Q. What are some natural ways to repel mosquitoes?
A. It's not for everyone but as an avid hiker i swear by rubbing a garlic
clove pinched to get the juiceflowing all over exposed skin. this is better, and
cheaper than dangerous deet products. also avoid perfumed soaps, cosmetics, hair
goop or anything that smells even like deodorant
A. I have been making a tea out of herbs from my herb garden of cat mint
and rosemary and it is working for me! I just cut the leaves and stems up in a
cup and pour in a cup of boiling water and let it steep for an hour or so, then
keep it in spray bottle in the fridge. Also, tea tree oil works.
A. When we lived in Malaysia, the locals swore that
eating lots of bananas provided the best protection against mosquitoes. The only
rider was that they had to be the small bananas (lady fingers, we called them).
Don't know how you feel about bananas, but it seemed to work for us :) Cheers
- Hush
A. I like these two: Rub citronella oil on exposed areas
or burn citronella candles.
Tansy or basil planted near a door will repel mosquitoes
A. We have plenty here too. We apply Avon Skin so Soft liberally before
going outside. It really works, it's a little oily but washes off with soap
when we come back in and shower. I have read where rubbing a Bounce (fabric
softener) sheet on arms, legs and face deters them. Golfers hang a sheet from
their belts, but I haven't tried this. Hope this info. helps you, God Bless
you and yours. - Shirley
A. I, also, live in the Blue Ridge Mountains and mosquitoes can be a
problem here. First I don't wear perfume of any kind: shower gel, deodorant,
shampoos all without perfumes. No attractants. Next, when I know I'll be outside
I take garlic supplements or eat foods with garlic. An excellent repellent.
Also, I use Skin So Soft Original Scent products. I have, also, used pennyroyal
and mint crushed and wrapped in a bandana wore around my neck. Don't forget
the pets. They can be wiped down with Skin So Soft and wear an herbal necklace,
too. Lastly, if bitten I never scratch the biten area but I will slap it to
bring blood and antihistamines to the area.
A. Bob, a fisherman, takes one vitamin B-1 tablet a day April through
October . He said it works. He was right. The odor the tablet gives out through
your skin (YOU can not smell it) repels mosquitos, black flies, no seeum's,
and gnats. It does not work on stinging insects. Hasn't had a mosquito bite
in 33 years. Try it. Every one he has talked into trying it works on them.
Vitamin B-1( Thiamine Hydrochloride 100 mg.) Kenn said NPR reports that if
you eat bananas, the mosquitoes like you, something about the banana oil as
your body processes it. (Maybe they need the potassium too- lol) Stop eating
bananas for the summer and the mosquitoes will be much less interested.
This is going to floor you, but one of the best insect repellents someone found
(who is in the woods every day), is Vick's Vaporub.
Plant marigolds around the yard, the flowers give off a smell that bugs do
not like, so plant some in that garden also to help ward off bugs without using
insecticides. "Tough guy" Marines who spend a great deal of time "camping out" say
that the very best mosquito repellant you can use is Avon Skin-So-Soft bath
oil mixed about half and half with alcohol. mix your own: 20 drops Eucalyptus
oil 20 drops Cedarwood oil 10 drops Tea Tree oil 10 drops Geranium oil 2 oz.
carrier oil ( such as Jojoba ) Mix together in a 4 oz. container. Apply to
skin as needed avoiding the eye area. Keep out of reach of children. Test on
a small area of skin for sensitivities . Experiment with different percentages
of essential oil One of the best natural insect repellants that I've discovered
is made from the clear real vanilla (not the grocery store vanilla extract
which is mostly alcohol). This is the pure vanilla that is sold in Mexico.
It's cheap there if you know of someone that lives there or in the US close
to the border. If not, health food stores usually carry it or can order it
for you. I use it half vanilla and half water and find that it works great
for mosquitoes and ticks, don't know about other insects. when all else fails--get
a frog - JoAnne
A. grow rosemary in your backyard. Mosquitoes hate it and you can use
it for cooking all year round. BB
Please Note: Caution should be used with cats
you are wrong. Why? Because I was on that site. Their so called "sources" are not scientific journals. They are just newspaper articles. I have actually found a couple SCIENTIFIC peer reviewed journal articles that say some of these non-deet things ARE effective. But I guess Snopes can't afford a subscription to proper scientific journals even though they have millions of devotes the world wide and go on and on about their supposed intellectual superiority.
Snopes is the stupidest site I have every been on. Just defenders of the status quo. But what's worse is that they are trying to pass it off as "Scientific".
Science is not that difficult. It involves the Scientific Method. A controlled experiment with only one variable is the main idea here. So when I try citronella oil on one arm and nothing on the other - and the arm not in citronella comes back bitten and the one in citronella comes back not as bitten - that is a pretty good start. If I did it a hundred or a thousand more times it would be more reliable yes - but probably tell me the exact same thing as I already suspected after the first couple times I did the experiment.
In fact Science is not that difficult. Although the big chemical companies and pharmaceutical companies would like you to believe that billion dollar double blind placebo tests are required for all proper science. Actually they are not. Those types of extensive tests are required for government regulations of "health and safety" and are actually lobbied for BY the pharmaceutical companies so that small companies can not afford to compete with them (because they can't afford the excessive scale double-blind tests) .
But ANY and I mean ANY test that uses proper scientific method IS a scientific test. There are no "proofs" in science. Proof is a logic and math term. In Science there are hypothesis - scientific methods and then theories. Theory is a loose term that is gained mostly by popular opinion of scientists of the day. A theory is NOT proof - it's a loose consensus that is supposed to be gained by careful observation of ALL variables and results of properly conducted experiments.
Doing the experiment a million times produces more reliable results of course, but anyone on a small scale can carry out a proper SCIENTIFIC experiment simply by following scientific method. That's science - the scientific method. I don't need a billion people double blind placebo test to prove that when I* wear citronella I* get bit significantly less than when I* don't. Knowing from experience and empirical evidence IS indeed Science. Science IS observation of empirical evidence. Scientific method is the narrowing down of variables to one so that direct cause can be more accurately (but not always) predicted.
Of course the human MAY be a variable in itself, so when safety is concerned - new drugs have to be tested on thousands of people (as each person is him/herself a variable) (unless it's a flu vaccine then apparently it does not have to go through this process for safety).
But when matters of my OWN PERSONAL bug deterrence is the question, my OWN scientific experiment is quite good enough. You can do your own if you aren't too cheap to buy some harmless herbs and essential oils to give it a try.
NO people like you need "hard" scientific evidence (even though you and snopes apparently don't have a clue about what even constitutes "hard" scientific evidence (i.e. not newsstand articles)) I guess that makes you better and smarter than those of us who do our own scientific experiments following proper scientific method to see for ourselves.
By the way: Science was never meant to be dogma. So only relying on "hard" scientific data and literature is not really in the TRUE spirit of science at all anyway. Scientific literature is the taken as the dogma for science - but it shouldn't be - because science has no dogma.
To PRACTICE science, to be A scientist - one must be a PRACTITIONER of the scientific method itself. Not just read and believe the scientific literature of what other scientists found out when they practiced science.
Since each person is a variable - then no scientific test done on people can really have ONLY one variable. There will always be two variables. Therefore the scientific method the big drug companies do is done on thousands of people so that statistics can be done to show what 'most' people have happen to them. Still it really means sweet nothing if it doesn't work that way on you. The only way to know if something works for you in a scientific way - is to conduct the test on yourself.
So go buy some harmless cheap citronella oil, test it in a scientific experiment and stop being a holier than thou (CHEAP) Snopes thumper.
gigi