Natural home made mosquito spray

Do you want to stay away from all the toxins in conventional mosquito sprays? If so this Natural home made mosquito spray is for you. 

OK my friends, I know this is not food related but I felt I had to share this with you, especially for the ones of you that have kids. You see, when summer rolls around and mosquito season comes, me and my kids get bitten like crazy.

I hate using the conventional products out there and even though I have found some natural ones I have always wanted to make my own.

This is the easiest, best and healthiest way to keep mosquitos off anyone. I hate the products that are available out there with all of the nasty and hurtful chemical ingredients in them. I actually found the recipe here and was super excited to try it.

I actually used lavender witch hazel, which I got online. This one has not parabens and it is alcohol free. I got the ingredients at amazon which is where I always go to get my vitamins and such. This is just awesome.

The citronella and lemongrass oils are essential on making this. Then you can choose from a mixture of tea tree oil, peppermint or lavender essential oils.

Citronella works for mosquitos and chiggers.
Tea tree oil works for chiggers and ticks.

I have also been making my own home made shampoo, which we love, and home made detergent. Maybe I will post those as well, will see.

Sorry for those that were expecting something food related but I felt it would be beneficial to share this with some of you :-) and don’t  despair I have an awesome lemonade cake waiting for you for the next post :-) That is if it works!!

Enjoy!!

I used small bottles as well as a bigger one for when we travel. I am taking these every where when going outdoors :-)

I used a CD pen to label the bottles. You can use any other fancier ways to do so :-) Shake the bottle each time before use, the solution will become cloudy, and remember not to spray directly into the face. Be careful with your eyes :-)

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Natural home made mosquito spray

Ingredients:

Ingredients:

12 oz bottle witch hazel (mine was lavender infused and had no alcohol or parabens)
15 drops citronella essential oil (I use a bit more)
15 drops lemon grass oil (I use a bit more)
10 drops peppermint essential oil
10 drops tea tree oil (optional, but it works against ticks)
A funnel
An empty spray container
An empty mixing jar to mix the contents in

 

Directions:

Pour witch hazel in the mixing jar and add the essential oils. Shake well and place in your spray bottles using a funnel, is the best way.

Before each use just shake up a bit. Make sure you don't get any in your eyes and when using for your kids just place a little bit over a small area to make sure they are not allergic to any of the essential oils.

Adapted from here

 

43 comments

  1. Thank you so much for posting this :D I’m making some asap. My little girl is really sensitive to mosquitoes so when she does get bit she swells up for a few days, it’s awful :( A local lady that runs a soap store made something similar to this last year that actually worked fairly well but she didn’t make it this year so I’m going to try this instead. Thank you! <3

  2. Heidi,

    I hope it works well for your little girl. So far so good for us :-)

  3. Well I wasn’t expecting this but it’s definitely interesting. I didn’t know you could make such a thing! We don’t have mosquitoes around here (at least that I’ve seen) but I’ll save this for any adventures up north. :)

    And I want to see the lemonade cake! Yummy.

  4. This is awesome!! And I’m curious about the laundry detergent as well. I think posts like this are SUPER helpful!

  5. i wonder…could you put all the drops in the witch hazel container and switch it’s top to a spray bottle??

  6. Any idea if this is effective for chiggers, as well??

  7. Mrs. and mama K,

    I am sure you could do that. What a great idea :-)

    Thanks for visiting my blog!!

  8. Dk mast,

    Citronella is an effective chigger repellent as well as tea tree oil that can also work for chiggers and ticks so if you make this try to put a few drops of tea tree oil as well as the citronella, I actually used both :-)

    So far this mosquito solution has work good for us.
    I hope this helps and thanks for visiting my blog!!

  9. Going to try this, looks wonderful! I recently read that Catnip is 10 times more powerful than Deet in repelling mosquitoes. Is there such a thing as Catnip extract that could be added to this recipe?

  10. Scooter,

    it seems, by what I can gather from the internet, that it has been use and still is used for mosquito repellent purposes. I am sure you could incorporate catnip essential oil into the mix. Just make sure you try the mosquito repellent mixture in a small area of your skin before applying to a whole area in case there are some skin sensitivities.

    Thanks for visiting my blog!!

  11. Glass Etching Creams

    Hi. This is a fantastic idea. We really do need this right now because of Dengue epidemic. As the saying goes ‘Prevention is better than cure’.

  12. This stuff is awesome! Like you, mosquitoes love me but I really don’t like using what’s on the market now because of all the chemicals that are in them. I made this for my July 4th outing to my parents and it worked like a charm. Everyone tried it and it was a big hit…..no bites!!! Thank you so much for posting…can’t wait to see the homemade detergent recipe! :)

  13. Robin, I actually put a few more drops of each of the oils to make sure we don’t get bitten. Either way it works really good. I am glad it worked out for your family!

