Over the past few decades, as our lives became busier, we saw a need for easy, faster, better—convenience!
Many corporations have diligently answered the call by providing us with an overwhelming variety of items, all available at our finger tips. We have an ever-ending array of items to choose from—a selection of colors and sizes, scented, non-scented, for adults, for children, and for our pets. You name it, it's available! This was deemed as progress!
However, most of us know by now, that this luxury of convenience came with a price—and I'm not referring to the financial aspect of 'price.' Products we purchase today are laden with mechanically and chemically processed and artificial ingredients.
We have been bombarded with scented products which many people are allergic to, causing irritations to eyes, nose and throat. These artificially scented products are formulated with chemicals that, in time, are toxic to the body. The chemical concoctions used to 'recreate' a scent are actually petrochemicals (derived from natural gas and petroleum), and frankly don't do justice to the 'true' scent.
If you're anything like me, you are no longer willing to tolerate drenching your body with poisons and filling your home with toxins.
So how do we go about getting the same results achieved from the toxic products we once purchased so readily available on the market? By turning back the hands of time to pre 'age of convenience' and making them at home. Natural ingredients, which are quite easily attainable and most likely already available in your home, are highly effective.
While I look forward to the spring season, I am not so fond of the bugs that come along with it. Even though insects have a role to play in the food chain, we don't want them making a meal of us and our children, or taking up residence in our homes and gardens, or camping out on our pets.
So how do we keep these critters at bay?
The following suggestions for natural insect repellents are quick and easy to make. You will want to pick up a few of the plastic
spray bottles and label them according to each use.
(To purchase any of the products at available at Amazon, click on the red product link, or you can visit the
Essential Oils Shop to search for more products.)
Ants: While some of these ingredients will deter the ants from coming into your home (for mildly problematic situations), others will kill the whole colony. There are various ant species, where some will prefer a sugar substance, while others will prefer protein based ingredients. You may have to try one or two of the following methods to determine which works best, unless you already know which type you are dealing with.
• Vinegar - Placing vinegar around the floor boards, or doorways will deter ants. You can also pour vinegar directly down into the ant nest. Vinegar mixed with water, also makes a good cleaning solution for washing floors and other surfaces in the home.
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Lemon - Spray pure lemon juice or mix 15-20 drops of
lemon essential oil with water around the openings - the acid skews their sense of tracking.
• Baking Soda - Ants defend themselves by injecting or spraying a chemical, such as formic acid. Mix baking soda with a bit of powdered sugar and place where accessible to the ants or colony. Upon digestion, the baking soda will cause a chemical reaction with their acidic component.
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Cinnamon - Sprinkle ground cinnamon around the openings, or a few drops of
cinnamon essential oil with water and spray the openings.
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Diatomaceous Earth - Using food-grade, not swimming pool
diatomaceous earth (DE) works well. Sprinkle around the perimeter of your home and can also safely be sprinkled inside where you see the ants. Do not wet the DE or it will not work. This should resolve the problem within a week or so.
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Chalk - Ants will not cross a line of chalk. Either draw a line or sprinkle ground
chalk around the areas where they are entering.
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Cornmeal - The ants are unable to digest
cornmeal properly and will eventually die off.
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Cream of Wheat - Sprinkle
cream of wheat around the ant infestation. When they eat it, it expands and they will explode.
• Boiling Water - Pouring a kettle of boiling water on the mound (should be repeated daily until ants disappear) will also solve the problem.
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Borax - Even though
borax is a natural product, it should be handled with care and kept out of reach of pets and small children. Mix borax with sugar (50/50) and enough water to make a paste. Set on a plastic or a piece of cardboard and place near the ant nest. You can use a small
plastic container to make an ant trap such as shown to the right. The ants will take this back to the queen, eventually killing the whole colony. If you find the ants aren't taking to this, you can add a bit of peanut butter to the mix for the ants that prefer protein. This will also take about a week or more.
