Homemade Mosquito Repellent...MN strength???

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

It's only April, and we are already beating off the MN state bird. I am tired of paying outrageous amounts to cover my seven children with poison! Is there any help out there? Thanks so much. Sue.

-- Sue Dutcher (SueDutcher@aol.com), April 22, 2002

Answers

A diet heavy in garlic is effective against some parasites like fleas (and vampires :>), maybe it would work against mosquitoes also.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 23, 2002.

Friends of mine swear by patchouli oil on all the pulse points. Here are two recipes: Lavender repellent 6 drops lavender oil 5ml of vodka 2/3 cup warm water Dissolve lavender oil in vodka, mix with warm water and store

All purpose repellent 3ml clove oil 5ml lavender oil 5ml eucalyptus oil 2/3 cup vodka 3/4 cup distilled water Dissolve the essential oils in the vodka, mix well with water. Store in air tight glass bottle. Apply liberally to skin. Dark bottles are best with essential oils. good luck.

-- fiona (fidel@netconnect.com.au), April 23, 2002.


I don't know if this is why she did not get bit but here goes. My family has always been a big meat and patato family. Well my sister quit eatting meat when she was about 17 and kept it up for about 3 years. We always got bit up every year ecept for my sister for those 3 years. The family always wondered what it had to do with the diet but it sure seemed to have somthing to do with it. I would rather eat meat tho and get bit :)

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), April 23, 2002.

Being from Upper Michigan (where the mosquito is also the state bird) and Wisconsin, I still swear by the Avon Skin So Soft bath oil spray. It's a little pricey I know, but I would much rather put this on my child than anything containing DEET. I don't even trust the child strength Off spray that's out now. The Skin So Soft does work for us. I buy two bottles per summer and dilute them with a little water. Spray it on clothes and any exposed skin. We still wear lightweight shirts or jackets at dusk when they seem to come out and spray these. Using this, I don't worry so much about children putting their hands in their mouth all the time. It's non-toxic and they smell soooo good when you go to tuck them into bed.

-- rose marie wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), April 23, 2002.

Living in the foothills like we do our mosquito population is horrible and they seem to favor me above anyone else in the family. I have tried every remedy I have heard of......B vitamins, garlic, those electronic gizmos, citronella, herbal oils .....you name it. Recently I received an email from a good friend of mine containing uses for Bounce fabric softner sheets. One of the hints was to tuck a sheet of Bounce under your belt to repel mosquitos. I don't normally buy Bounce but for $1.40 I figured it was worth a try. I haven't had a chance to try it out as I have been forced in doors due to some medications that make me sun-sensitive but I am going to try it and I will post about it if it works. If you already have some Bounce on hand or maybe even some other dryer sheet you might want to try it. Just a thought. Let us know and I wish you good luck !

-- cindy palmer (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), April 23, 2002.


My family uses patchouly essential oil rubbed directly on the arms, legs, and other uncovered skin. We also have used lemon essential oil. They work great! In Western WA, we don't have too many mosquitoes, but there are times on a warm evening down by the creek that a bottle of patchouly saves the day.

-- Danielle (thiessens@att.net), April 23, 2002.

Try Grandpa's coal tar soap. Lehmans catalog has it. It's good for all insect repellant.

-- (stephanie.wilkerson@experian.com), April 23, 2002.

well. the "home stead repellent" we use , always seemed to work well, even in the deep swampy wooded land we used to live on in wisconsin in a 12-16 oz jar of coconut oil add 20-30 drops citronella oil, and 10-15 drops lavendar oil. it seems to work rather well, and nice thing about it , is it has still a faint coconut smell. the lavendar is entirely optional.. if its not working, add more cirtonella oil, up to a 1/2 ounce

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), April 23, 2002.

I also swear by the Skin-So-Soft. I remember once I was going to do something fast in the woods and didn't bother to put it on. By the time I was finished, I was covered in bites. My son complained that it attracted them but I mentioned that what happened was that he heard the ones that were mad and wouldn't land; he agreed. It also helps to keep off ticks.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), April 23, 2002.

I don't know if this is why, but I eat a lot of nutritional yeast & rarely get bit. Even on visits to Wisconsin.

-- Bonnie (stichart@plix.com), April 23, 2002.


B12 in the diet is supposed to help. Am told even the oil on your skin helps. we get it mostly in meat. Somebody told me once it was in vinager (and probably that yearst above) too. She swore on a teaspoon of vinager a day or lots of pickles? Maybe, hubby eats pickles daily and is a healthy meat eater and rarely gets bit. Daghter and I are lighter on both and look like chicken pox babies!

But I refuse to put something on my child that is said to melt nylon! WOW!

-- Novina in ND (homespun@stellarnet.com), April 23, 2002.


I made my own "skin-so-soft" by buying a bottle of baby oil, and adding about a tablespoon of citronella to it(you can adjust your strength as needed). The citronella can be bought in the drug store for around $2.50. A bottle would last the whole summer. I had about 8 - 10 kids working for me, as we had a market garden, and the mosquitoes & black flies were murder on the kids picking produce in the morning. This worked just a good as any of the regular sprays and I felt comfortable using it on my young grandchildren too.

-- Lorraine (ltrick@recorder.ca), April 23, 2002.

I had a friend that worked as an 'animal control officer' he ate parsley sprigs every day, and wasn't bothered with fleas, it might work with mostquito's, that's fresh parsley.

-- lacyj (hillharmony@hotmail.com), April 23, 2002.

I agree with Bonnie on the nutritional yeast. Although, I have made strong teas of Pennyroyal and Tansy combined. Let mixture cool and put in a clean spray bottle. Use as often as necessary. But, test it on a patch of the kid's skin first to make sure they are not sensitive to it. I even spray the carpet around their beds at night to keep the bugs away.

-- Harmony (harmonyfarm57@hotmail.com), April 24, 2002.

I've bought several of the "natural" insect repellants from the health food stores. They all contain citronella, along with other essential oils like lavender, etc. I swear the mosquitoes are attracted to the smell. We have been eaten up by them no matter how much of the citronella stuff we put on. I read once of a man in Africa that uses lavender oil straight for mosquitoes and it worked for him every time. I haven't tried Skin so Soft in years but did get some of the Avon bug cream that is supposed to have the same ingredient in it as the Skin So Soft. Again, the kids got eaten up.

-- Lynn (lynn@nomail.com), April 24, 2002.


Here is email addy of someone who makes homeade lye soap with some added ingredients that repels most all bugs. Works great I use it myself. lyesoaplady@yahoo.com bars are about $3.60 each. One bar lasts me all summer and most of hunting season. Also sells hunters laundry kits for $5.00 , I use these too, in deer season ect.. and one other is a fishermans soap that is suppose to help you catch fish better due to some of its ingredients, never tried that, but Have friend who says it works.

-- LOL (nonsense@nonsense.com), April 24, 2002.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