Preparing a homemade mosquito repellent with a lovely aroma and natural ingredients is easy with this tutorial.
This DIY essential oil mosquito repellent spray is made with a few common household ingredients, and works well to keep the mosquitoes away.
Summer is here. The days are longer and it’s so nice to sit outside in the garden, later in the evening, enjoying the last rays of the summer sun. But with the long days and warm temperatures also come mosquitoes, and that is not so much fun.
Many products can be made at home with natural ingredients for the fraction of the cost of retail products. My DIY disinfectant wipes are a great example of this concept. They work really well and cost just pennies to make.
Mosquitoes aren’t the only insect pest that plagues us in the summer months. Flies are a real problem too. See how I used the original Pine-Sol to make a homemade fly repellent here.
Using home made products is also a step towards ways we can take to protect the environment at home.
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Why Use Essential Oils?
I have long been a fan of essential oils. They can be used in so many creative ways in and around the home.
I have seen them used in candles, air fresheners, as toilet roll fresheners, in ant killer remedies, for aromatherapy uses, in natural squirrel repellents, and for many natural home remedies.
In addition to essential oils having mosquito repelling properties, Mother Nature can be a big help too. See my list of mosquito repelling plants here.
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Summer time means that the mosquitoes are here. Don't let them keep you indoors. This homemade mosquito repellent uses essential oils, smells great and works well. #summertime #bugspray #keepbugsaway 🦟🦟🦟 Share on XMaking a Homemade Mosquito Repellent with Essential Oils
For today’s project, I decided to use three essential oils scents to make my homemade mosquito spray – peppermint, eucalyptus and lemon oil.
Ticks and fleas are not so problematic at my home, so I chose the oils that are known to repel mosquitoes, rather than other insects.
Essential Oils for Bugs
Not all combination of essential oils work uniformly for each variety of insect. My research has shown me that the following essential oils work as repellents for these four types of common household insect pests.
Some overlap and some are unique to one particular pest.
- Mosquitoes – Lemon, eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender, and patchouli essential oils help to repel mosquitoes.
- Fleas – Cedarwood, eucalyptus, tea tree, lavender, and orange essential oils are the ones to use to keep away fleas.
- Ticks – Cedarwood, lavender, and tea tree essential oils help to deter ticks.
- Flies – Lavender, patchouli, peppermint, and eucalyptus essential oils are recommended for flies.
Adapting the Formula for an Essential Oil Tick Spray
Are ticks or fleas more of a problem for you than mosquitoes? The peppermint mosquito repellent featured below can be changed if you have more of a problem with these bugs and want to keep them away.
To make the formula more suitable for ticks and fleas, just add 20 drops of cedarwood oil to the mixture.
Let’s Make an Essential Oil Mosquito Repellent Spray!To make this spray, you will need the following ingredients:
- 10 drops of Nature’s Truth Lemon Essential Oil
- 10 drops of Nature’s Truth Eucalyptus Essential Oil
- 5 drops of Nature’s Truth Peppermint Essential Oil
- 1 tsp of Rubbing alcohol (at least 91%)
- 3 oz witch hazel
- 3 oz of water
- 1 small spray bottle that will deliver a fine mist.
Dilute the oils first!
Since essential oils don’t mix well with water, start by adding them to the rubbing alcohol (apple cider vinegar, witch hazel or vodka can also be used.)
Place the rubbing alcohol in a small cup and then measure in the essential oils. Don’t skip this step, or your oils will just float on the top of the water when you add them to it.Once you have combined the oils and rubbing alcohol, add them to your spray bottle, pour in the water and witch hazel. I made a triple batch so I used a large bottle.
This recipe makes about 6 ounces of the DIY mosquito spray.All that is left to do is shake the mixture a bit. What could be easier than that?
Using the Homemade Mosquito Repellent
Note: Care should be taken when using any homemade products. Be sure to keep this repellent away from children and pets. Take care not to ingest it or get it in your eyes.
To use the essential oil bug spray, mist the mixture directly on your exposed skin.
For your facial area, just spray some into the palms of your hands and then rub them on your face and hairline. Repeat this every few hours.
Never use the essential oils neat (directly from the bottle) on the skin. They must be combined with a clarifying agent first. Concentrated essential oils can cause skin irritation.
I love the smell of this mosquito repellent. It is quite light. With essential oils, the more drops you use, the more aroma the finished product will have.
