Mint. Spearmint. Cinnamon oil. For use on our paver patio...for ants...I pour white vinegar between the pavers. They don't like the smell. I don't want to use ANY chemicals around my cats.

Looking for using it on me!

Mosquitoes? DEET a plasticizer chemical. or you can try repeated rubbings of some aromatic volatile herb like mint, catnip, oregano….

Or screening or doors.

Let me know if you find amything. I used DEET on my garden hat, shirt. My sympathy, those insects like mosquitoes and black flies and midges are horrible.

I had a really good one a few years ago that I brought back from Costa Rica.

Yes mosquitoes.

Adopt some praying mantises (manti?) in your garden.

Which bugs?

Citronella is good for some flying bugs.

Peppermint oil repels some bugs too.

Is this to be used for people or spaces?

I've used this - sprayed on my clothing, not my skin:

and I cover up with long pants and sleeves when working in the yard.

I also have this fogger for mosquitoes - it smells like wintergreen:

The spray is for us when we go out walking at night.

I use the lemon eucalyptus spray

Name or brand of the lemon eucalyptus? Can you put in on your skin?

Is that ”lemon plus eucalyptus” or oil from the species of eucalyptus called the lemon eucalyptus? Because to a lot of us, the lemon eucalyptus smells like cat wee.

We do not have mosquitos in the desert, that I have seen, as we do not have swamps or wetlands. There are lots of swimming pools, but the chemicals in the pools prevent mosquitos from breeding in them.

Mosquitos love me, and I've always used Deet whenever I was around them. Nothing else that I tried worked.

Mosquitoes do seem to gravitate toward some people. My DH gets his lower legs bitten so much, I looks like a test subject in a mosquito lab.

Lars — hows you new home going? Do you and Kevin enjoy the pool? I wish I had a pool. In the desert, the evaporation rate must require you to keep adding water?

Collenoz — cat wee! Hahahaha . That’s quite a trade off. Some insects are attracted to sweat, old body odors, hamster cage- like odors.

DEET is a plasticizer, but has, I’ve read, been tested and rested and tested and deemed effective and safe. Years ago, I came inside to answer the kitchen wall phone. It was late afternoon and the mosquitoes and black flies were thick, so I had sprayed DEET on my hand, then rubbed it onto and around my ears and neck. The phone’s plastic (AT&T light tan) was a bit dissoled by the DEET!

🔸 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEET

I remember the time I tried the all natural bug spray formula made from essential oils. I was so excited that I bought a bunch from Costco. It turns out that bees LOVED this formula and I am allergic to stings so I wound up tossing them all.

I use Repel lemon eucalyptus spray for mosquitos. Sold at Walmart or Amazon. Deet makes me itch more than the bites. It actually smells of lemon and not cat wee :-)

Ingredients

Active Ingredient: Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (Approx. 65% P-Menthane-3, 8-Diol) (30.0%), Other Ingredients (70.0% ), Total (100.0%).

Active Ingredients

Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus

Petalique, you're right about mosquitos gravitating toward some people. I read that it has to do with blood type. I'm type O and get bitten a lot. My husband is type A and doesn't get bitten at all.

I'd love to know of a good repellant. But even more than that, does anyone have a good solution for the itching?

I like Lafe's: Lafe's Adult & Baby Organic DEET Free Bug, Insect & Mosquito Repellent I Lafe's – Lafe's Natural BodyCare

It's enough if the mosquito pressure isn't high. The organic stuff, regardless of brand or home-made concoction, just isn't strong enough/good enough for protection if the beasts are out in full force. When it's really bad, I break out the chemicals -- usually the Off! stuff that you can get anywhere. I spray it on my clothes, not my skin. I also have a mosquito-netted hat for when it's really bad -- I won't spray the Off or the Lafe's on my face. DH will borrow my netted stuff when he's out in the woods wrangling the unruly brush back there (I have netted arm sleeves too -- he gets a lot of use out of those). Check A*n for netted apparel.

Thanks for the tip, Joan. I'll check it out.

Funny thing, my massage therapist were talking about non-DEET mosquito repellants yesterday. She swears by a product called Swamp Gator. It’s sold on A. I can’t personally vouch for it but she says it works. I spray my shoes & socks with Cutter Backwoods Dry with DEET every time I’ll be out because of ticks and mosquitos. The skeeters love to find me. Depending on what I’ll be doing and the weather, I’ll spray my legs too and will use one of the Off towelettes on my arms. It’s no joke around here.

Joan, I have one of those Bug Bite things and yes, they do work pretty well. I also have some prescription strength cortisone gel that was given to us by my dermatologist for poison ivy and it works very well. We keep it refilled.

edited to correct name of Cutter product

My brother told me today that a spray of 90% original Listerine and 10% water is great for tick repellant.

I am highly allergic to chemicals and essential oils so I'm kind of screwed for mosquito repellant. Plus, my immune system does some wonky stuff with bug bites and the itching gets out of control. I used to live in Philadelphia, which is the most mosquito ridden place I've ever been. My life changed when I learned that not scratching bug bites is the cure for them. When I get a mosquito bite I DO NOT TOUCH it for 20 minutes and it goes away. And, I'm so proud of my self restraint that it feels like an extra win.

So when I get a bite, I think - I could be in misery for 20 minutes or for a week. I go for the 20 minutes.