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Bug off!

Tuesday, May 28, 2019 16:28

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So the term has ended– finally. While I recuperate, gather my thoughts, and finish the next installment of my cannabis series, here are 2 bug repellents that have kept my husband and I free from critter attacks for several years now. After perusing facebook with my morning tea and vape, I came across an insect repellent recipe that will certainly keep off critters, but will also burn your skin since it called for 1 part essential oil to 2 parts water. That’s a ridiculous amount of essential oil and if you use the required cinnamon or tea tree in combination, you will suffer skin irritations.

The first two recipes are my go-to recipes, so much that my husband and I carry a bottle at all times, year-round. I use my blend not only to repel insects, but since it has a high alcohol and anti-bacterial content I use it as a hand-sanitizer. Mine also works in a pinch if and when my deodorant fails. Both my blend and my husband’s blend are great as “febreeze”. His is wonderful at getting rid of smoker’s funk. I can tell when he hasn’t sprayed liberally or has run out when he comes in the house smelling like an ashtray. My blend is a bit more floral.

The third recipe I use only in the summer and after my niece has developed her father’s allergy to mosquito-bites, I’m going to see if I can turn it into a salve for her. I developed this oil-based spray for the summer because it doesn’t need to be reapplied constantly and is a good foundation. If you use moisturizing oils like jojoba and almond, you can use it as a moisturizer after the shower, which I often do since it smells so nice.

A few notes… First: the essential oils

Note, I use a lot of different essential oils. Many recipes you find out there in the ether use a few mainstays like tea tree oil and lavender. Those are great, but not at repelling all sorts of biting critters. Years ago, when I was in the process of developing a comprehensive recipe that repels anything that might want to bite you, I had a pretty decent blend. Until I went for a walk on the beach and was

assaulted by biting flies. I could not figure out what to add to my already complex recipe to deter those damned flies. Until I was at some event with vendors and happened upon a soap vendor that also sold his girlfriend’s insect repellent. I toyed with the idea of buying it, until I saw the price tag: $20 for a 2 ounce bottle. Then I saw the ingredients used a water base and I put all thoughts of purchase from my mind, but I noticed one oil I hadn’t thought to add to my own blend: patchouli. I asked the vendor about it and he said his girlfriend swears by it since it repels biting flies. Sure enough, adding patchouli to my blend fends off the little buggers. So, to date, my formula repels mosquitos, fleas, ticks, and biting flies. When my kitties had an attack of the fleas a few years ago, the blend kept the critters from bothering hubby and me while we de-fleaed our apartment.

Second: safe for clothes?

The oil formulas are only safe for skin. Don’t spray your clothes with them. Spray on your skin directly and rub in– preferably before getting dressed. They’re safe enough to use on the face, but allow a few minutes to absorb before layering on the sun screen or makeup. I’ve even used it as a hair oil on days when I pull my hair back completely or when I’m hiking with my hair in braids.

The alcohol-based formulas are safe for skin and clothes. I’d recommend spraying your clothes liberally, especially shoes and bottom of your pants if you’re going for a hike. Just be careful around your face. And don’t forget to spray your ears. If I ever forget to spray an area, that’s the place the critters will chow down. If you do get chomped, the spray helps relieve itching and swelling. I’ve only been bitten in areas where I forget to apply the repellent– ears, hands– or just a spot that didn’t get a good coating.

Be careful when applying the alcohol-based sprays, especially around the eyes, open wounds, children, and with any substance that can break down when exposed to alcohol. Also, don’t spray it around open flames. It will sting any open wounds or cuts, but it’s a disinfectant and I often use my batch in school to disinfectant paper cuts. I keep a bottle at my bedside since it also acts as a great bug spray to kill the critters that I might find crawling around baseboards or flitting up walls. It’s enough to stun the little buggers before they get smashed.

Third: How much to make?

The quantities of essential oil in the alcohol based recipe depend on the size of the bottle you use. I generally make a massive batch and keep it in reserve to fill smaller 2-4 ounce spray bottles from. I’ll give you a bulk recipe and a small batch recipe as well. For the oil-based, a little goes a long way and I often make a bottle only once a season. Both recipes use the highest quality essential oils, which I get from Mountain Rose Herbs. You can get by with using lesser quality oils in the alcohol spray, especially the tea tree oil since the recipe calls for so much of it, but never use fragrance oils and always try to get oils from sustainable sources. The oil recipe, since it will sit on the skin more, use only the highest quality, organic essential oil.

Fourth: Base-Oil Infusions

Finally, for the oil recipe, since it calls for a base oil, I use a combination of infused oils, which will take time to make– unless you do a heat-infusion. This heat-steeped method tends to smell like cooked oil, in my opinion, so I prefer to put on a few oils to infuse or steep several months before I’m going to need them. I also use the oils for other recipes– my CBD liniment, salves, and moisturizing oil– so it’s helpful to have them. Just don’t let them steep too long– not longer than 4-8 weeks otherwise they’ll spoil. Make sure you use only sterilized, dry glass canning jars– wide mouth works best– to steep them in and make sure the steeping oils are in a light-free, cool environment. A cupboard or closet works best. But, in a pinch, if you’re in a tight spot, put the steeping oils anywhere where they’ll be cool and dark. I’ve put a line of steeping oils (and my steeping tinctures) behind books on an especially deep bookcase, and behind clothes in linen cupboards. Also, don’t make so much infused oil that you can’t use it all before it spoils, after you’ve decanted and strained it of course.