You can experiment a bit to see if more or less of each oil gives you the scent that you like better.
One of the nice things about this repellent is that the peppermint has a soothing and cooling scent, and that makes it great to use on humid and hot summer days.
This mosquito repellent can be made for just pennies for each bottle.
For a bit of a change, you can try some other essential oils that are known to repel mosquitoes – lavender and Patchouli are two that I recommend.
This free label can be printed out on glossy photo paper and attached to your spray bottle with a glue stick. It will label the contents of the bottle so it won’t be used for the wrong purposes.
You can print out the label using the print function in the project card at the bottom of this post.
You can also punch a hole in the label with a hole punch, and hang it on the bottle with a piece of ribbon.
It is always a good idea to label any bottle of this type, so that you, (and others,) will know what is in it.
I would love to know how this formula works for you. My home is surrounded by a lot of trees from my neighbor’s yard, but open in my yard, and around my patio. The formula worked great in this environment.
There is a fairly large pond a few houses away, so our area was a pretty good test of this essential oil mosquito repellent spray. It would be nice to know how it works for more wooded areas.
Since this essential oil mosquito repellent spray is so inexpensive to make (and the oils can be used in so many other ways) you can use it often without breaking the bank.
One thing is for sure – This mosquito repellent smells great, is easy to make, and works well to deter mosquitoes, too. What is not to like about that?
Now it’s time to experiment to make a mixture for the other pests in my yard!!
Pin This DIY Essential Oil Mosquito Repellent for later.
Would you like a reminder of this homemade mosquito repellent? Just pin this image to one of your DIY boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
Admin note: This post for my homemade mosquito repellent first appeared on the blog in June of 2016. I have updated the post to add new images, a printable project card and a video for you to enjoy.
Homemade Mosquito Repellent - Essential Oil DIY Mosquito Repellent Spray
This homemade mosquito repellent makes uses of common household ingredients and several essential oils, for a natural mosquito spray that also smells lovely.
Materials
- 10 drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil
- 5 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil
- 1 tsp of Rubbing alcohol (at least 91%)
- 3 oz of witch hazel
- 3 oz of water
Tools
- 1 small spray bottle that will deliver a fine mist.
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Glue stick and label
- Printer glossy photo paper
Instructions
- Place the rubbing alcohol in a small cup and then measure in the essential oils.
- Once you have combined the essential oils and rubbing alcohol, add them to your spray bottle,
- Pour in the water and witch hazel.
- Shake the mixture well.
- Spray the mixture on your exposed skin.
- To use on the face, spray to your palms and then apply to the hairline and face.
- Use the print function of this card to print the label for your spray bottle on glossy photo paper, to label the contents.
Notes
For a more pronounced aroma, just add a few more drops of the oil you like the most.
Recommended Products
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Rachel G. Halsey
Sunday 6th of September 2020
HI Carole, I have all of the ingredients, except for the Witch Hazel. I am making the spray to use outside of my front door, because I see mosquitos hovering there, and I have gotten some nasty bites on my ankles, just from going out to get the mail!
I like your blog, and I'm looking forward to reading your other articles.
Sincerely, Rachel
Virginia
Monday 13th of September 2021
@Carol Speake, any suggestions for yellow jackets? I seem to attract ground nests in my yard and I’m allergic. Thanks!
Carol Speake
Sunday 6th of September 2020
I'm glad you enjoy the blog Rachel.
Cindy McKean
Saturday 1st of August 2020
Hi, will this still be as effective if I break it down into individual spray bottles? Thanks :)
Carol Speake
Sunday 2nd of August 2020
I have not tried this, but the issue would be that the solution may not be in each bottle equally.
Jacob Oliver
Wednesday 29th of July 2020
Amazing blog and really such a great effort to put on this blog. I really appreciate your work.
Linda Black
Friday 15th of June 2018
Can these sprays be used directly on pets especially for fleas and ticks?
Carol
Friday 15th of June 2018
Hi Linda. I wouldn't take the chance. Some essential oils can be toxic to pets. This is designed as a human pet spray and I used it on myself with no ill effects but have not tried it on pets and wouldn't do so. Carol
Laura Heydenburg
Friday 18th of August 2017
How long after you mix does the spray maintain its effectiveness?
Thanks
Carol
Saturday 19th of August 2017
Hi Laura. I used mine up over a few months and it worked fine. If it loses its effectiveness, you can just add more essential oils. Carol