Natural Insect Repellents

Natural Insect Repellents

When outside, where insects are persistent, you can use natural insect repellents and some common sense to keep the bugs from coming for you!

Natural Insect Repellents

Insect bites aren’t just an annoyance, they can be cause serious health issues. Ticks and mosquitoes can spread illnesses such as Malaria, Lyme Disease and West Nile Virus.

Despite theses risks, many people don’t use insect repellent because they want to avoid coating their skin and clothing with pesticides like “Deet” or “Picaridin”.

There are many natural herbs that will repel insects. There are also some simple, common sense things, that you can do, which will help keep you from being served as a main course on the insect buffet menu.

Natural Herbal Repellents

There many herbs that serve to deter insects. Some of herbs include:

·  ageratum

·  basil

·  bay leaves

·  catnip

·  citronella

·  eucalyptus

·  garlic

·  geraniums

·  horsemint

·  lavender

·  lemon

·  lemon grass

·  lemon balm

·  marigold

·  peppermint

·  pyrethrum chrysanthemums

·  rosemary

·  sage

·  tea tree

·  many others.

What is The Top Performing Natural Repellent?

While there are many different types of natural repellents, not all repellents work as well as others and many of these natural repellents will only work for a short period of time. Lemon Eucalyptus repellent is considered among most who have tried natural repellents, to be the best. Not only does it keep flies, ticks, and other pesky insects away, but it also lasts for over 8 hours.

How to Apply Herbs To Your Skin

Using natural herbs as insect repellent is easy.

Crush the leaves with a mortar and pestle to extract the plant’s natural oils. You may dilute the oil with a small amount water to have enough insect repellent to cover your body. The more water you use, the less potent the repellent will become.

You can also try mixing these natural herbal oils with other types of skin remedies such as Aloe Vera.

Not All Natural Herbs Are Safe

A word of warning, just because an herb is natural, it doesn’t mean that the herb is safe to use. Some herbs can be harmful to your health.

Oils derived from clove can repel mosquitoes if applied in high amounts, but if you apply these amounts of clove oil to your skin it will burn you severely.

You are responsible for doing more research and identifying the proper usage and dosage of any and all natural herb, that you want to apply to your skin.

Avoid insects by Eating!

There are foods that you can eat which will prevent insects from coming anywhere near you.

Eating food with a lot of garlic, and swallowing a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar can be very effective. Some research indicates that incorporating some vitamin B1 in to your daily diet will also help.

Limit Exposed Areas On Your Body

Wearing clothing that completely covers your skin, can help keep you from being bitten.

Ticks like to wait on the ends of branches and bushes overhanging trails, hoping that a host will follow that path. As a person or animal brushes against that branch or bush the tick will cling to them.

Wearing long sleeved shirts and pants make it difficult for insects such as ticks to find your bare skin. Tucking in your clothes will also help since these type of insects are attracted to moist areas, especially the folds in your skin.

In order to quickly locate and remove ticks, you should wear lighter clothing. This allows you to see the ticks before they have time to embed themselves in your skin.