Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Quit bugging me!

After chatting over on Penni's blog about natural bug repellents, figured I would just post what I use here.

With 4-H classes being held at the fair grounds, right next to a large natural area and big river, skeeters are, well, in abundance. Off is one of products I use on myself, but hate the amount of DEET in it. Won't use those products on the dogs, afraid of what might happen if they ingest it, ie, lick it off. So after a lot of research, this is what I came up with and it works pretty darn well.

1 bottle of witch hazel as the diluent. I add to that 15-20 drops of the following essential oils: citronella, peppermint, lemon grass and eucalyptus. There are lots of other products you can add, but some can be very toxic if too much is used. Shake well and put in a spray bottle.

Some things to remember. Shake well each time you use it. Oils can lose effectiveness in light, so keep all the bottles in a dark cupboard. Cover you dogs eyes if using on the head.

I also will keep a bottle of witch hazel around and take sprigs of herbs from the garden-rosemary, mints, lavender and drop them straight in. Let sit in the sun for a few days and voila! Another way to make your own sprays.

The other product that I love to use, if I can get my hands on it, is a marigold spray from a company called EQyss. It's awesome, but hard to find in our area. I'm ordering a large bottle online today. It's all natural, safe for humans and animals.

Happy bug hunting!

later gators....
C

5 comments:

penni said...

Cindy, inquiring minds on my blog want to know the size of the bottle of witch hazel --

Holly said...

Great ideas Cindy. Last year was a very bad year for bugs here and I had the dogs on Advantage. After we finally got rid of the nusances, I have had the dogs on Bug Off Garlic from Springtime Inc. with great results. We are in a HIGH tick area and I only pulled 2 ticks off the dogs all spring!

http://www.springtimeinc.com/product/bug_off_garlic_d/dogs

I wish I had stock in the company!

I may make up a bottle of your spray recipe to keep on hand.

Cindy said...

Now you have to stump me, don't ya??
Uh, I think that would be like a 16 oz bottle? I think that's the size--will double check at home tonight and let everyone know!

ClassyChassy said...

The first mixture you mentioned is very good, but we added some apple cider vinegar to the mix, too!

Cindy said...

Hadn't thought of the vinegar, but that's a good one too. We have used little bowls of AC vinegar around picnic areas to ward off the nats.
Thanks!