Black Flies: There are over 1,800 known species of black flies, sometimes called a buffalo gnat, turkey gnat, or white socks, and in New Zealand, called 'sandflies'. They are usually small, black or gray, with short legs, and antennae. They are a common nuisance and spread several diseases. They feed during the day when wind speeds are low. Males feed mainly on nectar, while female black flies gain nourishment by feeding on the blood of animals, and us humans. Eggs are laid in running water with the larvae attaching themselves to rocks.
Black fly populations swell from late April to July, becoming a nuisance to anyone engaging in common outdoor activities, such as gardening, boating, camping, and backpacking. While black flies will frequently land on arms and legs, most bites are often found on the head, neck, and back.
Protect your skin by wearing long sleeves and pants at all times when outdoors, and also wearing a
hat with attached netting, specially designed to protect the head and neck from black flies, as they have a particularly annoying habit of swarming the face due to their attraction of the carbon dioxide we exhale. Black flies are attracted to dark colors, so it’s also a good idea to wear light-colored clothing, such as khaki, tan, or white.
• Pine Branches - Break open a young branch and rub the moisture from the branch on your skin.
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Vanilla extract - In a small spray bottle (8 oz), mix 1 part
pure vanilla extract to 1 part water. May need to re-apply after about 1/2 hour, due to evaporation. (Using a vanilla extract that contains sugar, will not work and will actually attract black flies … so make sure it's pure extract.)
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Lavender - Add a few drops of
lavender essential oil in water or a carrier oil and spray or apply directly to skin using cotton balls.
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Citronella or Lemongrass - Add 1 part
lemon essential oil or
lemongrass essential oil to 20 parts carrier oil (olive oil) and spray or apply directly to skin, will ward off black flies and mosquitos.
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Cedar - Mix 1 tablespoon of Aloe Vera gel with two tablespoons of olive oil, and add 20 drops of cedar essential oil. Mix it thoroughly and put in a spray bottle (8 oz). Mixture can be applied to your skin or clothes.
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Garlic - A natural sulfur compound is found in garlic, which repels mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and black flies. Taking
garlic tablets or consuming garlic will cause your skin to secrete a natural repellent, which is toxic to black flies. Insects tend not to land, but if they do, the taste of sulphur will have them fly away and discourage them from returning for seconds. (
Note: Do not feed garlic to dogs or cats, as it causes damage to red blood cells in animals.)
Centipedes: Centipedes can be found in a wide variety of environments, requiring a moist micro-habitat because they lack the waxy cuticle of insects and arachnids, and so lose water rapidly through the skin. They are found in soil and leaf litter, under stones and dead wood, and inside logs.
There are estimated to be 8,000 species worldwide. They are arthropods which are elongated creatures having one pair of legs per body segment, normally having a drab coloration of shades of brown and red. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Therefore, there is no centipede with exactly 100 legs. A key trait of this creature is a pair of venom claws formed from a modified first appendage. Centipedes are predominantly carnivorous. Size can range from a few millimetres to about 30 cm (12 in).
The bite of some species of centipede can be hazardous to humans. Although a bite to an adult human is usually very painful and may cause severe swelling, chills, fever, and weakness, it is unlikely to be fatal. Bites can be dangerous to small children and those with allergies to bee stings. Smaller centipedes usually do not puncture human skin, while the bite of larger centipedes can induce anaphylactic shock.
Centipedes are considered frightening due to their dozens of legs moving at the same time and their tendency to dart swiftly out of the darkness towards one's feet. A 19th-century Tibetan poet warned his fellow Buddhists that "if you enjoy frightening others, you will be reborn as a centipede."
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Diatomaceous Earth - Using food-grade
diatomaceous earth;(DE) sprinkled around the perimeter of your home or can also safely sprinkled inside where you see the centipedes. Do not wet the DE or it will not work.
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Mint - A deterrent for nearly every type of bug, including centipedes. Planting mint is another way to deter centipedes from invading your garden, great for deterring spiders and rodents as well. You can also make a spray by mixing a few drops of
peppermint essential oil with water, to use in garden and household.
