Essential Oils: A Powerful Alternative to DEET for Repelling Bugs
You really don't need to poison yourself to control pests
Adapted from Grade-A-Notes.
Used by permission.
Everyone interested in natural health and wellness knows that insect repellents are a bad idea. After all, no one has a deficiency of DEET. But what alternative is there, especially with the concern over West Nile virus? You can't really run around unprotected.
Here are some ideas for your home, garden and personal protection.
Diffusing essential oils for pest control
We used to have a fairly significant spider problem in our house. It seemed that, wherever we looked, there would be a spider.
But, since we've been diffusing the cleansing blend — really, almost any of the oils seem to work — we have not been bothered with spiders. And, as an added bonus, we no longer have our annual visit from the local rodent population.
It seems that the power of essential oil to ward of microbials works on insects and mice, as well. They make an absolutely wonder addition to our household.
For your home
One idea is to use peppermint oil — straight — along the the doors, or wherever insects come in. Also, a mixture of the cleansing blend, lemongrass and thyme oil, either with just 4 oz of water, or sometimes with some vinegar added, in a spray bottle. It's strong and it works.
For ants
This really works great on ants. I put some peppermint around a door, where the ants had been coming in. Once, while I was putting the oil down, along came an ant. As he got close to the peppermint, he reared up on his hind legs, waved his antennae back and forth, pivoted around and took off in the other direction.
Carpenter ants
One summer, carpenter ants started invading one person's house. Then she realized she hadn't been diffusing essential oils for awhile. After diffusing the cleansing blend, with some added peppermint oil, the ants went away.
Ticks
One friend has an American Eskimo and a Flatcoat Retriever-Newfoundland mix. These dogs have serious undercoats. But using the cleansing blend on the dogs (and her cat), rubbing the oil blend well into their coats, keeps them tick- and flea-proof. And just a little of this oil goes a long way.
For parasites, she adds couple of drops of the liver clearing blend to her dogs' water dishes, and they're set for the day.
Recipe for Chiggers and Ticks
Here's a great essential oil blend recipe for chiggers and tick. Combine:
20 drops citronella
10 drops eucalyptus
10 drops lemongrass
5 drops basil
5 drops tea tree oil
Fill a 4 oz plastic, flip top bottle nearly full with water. Add 1 teaspoon of the essential oil mixture and shake vigorously to disperse the oils, then just spray on.
Insect Sprays & Bites
Here are some recipes that have been used very successfully to keep the bugs away.
For the house and garden insect spray
3 drops spearmint
3 drops orange
2 qts water
Mix together and spray on plants, in the house, outside and in the greenhouse, to keep the bugs and aphids away. Also diffuse in the greenhouse. And for those that use a swamp cooler, add some lemon oil, to keep the fungus at bay. That way you don't have to use chemicals.
Insect repellent
Peppermint has been great for me. I just rub it all over my head, arms and legs, and the bugs never light on me. I've also found that mixing eucalyptus and peppermint together works great, sometimes with a little Idaho tansy. It also has an energizing and cooling effect. The cleansing blend and Idaho tansy oil are good, too.
Cockroaches
To keep cockroaches out of the house, mix together:
10 drops peppermint
5 drops cypress
½ cup water
and spray where they run and live.
Farm-sized use of essential oils
The largest producer of organically-grown, therapeutic-grade essential oils in American — and possibly the world — with over 2,000 acres under cultivation, never uses pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or other chemicals on any of its fields. Instead, it uses a blend of essential oils, including pine and cinnamon.
If essential oils can be used on an operation this size, there is no question they will work for you.
