Natural Mosquito/gnat repellants

[SnowStar]

This is similar to one of the posts below, I suppose, but I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. Other than citronela, what other types of things repel pesky little buzzy night creatures? I'm having an outdoor party and would like it as "bug-free" as possible without too many chemicals.

Thank you in advance!

[Fawn]

Do you want plants or other natural distractors?

In the plant line--clary-sage is one.

[SnowStar]

Anything that will keep the wee beasties away...plants or otherwise.

[idusty88]

Burning big citronella candles is an old reliable, and I like them.
One thing I have tried, with some success, is making personal sachets. I use either a silk flower or a piece of cloth and a safety pin to attach it to my clothing. Mix citronella essential oil into a carrier oil (I've used castor, almond, even flaxseed) and use a dropper to soak it into the sachet. When I go hiking I attach sachets to my ankles and shoulders. Recently I've simply used strips of cloth with the ends soaked in the oil and tied around my ankles and arms. I'm so allergic to everything that I never place anything on my skin.
There may be other essential oils that would work to boost the effectiveness against bothersome buggies, but I haven't experimented to discover them yet. I've thought of trying essential oils of pine, rosemary or any of the mints.

[idusty88]

When my family and I want to attract night bugs to study, we hang a white sheet and place a large black light next to it. Tons of bugs show up, lots of moths and even mosquitos, which I was surprised by (this is the only bug I will kill, other than flies inside my home, because they are such deadly disease carriers and malaria is slowly creeping northward with global warming).
I mention this because if you have a large stretch of property, you could place this set-up opposite from the party area and possibly attract most of the bugs away from where the party is at. Thus employing a carrot AND stick approach.
I have read that mosquitos are attracted to carbon dioxide. I haven't tried it yet, but maybe a bowl of dry ice would attract them to it, maybe even kill them. Placing this at the periphery of the area of activity might be the best approach. If you try it, let me know how it goes.

[Lavender]

What about making a body mister spray as well as the citronella candles? The smoke from the candles will also help to keep away peskies. Perhaps a couple of electric fans might help too. I've noticed that they're not so bothersome when there's a slight breeze out.

15 mls witch hazel
35 mls distilled water
10 mls ethanol or vodka
1 ml benzoin tincture
4 drops thyme essential oil
6 drops cedarwood eo
4 drops lavender eo
8 drops rosemary eo
8 drops lemongrass eo
6 drops citronella eo
4 drops peppermint eo

Put everthing into a spray bottle & spritz away. You don't want to get this in your eyes, though.

[idusty88]

That sounds really good Wildchild.
I'm gonna try it too.
Thanks bunches.

[Earth Walker]

Keeping a few Citronnella plants around the house
will keep skeeters out.:cool:



The echoes of goose-stepping are getting louder.:mad:

[idusty88]

Originally posted by Mystique
The echoes of goose-stepping are getting louder.:mad:

They are, aren't they?!

[Earth Walker]

Yes, they are.:mad:
When they come for us....wait until you see the whites
of their eyes.:D :bad:

[MammaStar]

Lemon balm works well too. We have that planted in window boxes around our patio.

But we also have lots and lots of bats flying around here at night too!:D

[Celtic_Angel]

Crysanthemums and mairgolds

[Lucidia]

thanks to everyone who posted their suggestions because I am horribly allergic to mosquitoes (i swell up WAY more than normal wherever i get bites and they usually scar pretty bad), not to mention i'm a compulsive itcher. I was about to go and buy some icky chemical creams or spray.. but i see that there are indeed many other alternatives. thanks to all!:)

[Lavender]

Lucidia,

If you do get a mosquito bite, try using fresh plantain on it. It's a weed you find in your yard, make sure it's clean & chew it up a bit & apply to the sting. Gross as it sounds, it really works great. Your saliva & the natural properties of the plantain helps neutralizes the sting.

:D I'm the same way with mosquito bite too. The spray really works for me & I've given it to friends who were going to a horse camp & they came back raving about it.

[Lucidia]

thank you wildchild.. i will keep that in mind... i'm just hoping that all the rain we've had here won't breed too many of the buggers and that the semi-cool weather will keep them at bay.

[Celtic_Angel]

If they would keep in an envelope I'd send you some of the mosquito hawks form around here! I'm thankful for them, I'm just sick of them slamming into the walls and landing in my bath!!! :sick:

[Celtic_Angel]

Um...my dad had a really good idea for finding herbs to help repell buggies. Go to your nearset health food store and find their selection of natural herbal flea collars. Not to wear of course!!!! But you can look at the ingedients on the back and go from there.