By Recycla
Recycla was in her garden the other evening, as she is most evenings after dinner, when she heard an unwanted, but all too familiar sound in her ear — the whine of a mosquito.
Ah yes, the little blood suckers are back. Bummer.
Like everyone, Recycla hates mosquitoes, but her loathing goes a bit further: Her younger daughter is actually allergic to mosquito bites, which swell into painful welts on her sensitive skin. Rather than consign the child to a life of indoor living, Recycla has researched various options to see how she can keep mosquitoes from biting her daughter — but without resorting to such pesticides as DEET.
Most people don’t give mosquitoes a second thought. They just douse themselves in a spray that has DEET as the active ingredient and go on their merry way. However, studies show that, in the short-term, DEET can cause headaches and, in the long-term, neurological and other health problems. These are not chemicals you want to put on yourself or on your children.
What can you do?
Luckily, there are plenty of natural mosquito repellents available. Look for sprays or lotions that contain plant oils such as geranium, citronella, tea tree, catnip, marigold, lemon balm, lavender, and peppermint. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend oil of lemon eucalyptus or picaridin, which is considered just as effective as DEET, but much safer. Recycla has heard that eating garlic will repel mosquitoes and if you are looking for a stronger variation, you can rub garlic on your skin. Bananas, on the other hand, attracts them.
Beyond spraying yourself, there are a few other things you can do to keep the blood-sucking little monsters at bay:
- Standing water makes perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Empty water from all buckets, kiddie pools, spare tires, or whatever else you might have hanging around your yard.
- Planting herbs in your backyard may help too. Basil and rosemary tend to repel mosquitoes.
- Encourage animals that eat mosquitoes to live in your yard. Install a bat house, hang a birdhouse for purple martins, plant butterfly-friendly flowers and bushes that will also attract dragonflies. If you have frogs living nearby, rejoice, as they love mosquitoes!
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Don’t use pesticides or bug-zappers. These indiscriminant killers are likely to kill more beneficial, mosquito-eating animals than mosquitoes.
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Stay away from scented shampoos, deodorants and perfumes as these tend to attract pests.
If you follow these guidelines, you should have some relief and hopefully won’t hear the dreaded whine of a mosquito in your ear.
Ugh. My son has the same trouble as your daughter. I find we buy so much benadryl through the summer months to offset the horrible reaction he gets to being bitten.
I’ve tried the natural repellents, but nothing really seems to work and I just cannot cover him with deet.
With the oils you mentioned, would you rub them right on the skin? How would they react w/ sunscreen?
Ah, one major advantage to living up here in the sticks – minimal skeeters! We’ll have a few at the new house because of the wetlands on site (sorry, I’m not draining those!), but I’m expecting the bats we’ve seen will make short work of them. And the frogs I keep hearing!
And an eco-friendly way to sooth a bite is to dab it with a vinegar-soaked cotton ball.
I agree with ALL of your approaches to keeping them at bay–we never spray (we live in the country, by a creek) and they’re only bad for a bit at dusk, then simmer down. A little repellent sprayed on ourselves works wonderfully.
I’m trying a new repellent from Jenness Farm called “Bug Off!” which I got through Farmhouse.com. It contains witch hazel, citronella, eucalyptus, and lavender and smells pretty good~will let you know how it works.
Eating bananas can be a deterrent, too. I planted mint around my deck; I keep hoping that will work, along with the bat house above the garden.
Citronella is the best I think, but dilute it in a base oil. It can be irritating to sensitive skin, so try just a little first. Lavender oil is good for babies and delicate skin. I experimented with giving my kids brewers’ yeast tablets, and it seemed to keep the mosquitoes away: all of the other kids were bitten! Apparently b vitamins taste yucky to mosquitoes, so brewers’ yeast in my kids’ bloodstream was good. My youngest son had dengue fever a while back, so I am on a mosquito vendetta!
I use an all natural mosquito spray/sun screen product by SmartShield see http://www.smartshield.com . It contains Lemongrass Oil and Cedarwood Bark Oil. Waterproof & sweatproof. It smells great and mosquitos can’t stand it. Best repellant I’ve found ( Deet-free).
They also carry sun screen products.