Travel Tips

Home-Made Mosquito Repellents

Over the years since the Second World War, we have come to rely on chemicals more than natural products. Chemicals were more powerful and more easily available. This is nowhere more true than in the sphere of insect repellents. DEET was developed just after the war and developed for use by the United States army for jungle warfare. DDT was used widely on crops around about the same period.

In the post World War climate, chemicals appeared to be more effective and cheaper. What more could anyone want? But regulation was not so strict then and governments and manufacturers got away with a lot. DDT was later banned, although it has made a come-back of sorts. DEET is still the most often used insect deterrent, although there are worries now about the daily use of it.

This is why there is a movement back towards the old fashioned methods of controlling insects and in particular, mosquitoes. Governments have let us down in the past and they will continue to do so, until we can elect people who care about us and the natural world more than they do about themselves and their bank accounts. Maybe it was always a myth that politicians went into ‘public service’, but one thing is for certain, we do not get much service for our cash any more.

Consequently, if you do not trust chemicals, what do you do? The way I see it, you have to go back to granny’s methods. Those that have been used forever. Let us take a look at some of the natural ways to deter insects, with particular regard to mosquitoes.

Eucalyptus oil is an old-fashioned mosquito repellent . You can either use eucalyptus oil from a bottle, make your own, or rub the fresh leaves on to your bare skin. As with all natural treatments, you will have to repeat the process often. DEET will remain effectual for about four or five hours, but natural repellents will only be effective for about an hour.

Chrysanthemum seed husks are well-known to include a smell or chemical that mosquitoes cannot stand. This repellent may be tricky to track down, but it is out there. It is called pyrethrin and is made from the plant of the same name, Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium, by its Latin name. As a point of interest, permethrin, one of the most widespread insect repellents is a man-made derivative of pyrethin.

Mosquitoes detest anything that smells like lemons to them. I have put it in that way because some products, like shampoos, might smell like lemons to us, but perhaps they do not smell like lemons to mosquitoes. Anyway, some of the organic products that smell like lemons to both humans and mosquitoes are: lemon grass, citronella and, surprise surprise, lemons, but there could be others.

You can utilize any of these three plants to good effect against mosquitoes. Citronella or lemon oil are likely to be the easiest to get hold of. In any case, you could try some shampoos or soaps ‘containing lemon juice’ until you find out which ones really work. The fact is that it does not matter what it says on the label, mosquitoes will let you know by their absence.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on quite a few topics, but is currently involved with natural mosquito repellant. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Mosquito Repellent For Dogs.

© 2010 Travel Oversea.