Generally, if kept in dark and cool conditions, your decanted infused medicinal oils can last for 1-2 years; sometimes longer. After we moved last year, since my oils weren’t in ideal conditions, quite a few spoiled in a matter of weeks. Those that spoiled were old, older than 3 years. Now, I have to put on quite a lot to infuse, but have been waiting until I can better organize our kitchen and our garage/pantry for fear that anything I infuse now will spoil before it’s decanted.

Note– these are all topical oils and never to be ingested. I also only use dry plant material since fresh material needs to be handled differently and can breed bacteria. I also limit the carrier oil to something with a long shelf-life: olive oil.

Bug Repellent #1: Alcohol-base

This is the blend I make my husband. It’s a great insect repellent and a wonderful fabric refresher, or “febreeze”. It has a woodsy, spicy, slightly medicinal scent. Don’t omit the Rose Geranium. It’s my #1 mosquito repellent. I don’t have a lot in this blend because my husband doesn’t like smelling like a flower shop. I use more in my blend which I’ll put next.

Since we go through quite a lot of this particular blend, I make this bulk batch and just fill up smaller, 2-4 ounce spray bottles.

Large Batch: Into a 32 ounce bottle add the following essential oils:

1 tsp Tea tree oil (about 20-30 drops)

20 drops Lavender

15 drops Lemon Eucalyptus

15 drops Eucalyptus

10 drops Lemongrass

10 drops Peppermint

15 drops Citronella

15 drops Patchouli

15 drops Oregano

10 drops Rosemary

10 drops Sage

8 drops Rose Geranium

2 drops White Camphor

4 drops Clove

4 drops Basil

After the oils are in, fill the bottle 1/3 with vodka. Don’t use a good quality vodka, of course, and don’t omit the vodka or substitute it for water. Vodka is essential since it evaporates so cleanly and has no scent. Water will work, but only in small batches since it will spoil. I don’t like using water since it sits on the skin instead of evaporate.

Then fill the bottle 1/3 with witch hazel. Witch hazel is itself an insect repellent. It has a strong aroma so don’t go more than 1/3 of the bottle.

Finally, top off the bottle, which should be the remaining 1/3 with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. I use between 70 and 90%, though the higher the percent alcohol, the rougher the aroma. The last batch I did, I used a 90% alcohol, which smells pretty caustic. So I think I’ll go back to 70%.

Here’s a scaled down recipe for a 4 ounce spray bottle:

10-12 drops Tea tree oil

8-10 drops Lavender

4 drops Lemon Eucalyptus

4 drops Eucalyptus

4 drops Lemongrass

6 drops Citronella

3 drops Patchouli

2 drops Oregano

2 drops Rosemary

2 drops Sage

2 drops Rose Geranium

1 drop White Camphor

1 drop Clove

1 drop Basil

Bug Repellent #2: Alcohol-base

This is my blend. It’s a bit stronger on some floral notes. I’m just giving the larger batch recipe, but note it’s not as large as my husband’s.

Into a 16 ounce bottle add the following essential oils:

1 tsp Tea tree oil (about 20-30 drops)

20 drops Lavender

15 drops Lemon Eucalyptus

15 drops Rose Geranium

10 drops Lemongrass

12 drops Citronella

12 drops Patchouli

4 drops Oregano

4 drops Rosemary

4 drops Sage

8 drops Basil

Again, top off the bottle with vodka, witch hazel, and rubbing alcohol in a 1:1:1 ratio, or 1/3 bottle each. Then fill a 4 ounce spray bottle. If you carry this around in your bag, pop it in a zip lock to prevent leakages.

Bug Repellent #3: Oil-base, Adult formula– Infused oil Base

First, the infused oils, which aren’t required, but they do give your overall mixture a nice punch. I use a mixture of olive oil infused with catnip, patchouli, and bay. You can make a single infusion of course, but since I use these in a few other blends, I like having oils infused with a single herb.

Pint sized wide mouth jar

Into a clean, dry, canning jar– wide mouth works best– pack 1/3 of the jar tightly with your plant material. Then, fill the jar about halfway with good quality olive oil, cap, and wait about 30-60 minutes. Extra virgin isn’t necessary, but don’t use an olive oil blend that’s mixed with anything like sunflower, safflower, corn, or canola oil.

