'd like to make a spray, use either low-alcohol rubbing alcohol (like the 70% kind, or even lower), or if you can get it in your state, Everclear will work well. If you'd like to avoid alcohol, use witch hazel, which is also available at regular grocery and drug stores. Once you've chosen your base, you'll just measure your essential oils and add them to it. If you're making 4 ounces total, then A 10% concentration uses 240 drops essential oil -- if you have something that will measure milliliters, that's 12 ml.
Some common essential oils to repel mosquitoes are Rose Geranium, Citronella, Lemongrass and Peppermint (for children, use Spearmint). You can blend all these together to make up your 10%, and its likely that a combination of oils will work better than any oil alone. If you do blend the oils, keep the mint at only 1-2%. You only need a tiny bit to make that little "effervescence" the buggers won't like. Also, Cedarwood is considered helpful, especially in combination with the Geranium, to repel ticks in addition to mosquitoes. Also, interestingly, the latest scientific research indicates that Catnip essential oil is actually the single most potent mosquito repelling essential oil, though it is a good bit more costly that the oils already mentioned. But if you're looking for the most potent blend, find some catnip to include!
Here's an example recipe: fill a 4 ounce spray bottle with 1/3rd each vodka, water, and witch hazel. To this add 120 drops Rose Geranium, 80 drops Lemongrass and 20 drops Peppermint. Shake well and apply. You can spray this on the outside of your clothing if you like, and of course, directly on your skin. For children under 12, be sure to substitute Spearmint for Peppermint, and the Peppermint can be to intense for the young ones. You can make precisely the same recipe in a lotion: just find an unscented, preferably organic natural lotion and add this same amount to the lotion base.
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.
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