vendredi 3 novembre 2017

Using Essential Oil Insect Repellent

By Barbara Moore


It's great to sit outside in the summer, on the patio or in an Adirondack chair on the lawn - until the mosquitoes find you. Since you don't want to perfume the air and taint your skin with DEET, you go inside. If you had a bottle of essential oil insect repellent, however, you could stay out, knowing the bugs would stay away and you yourself would be unharmed.

There is good reason to avoid chemical formulas. Many effective chemicals used in the past have been banned because they proved to be dangerous to humans and harmful to wildlife. The favorite one today, DEET, has many cautions attached to its use and a long list of suspected cases of illness and even death. The many consumers who use sprays that contain DEET may not know that there are safer alternatives.

There are many brands of all-natural, chemical-free repellents on the market. You can find sprays, topical lotions, sticks that you rub on, and pre-treated wipes. Some contain sunscreen for added protection. These products are very effective on garden and woodland pests, and they smell good, too. There are special formulas for infants and small children; basically they use the same herbs but they're not as strong.

It is easy to make your own sprays. There are a number of oils that repel bugs, from sweet-smelling lavender to the stronger oils like tea tree and citronella. Water, apple cider vinegar, witch hazel, and rubbing alcohol are used as carriers, since essentials are best used diluted. A little goes a long way, making these home-made solutions affordable as well as effective.

Essentials can be expensive, but some of the best for bug sprays are surprisingly affordable. You use 10 to 30 drops of one or more in the solution. Experiment to find how strong a mixture you need. Gnats are fairly easy to keep off, as are mosquitoes. For ticks, you probably want a stronger oil, like tea tree or pennyroyal, and you may need to use 30 to 50 drops.

Peppermint, lemon balm, citronella, lavender, rosemary, cedar, and lemongrass are popular herbs for repelling bugs. Since the mixtures smell wonderful, you and your family won't mind using them. Add drops of a pure oil or boil dried herbs in water to extract the aromatic oils they still hold. You can add other herbs that smell good to you, like clove or vanilla; they just make the formula stronger and more effective.

It's always a good idea to spray your clothes or your hat instead of your skin, if you are sensitive to cosmetics in general. You can spray your children's hair rather than their faces to keep gnats out of their eyes and ears. Spray your boots and pants when walking in brush or long grass to keep off ticks. You can even rub fresh leaves of mint or lemon balm on your skin in a pinch.

Try a natural repellent. You'll like it. And - you'll know you and your family, as well as the environment, are healthier for it. A mix of fragrant oils will help make summertime more enjoyable than ever.




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