  14. Thanks so much for the recipe. I will be making trying this in the next few months!

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  16. Do you think this can be used on domestic animals and horses? I was concerned about them licking the oils…would any of them be dangerous to injest?

  17. I always prefer natural made mosquito repellents over chemical based ones. What I like about natural products is that they don’t have any side effects. Always choose safe products and enjoy their benefits.

    Maurine Roe

  18. Good to hear that you enjoy creating natural products. Like you, I’ve been using natural products and methods to keep mosquitoes away. I only grow plants and burn scented incense, and haven’t tried making a mosquito spray though. So thanks for your DIY mosquito spray! I will make one soon.

  19. Sounds great,do you have anything for bees,hornets & wasps??? As I’m deadly allergic & we seem to always have lots even getting them in recroom now :( HELP PLEASE…….

  20. I’d love to have your shampoo recipe!
    Thanks for this spray, too – we have mosquitoes, chiggers and ticks here, and they all love me!

  21. Around how many uses can you get out of a 12oz bottle? And how often does the spray need to be reapplied? We are thinking of having a workshop after work soon and are trying to put together a cost per person. Thanks!

    • Oh gosh I really wouldn’t be able to tell but a lot :-) I reapply quite often!! It really depends, mosquitos love me, I have type B blood! I would say perhaps every hour or so when been out doors. Thanks for visiting.

  22. Great recipe cant wait to try it. FYI though, citrus oils should not be placed in plastic containers! Will break down the plastic.

  23. if you weren’t soooooo sweet, you wouldn’t need this stuff!!!!!!!

  24. Thanks so much for posting this!! I immediately ordered what I needed to make it from Amazon, and I LOVE it! I tested out yesterday at our apartment complex dog park, which I go to every day and usually get eaten alive from mosquitos. The previous night I was bitten 20 times (with no repellant at all), but when I used this repellant I only got bit two times. I looked forward to seeing if I can get an even greater success rate! :)

  25. I will be making this at the weekend!! Has anyone used this in their dogs with good results?

  26. I’m on my second round of this and I can tell as a mosquito lollipop ( that’s me) this really works, I took it on a Boy Scout camp with my guys and did not get one bite ( unheard of) everyone kept telling me I smelled great too.

  27. I use a product called Sweetly Citron I found on Amazon. it is all natural and works great (smells good too).

  28. I am so happy to have come across this. Have been doing research for a natural mosquito repellent, and this one looks great! About to go to Africa and am trying to find ways to prevent getting bitten, because of the malaria. I am going to be taking garlic and vitamin B1 because I hear that helps to prevent bites, but i wanted something to spray as well. (anti-malarial pills are not approved for long-term use, so can’t go that route this time) Thank you so much, I will need to try this! :)

  29. I use Skitostop because I’m too lazy to make it mayself. Smells wonderful. Contains citronella, geranium oil, mint, etc.

  30. Please do not use essential oils on your pets before doing thorough research there are a lot of oils that are very toxic to pets! Tea tree oil being one.

  31. I can’t wait to try this . I will say I won’t get my products form amazon anymore for natural ingrediants, I’ve gotten two counterfeit products and can’t return them. Sellers had a good rating to. My suggestion, by local so you can rerun it or know who your getting it from.

  32. This is a good start, but there are a few issues with this recipe. First, you should use witch hazel WITH alcohol. Essential oils do not mix with water. They need the alcohol to emulsify them. I actually use cheap vodka in my bug spray. I also add just a smidge of avocado oil to mine to help counteract the drying effect of the alcohol on my skin.

    Second, peppermint is unsafe for children under the age of 6. The menthol content is too high for their little lungs to process properly. It has the potential to restrict their lung function so much, they stop breathing. No, its not going to affect every single child under 6, but why take the chance that your child or one of your readers children are the ones that will be affected. its best to stick to the safety guidelines set forth by the leading experts in this field like Robert Tisserand.

    Third, Lemongrass is a high skin irritant and has a max dermal application of 0.7%. The amount of Lemongrass in this recipe is outrageously high.

    You would be better off using citronella, lemon eucalyptus ( eucalyptus citriodora), geranium, lavender, and vanilla if this is for young ones.

  33. Is what documented? The safety information I posted? Yes! Its documented in LOTS of places, by LOTS of experts.  

    http://herbalacademyofne.com/2014/08/using-essential-oils-for-children/ 

    The above link is to The Herbal Academy of New England. It gives a quick rundown of basic safety information. There are lots of articles out there. 

  34. Do you have a spray for indoor the home??? 

  35. Thanks for sharing good info.

  36. How many bottles will this receipe  make.  I need at least 200 bottles for my guess.

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