Filling the jar halfway and allowing the herbs to swell ensures that you don’t overfill the jar. Then, give the jar a good shake, allow it to settle and top off the jar with your olive oil, making sure you leave at least an inch of headroom. Place a square of wax paper over the jar and cap it with a clean, dry, 2-piece lid. Be sure to mark your lid with the contents and date. Don’t put the jar to steep yet. Leave it out of direct light for at least 8-12 hours. Make sure the jar hasn’t leaked (if it was overfilled) and check to see if you need more oil. Sometimes the oil line will fall below that headroom space. Once you’re happy, put the jar in a cool dark place to steep for 4-8 weeks. Shake it up every few days. After 4-8 weeks, using a piece of muslin, linen, or fine cheese-cloth, strain out your plant material and bottle your oil in a dark, glass bottle– brown, green, or blue work best. A clear bottle may look pretty, since the oils take on color from the plant material, but they’ll spoil quickly. Again, cap and label your oil. Type, date decanted, and length of time steeped all should be clearly marked on the bottle.

Quart sized wide mouth jar

The size of the jar you use to make your oil infusion is up to you. It all depends on how much you’ll be using over whatever period of time. If you’re not likely to make other recipes, use a smaller, pint size jar. Since the herbs will swell, don’t use anything smaller than a pint. If you’re planning on using this oil for a host of other topicals, use a quart size jar. A wide mouth canning jar is the best since they’re easier to pack, easier to decant, and easier to clean. Most of them also have a headroom mark which is a wonderful guide so you don’t overfill your jars. Use 2 piece lids and a piece of wax paper to seal the jar. Don’t opt for the plastic lids since they aren’t perfectly air-tight and don’t use anything larger than a quart size jar, not unless you’re going into business. And even then, smaller batches give you less waste and less headaches.

Onto the repellent.

Make sure you use a spray bottle that’s capable of getting a nice spray from oil. This is the only oil that I’ve broken my glass rule– always use glass– because I couldn’t find a sprayer compatible with my myriad glass bottles that would spray oil. I used an old plastic spray bottle that was left from an old bug spray. You could certainly use a plastic bottle but make sure it’s free from BPA.

2 piece canning lids

Bug Repellent #3: Oil-base, Adult formula

Into an 8 ounce spray-bottle:

1/8 tsp Neem oil

½ tsp Tea Tree oil

12 drops Lavender essential oil

10 drops Peppermint essential oil

10 drops Rose Geranium essential oil

10 drops Citronella essential oil

9 drops Patchouli essential oil

9 drops Lemongrass essential oil

9 drops Lemon essential oil

9 drops Lemon Eucalyptus essential oil

9 drops Eucalyptus essential oil

9 drops Rosemary essential oil

5 drops Sage essential oil

4 drops Pennyroyal essential oil

2 drops White camphor essential oil

After adding the oils, add your base oils:

1 ounce catnip infused oil

1 ounce patchouli infused oil

1 ounce bay infused oil

Top off the remainder of the bottle with a light oil like olive or almond. I like to add a tiny bit, no more than 1 tsp of jojoba oil especially since I use this as a moisturizer during the summer months and apply it right out of the shower.

The infused oils are optional. If you don’t use them, then just fill the bottle with a light oil or a blend of light oils like olive, almond, and jojoba. Again, never use a cheap, filler or byproduct oil like corn, sunflower, etc. And, unless you’re going to pop this blend in the fridge, don’t use anything that needs refrigeration like avocado or hemp oil– both might sound nice, but they’re apt to spoil quickly and are a bit thick for a spray-bottle.

Bug Repellent #4: Baby formula

This is virtually the same as the above recipe, except I made it for my nieces and I made an essential oil blend first which my sister-in-law could use in an alcohol-base, oil-base, or even in water. It’s pretty mild, so be careful about increasing the amounts unless you test a spot first. Unlike the adult formula, only use the highest quality essential oils. For this, even with the tea tree oil, I only use Mountain Rose Herbs.

There are similar products on the market, but be careful. One I saw recently had horrible reviews online, is expensive for only 6 ounces, and not only contains essential oils that I think are too harsh for babies (cedarwood oil) but uses a carrier oil, soybean which is probably an industrial byproduct and loaded with GMOs.

I made this blend and put it in a ½ ounce essential oil, drop-by-drop bottle with instructions for using it in a spray-bottle. I know when I babysat and used the blend, my nieces didn’t get a single bite. When I used it, I took a small, 2 ounce spray-bottle, added 2 tbsp of witch hazel, about 20 drops of the blend and topped the bottle with water. It worked great, but had to be regularly applied if the girls got really sweaty. You could also use the blend in an oil and use it like a moisturizer, just do a spot test to make sure there aren’t any irritations. When I make the blend for my nieces and the salve I’ll post an updated recipe.

Into a ½ ounce essential oil bottle or a dropper bottle add the following essential oils:

10 drops Peppermint

10 drops Lemongrass

20 drops Lemon Eucalyptus

40 drops Rosemary

10 drops Patchouli

10 drops Citronella

20 drops Sage

½ tsp Tea Tree oil

Fill the bottle with Lavender 42/40 essential oil

Armed with one of these blends you’ll be set this summer. I’d love to hear how the blends worked for you and if you have any tweaks to the recipe. Feel free to increase or decrease any of the essential oils, but be aware that decreasing certain oils might reduce the efficacy of the blend. Omitting any oils might open up your blend to other critters.

What my mom says I look like when I’m brewing up my remedies.

Source: http://www.green-and-growing.com/2019/05/bug-off.html

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