DIY Nighttime Bug Repellent Cream

I love being outside at night, but mosquitoes do too. We have natural bug spray that works, but I don't like smelling like bug spray before bed. I'm kind of sensitive to certain smells, and the smell of citronella or lemongrass bothers me when I'm trying to go to sleep. I made this cream that is easy to use and simple to make. I really think it does help, plus it smells nice!

Ingredients:

25 drops lavender oil

25 drops geranium oil

10 drops cedarwood

Lotion (unscented is best)

2 oz plastic bottle*

*We have empty two-ounce plastic bottles with lids at the store, which is what I use to make this.

Lotion: I used the Everyone lotion in a pump, which was easy to pump into the little container.

First, I filled the bottle about halfway with lotion and then added the oils. I put the top on and shook it really well so it was all mixed together, then I filled it the rest of the way with lotion. Put the top back on and shake it well and then try it out! It's nice because it's not greasy and it absorbs well. It seems to work great (and it smells good)!

Lavender, geranium, and cedarwood have each been shown to help repel mosquitoes.

The amounts above are a 5% dilution, which are safe to use regularly. I would avoid the face and for children I would slightly reduce the amount of essential oils.

I also made a stronger version using 30 drops each of the lavender and geranium and 15 drops of the cedarwood, which probably equals about a 7% essential oil dilution. That's the one I prefer since I have a ton of mosquitoes in my yard at night.

Give it a try and see what you think!

Peppermint Oil to Repel Mice and Spiders

Early September can be warm, but the weather often cools off as the month goes on. Cooler weather can encourage mice and spiders to seek the warmth of our homes. Peppermint oil can help with that, repelling both spiders and mice.

It makes sense to me that peppermint oil could repel mice since mice have a strong sense of smell. I'm not sure that spiders have noses, however, so I was a little skeptical of how it was going to repel them. There was a clinical study done in 2017, however, that showed that peppermint oil stopped spiders from entering an area 75% of the time, especially when compared to the control group. It didn't appear to get rid of spiders once they had already entered an area though, so I feel like September is a great time to start using some peppermint oil around the house, particularly around doors and windows to help prevent spiders from entering.

The easiest way to use peppermint oil as a repellent is to combine it with water or rubbing alcohol and spray around doors and windows, reapplying periodically.

Peppermint oil can also be used to repel mice since they don't like the smell and their sensitive notices are often overwhelmed by it, causing them to avoid an area. When using peppermint oil as a repellent, people often put several drops on a cotton ball to leave in garages or areas where mice are seen.

The nice thing about using peppermint oil for spiders or mice is that it's non-toxic and safe to use around the house. A little goes a long way, and a bottle lasts a long time.

Peppermint oil is also commonly used as a headache remedy when rubbed on the temples. It's recommended to mix it with a carrier oil first before applying since straight peppermint oil may be too strong for your skin. A roller bottle is a convenient way to do that, and we have plenty of DIY essential oil supplies at the store including rollerbottles, empty spray bottles, atomizers, and more.

Interestingly, peppermint oil may also help with memory and alertness. One placebo-controlled study had participants wear a patch infused with lavender oil and had the participants go about their day. When compared to the placebo group, participants reported feeling more alert and subsequent assessments showed the peppermint group experienced enhanced memory and attention.

Peppermint Oil Spray for Spiders and Ants

I like bugs in general but have always had a fear of spiders, it’s gotten a little better over the years, but we’re still not friends. I know spiders are beneficial, and eat mosquitoes, but there's something about them that I just do not like, I think it's the legs...

I wish they would stay away from me of their own accord, but they don't seem to understand that I don't want them around.

I don't love the idea of spraying poison around, however, so, peppermint oil to the rescue!

Peppermint oil is safe to use around the house, and I think it smells good, but for whatever reason, spiders (and ants!) don't like it. See below for a simple recipe to help to encourage spiders to stay away and do their spider business elsewhere.

This recipe is stronger than recipes to use on skin and is meant to be used around the house as a spider and ant repellent. See our article on essential oil dilutions on our website here for topical use.

Spray around doors, windows, baseboards, and wherever you see them to get them to go away and hopefully not come back!

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz bottle*

1 teaspoon peppermint oil

2 tbs witch hazel (optional)

Water (purified or distilled)

* We have both glass and plastic 8 oz bottles of the store. I know everyone used to say that you should really only use glass bottles with essential oils, but Zum, a brand we carry and love, makes essential oil sprays and puts them in plastic bottles, so I'm starting to think maybe glass versus plastic doesn't matter as much in regards to essential oils. If you were going to store a mixture with essential oils for years and years it's probably better to have it in glass, but for things being used in a regular amount of time, I don't think that using plastic is the worst (other than just avoiding plastic use in general for environmental reasons, but I feel like if you're reusing a plastic bottle it's fine).

DIRECTIONS:

Combine peppermint oil and witch hazel (if using) in an 8oz bottle and then carefully fill with water. I like to use witch hazel since it acts as a natural preservative and helps to keep the mixture blended better.

Shake well before using and spray liberally on places spiders and ants hide as well as around doorways and baseboards to help keep them away.

Neem Oil Spray for the Garden

Neem oil is wonderful to use in the garden as a natural insecticide that is safe for beneficial bugs, as well as having anti-fungal properties which prevent mildew and other fungal diseases on plants. Neem oil works against chewing and sucking insects like aphids, whiteflies, and mealybugs, without harming bees and other pollinators. 

