Natural Remedies

Homemade Bug Spray: Safe for Pets and Humans

Posted by Crystal Solis on

We’ve dealt with so many health scares in the past few years. I remember when I was pregnant with my daughter, Mia, in 2016, we were worried about the Zika virus from mosquitoes. Then we dealt with COVID, and the killer wasp hornet things. This year, I’ve heard about another potentially deadly infection from mosquitoes. And there’s always the concern with ticks and the spread of Lyme disease.

That being said, the typical bug sprays contain some really harsh and dangerous chemicals that make me wonder if it’s better to take my chances with the bug bites than to use the store-bought stuff.

Luckily, I don’t have to choose; I get to experiment.

So here is a recipe that I’m trying out. The real test will be when I use it on my husband because he’s the mosquito’s favorite food. You, too, can use this recipe to make a homemade (safe and effective) bug spray for your family. I’ll share a dog-friendly homemade bug spray recipe as well.

I’ll share a little more about why I picked these specific oils after I share the recipe. I’ll also share the studies that helped me narrow down my list to these essential oils.

Homemade Bug Spray Recipe for People

Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva on Pexels.com
  • Lemon Eucalyptus (20 drops)
  • Citronella (18 drops)
  • Cedarwood (15 drops)
  • Tea Tree (15 drops)
  • Peppermint (12 drops)
  • Oregano (10 drops)
  • Lavender (10 drops)
  • Geranium (10 drops)
  • Cinnamon (10 drops)
  1. Get a sterilized 4-ounce spray bottle and add the drops.
  2. Add a pump or two of a carrier oil (I’m using Jojoba oil since it’s more hypoallergenic than some other options) and swirl the oils so they combine. At this point, you can smell the mixture, and if you like it, continue to the next step. If you don’t love it, add an extra drop or two of your preferred oil scent from this list to make it more enjoyable.
  3. Top off your mixture with water or witch hazel. I typically use water, but a lot of people I know like to use witch hazel for solutions like this.
  4. Shake well before each use and spray on yourself and your family. If anyone has allergies to any of the oils used, omit that oil and add extra drops of whichever other oils you prefer.

This recipe is a 5% dilution, which means it’s a stronger dilution. We use stronger dilutions when we have a specific goal that we are treating. If this is too strong for you, move it down to a 3% dilution rate (total of 72 drops for a 4-oz bottle). If this recipe doesn’t appear to be working for you, try changing the number of drops of different oils in the recipe. Certain bugs are more averse to certain smells, so you might want to up the geranium and add less of something else.

Why I Picked These Oils for My Blend

I have a pretty large and constantly growing collection of books that I reference to make blends. Some of them are highly researched, while others are based on what people have used traditionally for years with herbs.

Usually, I look through these books and pick out my oils. I did that with this as well, but I also did some googling and went through some research databases to get some science to back up the choices (and honestly, to help narrow down what to use).

The two main bugs that I want to protect my family from are ticks and mosquitoes. So this helped narrow down the search quite a bit. The following links will take you to research studies backing the use of that oil in repelling bugs.

Essential Oils that Repel Ticks

A 2014 study found that cedarwood oil repels fire ants and kills ticks. I know we aren’t talking about fire ants, but it’s a helpful tip in case you have problems with them. We used to have them HORRIBLY in Texas, where we lived, and knowing this was part of the study makes it worth mentioning.

Another study found that oregano, cinnamon bark, clove bud, citronella, and wintergreen were all effective at killing Borrelia burgdorferi. Borrelia burgdorferi is the bacterium that ticks carry that causes Lyme disease. The most effective oils were oregano, cinnamon bark, and clove bud, but the other two were beneficial, just not quite as effective at eradicating the bacteria.

A few other ones that are noteworthy, but I didn’t include because I didn’t have them on hand were clove bud, creeping thyme, and red thyme. Red thyme with citronella was extremely effective when used together to repel ticks at a 3% dilution rate.

Essential Oils that Repel Mosquitos

Lemon eucalyptus oil was found to be as effective as DEET against mosquitoes for up to 2 hours.

Eucalyptus, lavender, rosemary, and thyme oils were all effective at preventing mosquito bites. Of these, thyme oil was the most effective due to 5 of its main constituents (thymol, p-cymene, carvacrol, linalool, and alpha-terpinene).

Another study tested multiple essential oils and found that lemongrass essential oil was among the most effective oils for mosquitoes, as it killed off 3 different breeds of mosquitoes. Some of the other oils looked at in this study included ylang ylang, orange, citronella grass, eucalyptus, sweet basil, and clove.

Melaleuca (commonly referred to as tea tree) essential oil is another excellent choice for repelling mosquitoes. It is used in multiple commercial treatments as their base and they are all found to be effective.

Geranium is often used in insect repellents because it contains high quantities of geraniol.

Homemade Bug Spray for Dogs

When it comes to pets, I am not an expert. So for this blend, I stuck 100% to the books. I’ll have the book in my reference area, and all my new customers get this free when they order through my doTERRA link. I did find the blend to be slightly higher of a dilution than I like to start with, and especially if someone has a smaller breed of dog, so I’m editing the quantities so you can start small and move up if you need.

Photo by Rachel Claire on Pexels.com

Flea Spray for Dogs

  • Lemongrass
  • Arborvitae
  • Cedarwood

Put 2-5 drops of each oil into a 1-oz spray bottle and top with water. Shake well and spray onto your pet (avoiding the eyes and nose) before going outside. Alternatively, add these oils to their shampoo during a bath (2-4 drops).

Tick/Insect Repellent Spray for Dogs

  • Cedarwood
  • Lavender
  • Lemongrass
  • Lemon Eucalyptus

Put 5-10 drops of each oil into a 1-oz spray bottle. Top with witch hazel. Shake before use and spray on your pet (avoiding the eye and nose area).

FAQ

  1. How can I get the oils to make this blend?
    If you’re an existing doTERRA customer, you can use this link to a bag that contains all the oils you’ll need. Edit the cart as you please to add other products you need or remove the ones you already have.
    (Use this link for the puppy pack of oils)
    If you aren’t a doTERRA customer yet, use this link to get your account set up and all the products ordered. You can add and remove items as you like as well.
    (Use this link for the puppy pack of oils)
  2. What if I don’t want to make my own homemade oil? Will you make one for me?
    You can email me at crystal@wholeisticallyyou.com to place your order for insect repellent. Pricing varies based on the size and blend that you want. Alternatively, you can buy Terrashield oil blend or spray from my doTERRA website.
  3. What can I use if I already have mosquito bites?
    Our go-to is the Rescuer blend from doTERRA. My kids use it and swear by it, and that’s when I know something works! You can get that here. It has cooling spearmint, calming lavender, and pain-relieving copaiba. This is THE oil for bug bites, burns, and any other boo-boo.

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