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Vanilla - Due to their sensitive antennae and exceptional smell, using pure vanilla extract, or
tea tree essential oil, by dabbing a small amount around window sills and door sills to create a barrier that will keep centipedes away for a couple of months. You can also make a spray by adding 25 drops of the vanilla or essential oil to distilled or boiled water. Spray the areas on a weekly basis where they enter.
Earwigs: Fairly abundant with about 2,000 species, one of the smaller insect orders, earwigs are found throughout the Americas, Africa, Eurasia, Australia and New Zealand. Earwigs have a characteristic pair of forceps pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folded underneath short forewings, though rarely use their flying ability. Some groups are tiny parasites on mammals and lack the typical pincers.
Earwigs are mostly nocturnal and often hide in small, moist crevices during the day, and are active at night, feeding on a wide variety of insects and plants, damaging foliage, flowers, and various crops.
There is no evidence that they transmit diseases to humans or other animals. Their pincers are commonly believed to be dangerous, but in reality, even the curved pincers of males cause little or no harm to humans. It is a common myth that earwigs crawl into the human ear and lay eggs in the brain. Finding earwigs in the human ear is rare, as most species do not fly and prefer dark and damp areas such as basements, rather than bedrooms.
It would take a large population to do considerable damage, though there is a debate whether earwigs are either harmful or beneficial to crops, as they eat both the insects eating the foliage (such as aphids) and the foliage itself. The common earwig eats a wide variety of plants, and also a wide variety of foliage including the leaves and petals. They have been known to cause economic losses in fruit and vegetable crops. Some examples are the flowers, hops, and corn crops, and in have been observed feeding on peaches and apricots.
Discourage and reduce entry by caulking and repairing cracks and crevices and checking door thresholds, windows and screens for a tight fit. Remove any leaf litter, large stones, dead wood, wood piles, and mulches, as earwigs like moist dark places to hide in during the day, thus eliminating their desired habitat.
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Beer - Place stale beer in small jars and set on their sides for earwigs to crawl in, as they are attracted to beer.
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Damp Newspaper - Earwigs will come out at night to feed, preferring to stay hidden in cool dark places during the day. Provide a damp place to crawl into such as rolled up newspaper that has been soaked and placed in the garden, or fill a flowerpot with damp crumpled paper; turn it upside down and prop up with a stick.
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Oatmeal or Bran - Placing damp crumpled newspaper in cardboard boxes, baited with oatmeal or bran, with finger-size holes as entry sites punched in the sides near the bottom.
*Place traps near damaged plants or mulch area and dump the contents into a bucket of soapy water in the morning.
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Fish Oil - Fill food cans with 1/4 inch of fish oil and sink them into the ground near plants. Empty them daily.
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Diatomaceous Earth - Sprinkle a 2-inch-wide circle of
diatomaceous earth around beds or the base of plants; reapplying after a rain.
Mosquitos: Few of the species are harmless and even useful to humanity. The females of most species, with tube-like mouthparts, pierce the skin to suck the blood. Thousands of species feed on the blood of various kinds of hosts, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even some kinds of fish. The loss of blood is seldom of any importance to the victim, however the saliva of the mosquito often causes an irritating rash that is a serious nuisance. More serious though, are the roles of many species of mosquitoes as vectors of diseases. In passing from host to host, some transmit extremely harmful infections such as malaria, yellow fever, and west nile virus.
In most species, adult females lay their eggs in stagnant water; while some lay eggs near the water's edge; and others attach their eggs to aquatic plants. Each species selects the situation of the water into which it lays its eggs and does so according to its own ecological adaptations. Some breed in lakes and some in temporary puddles. Some breed in marshes, some in salt-marshes. Among those that breed in salt water, some are equally at home in fresh, whereas others must acclimatize themselves to the salt. These differences are important because certain preferences keep mosquitoes away from most humans, while other preferences bring them right into houses at night.