Neem as a general preventative:

1/2 tsp neem oil
1/4 tsp Dr. Bronner's Castille Soap
2 cups warm water

For a stronger batch, with more severe pest problems, increase the amount of neem oil:

1 tsp neem oil
1/4 tsp Dr. Bronner's Castille Soap
2 cups warm water

It is best to make this in small batches because it loses its effectiveness over time when the ingredients are mixed together. I usually make a single use spray each time since I think that way the neem keeps its top effectiveness (the beneficial properties in neem oil begin to break down 2-3 hours after mixing).

Single use spray:

1/4 tsp. neem oil (15- 18 drops)
1/8 tsp. castile soap (my measuring spoon doesn’t go that small, so I just estimate)
4 oz. warm water

Neem begins to turn to a solid at room temperature, so if you open your bottle and see clumps of oil, run the bottle under warm water for a minute before using.

Mix all the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well before use. Spray liberally on affected plant foliage.

Neem oil is only bad for bugs that chew on leaves (because of this, I would not use it on host plants for butterflies like milkweed).

The neem oil spray should be used early in the morning or in the evening since it's best not to spray plants when the sun is at its strongest. Morning and evening are also when pollinators are less active. This neem spray will not harm beneficial insects unless they are directly sprayed.

Spray every few days for intensive insect problems, once every two or three weeks for prevention. I was having a really bad time with some sort of insect sucking and curling the new leaves on my phlox plants, so I sprayed those plants every day for a few days and now the new leaves seem to be growing in healthy without any curling.

Neem is safe to use on vegetable plants, but it's best to discontinue its use five weeks before harvest.
 

DIY Insect Repellents with Essential Oils

June is here, and so are the bugs! While conventional, DEET based insect repellents are very effective, I don’t love the idea of spraying chemicals all over myself, and I definitely don’t want them on my daughter. Luckily, there are natural alternatives.

A number of essential oils are very effective against mosquitoes and ticks. Both mosquitoes and ticks search out humans by smell, so essential oils work in two ways to keep away bugs: first, it masks our natural human odors, and second, certain oils actually repel biting insects.

We’ve been working on it, and have developed an essential oil blend that works very well against mosquitoes. The mosquito blend is also effective against ticks, though we’ve made a “tick blend” that is specific to repelling ticks, so that’s the one I’d use if you’re in the forest or other areas where ticks can be a problem.

These blends are measured for use in our 10ml essential oil rollerbottles. We sell empty rollerbottles and also rollerbottles filled with grapeseed oil (a carrier oil). Essential oils should be diluted with a carrier oil before being applied to skin. Grapeseed is a wonderful carrier oil to use with bug repelling essential oils since it doesn’t have a scent of its own.

These recipes use lemon eucalyptus oil which has been proven to be effective against mosquitoes. NOW Foods also has a lemon eucalyptus blend, which I like (it’s a mix of lemon, eucalyptus, and lemongrass), but it is not the same as true lemon eucalyptus (eucalyptus citriodora).

Mosquito Repellent Essential Oil Blend (to be mixed with a carrier oil in a 10ml rollerbottle)

10 drops lemon eucalyptus oil
10 drops citronella oil
5 drops lemongrass oil
5 drops lavender oil
5 drops geranium oil

Tick Repellent Essential Oil Blend (to be mixed with a carrier oil in a 10ml rollerbottle)

8 drops lemon eucalyptus oil
8 drops geranium oil
8 drops lemongrass oil
4 drops lavender oil
4 drops juniper oil
4 drops peppermint oil

While the above blends are those we think are most effective, while still being great smelling (over the years I’ve used some different natural bug sprays that I thought smelled awful), using just a combination of lemon eucalyptus, citronella, and/or lemongrass will still help to keep bugs from biting.

The thing I like about using rollerbottles for insect repellents are that they’re small- they’re easy to carry in a purse or pocket, and they’re also easy to apply. Another great thing using an insect repellent in this way is that children can apply it themselves. My daughter loves rolling on her “bug stuff” when she goes outside. I love it because I think it fosters independence, so if she decides to go out in the backyard, she will put on her own bug blend so she doesn’t get bitten by mosquitoes.

If you find a spray more convenient, you can multiply the above recipe by four and combine it with 8 ounces of witch hazel in a spray bottle (you could also use distilled water, though I found that witch hazel made a better bug repellent).  Shake the bottle before spraying.

River putting on her "bug roll on"

Another advantage of making your own essential oil blends in small rollerbottles is that they’re small and convenient to have in a number of places- I keep one outside on the deck, one by the backdoor, and another in my purse. Essential oil bug blends should be reapplied every 1-2 hours for maximum effectiveness.

Finally, when it comes to getting mosquito bites (since there will come a time when you forget to put on your bug blend and get a bite), lavender oil works amazingly for taking out the itch.

Lavender oil is one of the only oils that can be put on the skin directly without irritation, and a drop or two on an itchy mosquito bite really helps. I keep a bottle of lavender oil on my bedside table since for some reason it seems like the only time mosquito bites bother me is when I’m trying to sleep. Incidentally, lavender oil is very relaxing and has been shown in research to be wonderful as a sleep aid.