I have a short one for you today, but, it’s a good one!
We have been doing a fair amount of mountain biking in the forests of Central Oregon lately, and, while beautiful, they are also laden with mosquitos. The mosquitos are so bad in some areas that you don’t dare stop riding for fear of being eaten alive. Our “natural” bug spray was just not cutting it (and, for what it’s worth, the second ingredient in this spray is sodium laurel sulfate, so truly it is not natural bug spray).
In search of a natural bug deterrent spray that is both natural and actually works, I stumbled on an essential oil blend called “IBug Off.” And, at $7.95 for a bottle that will make a huge amount of spray, it’s cost effective to boot. The world of essential oils never ceases to amaze!
This essential oil does require dilution, as most do. The maker recommends diluting in witch hazel, which you can find in the first aid section of any big box store like Wal-Mart, or, in your corner drugstore for about $3. I diluted it at a rate of 4 ounces of witch hazel to 40 drops of Bug Off and store in this atomizer.
Besides the fact that it actually works, a nice side effect is that it doesn’t smell awful. It smells sort of citronella-ish (that is a key ingredient), but not overpoweringly-so.
If you live in an area where bugs are a problem, I can’t recommend this solution enough!
View Comments (6)
Thanks for the recommendation! I made some earlier this year with witch hazel, eucalyptus and lavender and unfortunately it didn’t work well. I’ve also heard that pure vanilla extract diluted with water works great.
Hi JoDee,
I hadn’t heard about the pure vanilla extract – interesting! This blend works super well. We were pleasantly surprised!
Angela
Making this tonight…
How did it work out for you JoDee?
Just needed to start using it this week. The mosquitos are peaking in Iowa and are THICK. The hubs was working in the yard last night and came in and requested “that hippie bug spray.” He said it definitely worked but started to wear off after about an hour. I’ll gladly reapply vs using the other stuff. What’s your experience with longevity? I love the smell so that’s a bonus too.
Ha, JoDee, my hubs calls it hippie bug spray too! Funny. We usually go on bike rides for about an hour, so I don’t have much experience with it longer than that. I also don’t mind reapplying, though!