Sorry for the low quality ugly pic on my ugly counter, I should take pics on my table, I'm that lazy I guess.. but it gives a visual of the brands of products I used to make my own bug spray. The skeetos, as my 3 year old calls them, have been bad this summer because of all the rain we have gotten. I've looked over a couple bug spray recipes that I had pinned and ended up tweaking them and forming my own. The field testing has been limited to just this weekend. I sprayed my son who was getting bit and afterwards he said nothing was biting him. And my husband who usually get attacked while mowing, said he was left alone except for one on his ankle at the very end of the long job of mowing and he said that's because he probably sweat it off. Very humid. So yes after a while of being outside if you are sweating it off you will want to reapply. A lot of recipes call for citronella essential oil but I opted for other bug repelling oils as I read citronella can be cancer causing. Didn't research it for myself it's just what I was reading as I was going over recipes online. And there are so many anti bug oils to choose from it really wasn't a big deal. I chose lemongrass, clove, peppermint, and eucalyptus oil, all around 5$ or so. A sidenote, I believe clove is also an anti fungal, so if you're like me and struggled with ,what I self diagnosed myself with, candidal sweat rash this summer, you get that added benefit. So here is the recipe, it makes 4 ounces and I used my old bug spray bottle, but in an ideal world, this would be better in a blue or amber glass spray bottle, because light deteriorates the essentials and essential oils can break down plastic. So I keep it in the cabinet when we aren't using it.
Recipe:
2 TBS Witchhazel <alcohol free if you prefer.
1 TBS Aloe vera gel, the kind you can drink.
20 drops of Eucalyptus oil
10 drops Clove oil
10 drops Lemongrass oil
10 drops of Peppermint
Water.
I used my pirex cup so I could see the ounces, I put in all the ingredients except the water, then filled the cup with water up to the 4 oz mark. Shake before applying. ( I ordered all this from iherb)
Of course you can google all the different kinds of essential oils that repel bugs, these are what I landed on personally.
Tip: works for the 3 year old. Bentonite clay for itchy bug bites. (I keep a jar with clay mixed with enough water to make a mask-like consistency)
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