We recently went camping with the family in Belleplain State Forest. There are quite a few cedar swamps in the area, and we knew we needed to be prepared for an attack of mosquitoes. I read on the Pinterest site that Listerine, because of the eucalyptus and thymol it contains, is a terrific mosquito repellent. The directions were to spray on the ground around you and the mosquitoes would stay away. It worked! We didn’t have any problem at all with the mosquitoes. Now if only we could find something to keep the ticks away. Several of us came home with a passenger aboard our skin. Yuck!
For ease in application I placed the Listerine (I used a generic brand) in an empty window cleaner bottle. My mistake: my first mouthwash purchase was blue mint. It looked exactly the same as the window cleaner. The second time I bought mouthwash as an insect repellent I bought the amber colored Listerine. It definitely did not smell as good, but it worked just the same. Hmmm…maybe next time I will try the green mint flavor. Smile!
Please take a look at the comment section of this post…there are many additional “natural” remedies included in one of the comments. Thanks James!”
Sweet! I could use that as I am out & about … 🙂
I found some other blogs/articles/etc for anti skeeter formulas..
all homemade, chemical free & all natural(natural meaning, GOD made, NOT man made).
I googled “natural homemade skeeter repellent” and got 13,400 results.
These are just a couple that I thought sounded like the best ones.
http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2013/07/natural-homemade-insect-repellent-recipes.html
There are 20 different recipes here…all natural….all homemade…all chemical free…and all cheap(low/no cost)
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Garlic Mosquito Repellent
Ingredients: Minced garlic, mineral oil, and lemon juice
Cost: Less than $5
Directions:
Mince a few cloves of garlic then cover with mineral oil. Allow it to sit for at least 24 hours. Next you take a teaspoon of *just the oil* and mix it with 2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Strain through a cheesecloth if you have any floaties then pour into a spray bottle. Shake before each use.
Recipe from Tipnut
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Lemon Eucalyptus Mosquito Repellent
Ingredients: Lemon eucalyptus oil and sunflower oil or witch hazel
Cost: $9.50 for 8 oz. of lemon eucalyptus oil (can be purchased on Amazon.com)
Directions: Mix 1 part lemon eucalyptus oil for every 10 parts of sunflower oil/witch hazel. Rub or spray on skin.
Recipe modified from About.com
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Lavender Mosquito Repellent
Ingredients: Fresh lavender (the flower)
Cost: Free (if you have lavender growing in your yard); otherwise Home Depot sells the plant for about $12
Directions:
Rub a lavender flower behind your ears, wrists and neck. Not only will you smell great but mosquitoes will leave you alone.
Recipe from Garden Mandy
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Vanilla Mosquito Repellent
Ingredients: Vanilla extract
Cost: Less than $5 at grocery store
Directions:
Apply some vanilla extract or vanilla essence to your pulse points.
Recipe from Nora’s post about Easy Homemade Mosquito and Insect Traps
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Copied from:
http://www.wisebread.com/4-cheap-and-easy-homemade-mosquito-repellents
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I hope this is ok that I posted this….sorry it so long…but as the French Foreign Legion says, “To be forewarned, is to be forearmed.”
🙂
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These are great James…I’ll have to edit the post to tell readers to read the comment section. Thanks so much. 🙂
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I’m going to try this today!! We’re getting eaten alive in our back yard by mosquitoes. I’m afraid of sprays with harsh pesticides in them and I’m tired of getting 10-15 bites every time I go out back to grill! Thank you for the tip!
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It seemed too easy when I first read the tip. I wasn’t sure it would work…but it does. It’s terrific. I don’t want to chance harsh chemicals when I have toddlers and small children in the yard.
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