Mosquitoes are also attracted to dark colors, so it’s also a good idea to wear light-colored clothing, such as khaki, tan, or white. A mosquito chemical, visual, and heat sensors to locate their prey. In many species the mouthparts of the females are adapted for piercing the skin and sucking the blood. In many species, the female needs to obtain nutrients from a blood meal before she can produce eggs, whereas in many other species, she can produce more eggs after a blood meal. The feeding preferences of mosquitoes include those with type O blood, heavy breathers, those with a lot of skin bacteria, people with a lot of body heat, and pregnant women.
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Garlic - A natural sulfur compound is found in garlic, which repels mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and black flies. Taking
garlic tablets or consuming garlic will cause your skin to secrete a natural repellent, which is toxic to black flies. Insects tend not to land, but if they do, the taste of sulphur will have them fly away and discourage them from returning for seconds. (
Note: Do not feed garlic to dogs or cats, as it causes damage to red blood cells in animals.)
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Citronella - May also substitute
citronella essential oil with
clove,
tea tree,
cedar, or
mint essential oil. Fill a spray bottle (8 oz) to 1/2 full with distilled or boiled water, add witch hazel to fill. Add 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil, and 30-40 drops of desired essential oil. The more oils you use, the stronger the spray will be.
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Lavender - Mix 1 tablespoon of
aloe vera gel with two tablespoons of olive oil, and add 20 drops of
lavender essential oil. Mix it thoroughly and put in a spray bottle (8 oz). Mixture can be applied to your skin or clothes. You can use
thyme or
lemon essential oil instead of lavender for a different aroma—same effect.
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Rosemary and Lemongrass - Mix two tablespoons of olive oil, and add 20 drops of
lemongrass essential oil and a few drops of
rosemary. Mix it thoroughly and put in a spray bottle (8 oz). Mixture can be applied to your skin or clothes. You can use
eucalyptus essential oil instead of rosemary for a different scent.
Spiders: An arthropod that has eight legs and mouthparts with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every habitat with the exception of air and sea. As of 2008, at least 43,678 spider species have been recorded.
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Cinnamon - Add up to 5 drops of
cinnamon essential oil and up to 5 drops of organic dish detergent or 5 drops of olive oil to 1 litre (1 quart) of water.
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Citrus - Mixing a few drops of sugar free lemon, orange, or lime juice to water and use as a spray, or you can use
citronella essential oils mixed in water, as well. Spray areas in your garden or household to keep spiders away. You can also placing the peel of citrus fruits in your garden as well.
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Mint - Planting mint in your garden is another deterrent for spiders as well as rodents. You can also make a spray by mixing a few drops of
peppermint essential oil with water, to use in garden and household.
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Diatomaceous Earth - Using food-grade, not swimming pool
diatomaceous earth (DE) works well. Sprinkle around the perimeter of your home and can also safely be sprinkled inside. Do not wet the DE or it will not work. This should resolve the problem within a week or so.
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Garlic - Add two or three cloves of garlic or
garlic tablets in a spray bottle, spray where needed.
Soothing the Itch: If you do get attacked by mosquitoes or black flies, you can soothe the itch by washing the affected area with soap and warm water. Avoid scratching the bites as much as possible (scratching can break the skin, increasing risk of infection). Apply
aloe vera gel and
witch hazel.
What is Diatomaceous Earth? -
Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is an off-white talc-like powder that is the fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton. It is not harmful to mammals, but when sprinkled on a bug that has an exoskeleton, it compromises their waxy coating, due to its abrasive properties. The fine powder absorbs lipids from the waxy outer layer of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate. Arthropods die as a result of the water deficiency. It is commonly used in gardening to defeat slugs, however, since slugs inhabit humid environments, the effect is very low. It is commonly used in lieu of boric acid, and can be used to help control and possibly eliminate bed bug, house dust mite, cockroach, ant and flea infestations. It is edible and is, in fact, stored with grains to keep the bugs from eating the grain.
