I once read that Calgary has two seasons: winter and mosquitoes. I’m betting we’re not the only place that feels that way. With all the rain and flooding we’ve had this year, there is enough standing water to birth a few thousand platoons of the bothersome creatures, and I find myself swatting at various appendages like a crazy person whenever I’m outside. Ugh.
While deet is very effective against bugs, it can also melt plastic bags and do other dodgy things, so when I can avoid (a.k.a. when I am not in Manitoba… haha), I like to. This bug spray gets its power from mint infused water (thanks for the tip, Sarah!) and a healthy dose of a wide variety of essential oils that the little vampires are supposed to hate. This recipe is about 10% essential oils by volume, which (according to my research) strikes a good balance between being effective but not irritating to the skin.
I first tested it out on one of many walks surveying the flood damage back in June. We were walking along a ridge, looking out at the river, and losing blood by the pint. We hadn’t bothered applying the spray at home, but we were both spritzing on some fresh mint bug spray within 200m of my door. And it worked! Brilliant! While the hordes of skeeters still swarmed us, they didn’t land on our sprayed skin. Phew.
As we were walking we spotted a fellow about 25m out who was doing the mosquito inspired Charleston—flailing about, slapping and wiping and generally just reeking of the agony and frustration only a hoard of mosquitoes can cause. We struck up a conversation with him and learned he had just moved here from Egypt, and had been in Canada for 6 months. And oh boy, did our mosquitoes love his fresh blood. I shared some bug spray with him—well, I spritzed it on him after he said he wanted some, because he couldn’t stop slapping himself long enough to take the bottle from me and do it himself—and we advised the calamine lotion was good for the itching. We ran into him again on our way back and he said it was working, so awesome!
If you’re worried about the cost of the essential oils, don’t be! If you drop the geranium (the most expensive of the oils), you can get a 15mL bottle of each for a total of $25—and you won’t use anywhere close to all of the oils, so you’ll have plenty left over for all your other projects!
I no longer recommend making this—the level of essential oils is very high, and could pose a safety concern.
Fresh Mint Bug Spray
250mL | 1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
Boiling water, as needed3g | 0.1oz lemon eucalyptus essential oil
2g | 0.07oz peppermint essential oil
2g | 0.07oz citronella essential oil
2g | 0.07oz lemongrass essential oil
2g | 0.07oz lavender essential oil
10 drops clove bud essential oil
10 drops cinnamon bark essential oil
10 drops geranium essential oil (optional)Broad spectrum preservative of choice (why?)
Equal volume of Polysorbate 20 (solubilizer) or Turkey Red Oil to essential oils; approximately 35g/1.2oz (optional, though it won’t emulsify without it, so you’ll have to shake vigorously before each spritz)
Tear up the mint leaves a bit and place them in a Pyrex measuring cup. Fill with boiling water to the 1 cup line and let steep overnight.
The next morning, strain the mint leaves out of the water. Discard the leaves, reserve the water.
In a 250mL (8 fl oz) mason jar, weigh out the essential oils. Top off with an equal volume (not weight!) of solubilizer/Turkey red oil, and stir to dissolve.
Slowly add 100mL (100g/3.3 fl oz) of the mint water and your preservative to the jar of essential oils, stirring to blend.
Decant what you can into a small spray bottle and store the rest in the sealed mason jar in the fridge.
Woo! Thanks for the shout-out 😉 I LOVE my homemade bug spray too! I made a version last year with aloe/witch hazel/EOs, but I got really sick of the smell really fast… I’m not overly fond of citronella/lemongrass, I guess. This year, I used equal parts catnip/mint “tea”, as you know, homemade vanilla extract (YUM–and apparently a bug repellent), and witch hazel for the base. The only “citrusy” EO I could stand was the lemon eucalyptus, so I used that along with peppermint and spearmint, lavender, rosemary, thyme, and basil. It smells amazing. I think I reapply every 5 minutes just for my own olfactory benefit. Next batch I plan to steep some thyme, rosemary, and basil with the mints for an extra boost! Good riddance, DEET!
No problem 🙂 I can see how anything made with lots of witch hazel could become icky pretty fast 😛 It does have a rather… unpleasant… smell. I love that vanilla EO is part of your recipe, that is fantastic! I definitely have basil EO in my next order, I’ve never worked with it before but I think it sounds awesome. Would you recommend getting thyme as well?
I love the smell of thyme, and I’ve used the EO in the toner I made recently, in serums, and the bug spray. I would recommend it for sure, but start with the sample size of course. You’d think all those herb EOs in my bug spray would make you smell like a marinade, but with the vanilla EO and extract plus the dominance of the mints, it smells happy with a side of earthy. 🙂
Consider a small bottle of thyme EO ordered! I got the white stuff since it was the cheaper of the three NDA carries 😛 Now if it would just hurry up and arrive already… there are a few goodies in that order that I am really excited about!
Marie i was wondering if you could convert the gms to drops for the first 5 oils you mention. Blesssings, Sue in CA
Susan—”Drops” aren’t really a unit of measurement, they’re really inaccurate because they vary in volume so much based on factors like the ingredient itself, viscosity, temperature, the size of the dropper, and the method of dropping. So, I tend to avoid them whenever the measurement of EOs is larger than a gram. That said, the “rule of thumb” is 20 drops per gram. I can’t guarantee any accuracy with that, but that should be at least sort of close. If you find a scale on sale, grab it—they are soooo handy for all your DIYing (and they greatly reduce the number of dishes you’ll have to do!).
We use catnip because it was tested at being 10x times stronger than DEET, without the “pie-zon”. I think I will add a little peppermint, still. It is cooling and smells wonderful. We apply homemade spray every hour or so, it tends to “fade”. A long-sleeve shirt and pants does not work here, the monsters find ways into ones clothing, sometimes biting right through the cloth, and usually in a spot hard to get a dab of lavender on to stop the itch.
Awesome! I have friends that grow some, so I will be sure to ask for some for my next batch 🙂 Your mozzies sound terrifying, ich…
wow thanks for this recipe! I’m in the states and we’re now getting the tiger mosquitos and I’m deathly allergic to all of them. I need to know can I replace the citronella( highly allergic to) with something else? I know citronella is helpful in repelling them but if it touches my skin I can’t breath! yup that allergic! grr but thanks just found your site and love it!
Thanks for reading, Stephanie! Tiger mozzies sound terrifying 🙁 Eek! If you can’t use citronella, I would just replace it with more Lemon Eucalyptus—from what I have read it is the most effective oil in the recipe 🙂 Good luck with those mozzies!
I can’t get rid of mosquitioes I have tried
Vitamin B12 supplements might be worth a go; I’ve read that they can help, and I take them and get bitten relatively rarely.
I infuse 250 ml of 100 proof (cheap) vodka with 50 g of whole cloves for 3 days (shake vigorously twice daily) and decant into a spritz bottle. No mosquitos. No any bug, actually.
This sounds fantastic, thanks Kim!
Kim, I’m trying yours first, I like two ingredient recipes! Thank you for sharing!
Kim Davis
I’ll definitely be trying it as well—let me know how it works for you 🙂
Hi, Kim, where did you buy your 100% proof vodka? I live in Ontario, Canada, and our state run LCBO doesn’t seem to have it on its website.
I was wondering if you can use catnip? it has a mint smell?
Another commenter said that catnip is even stronger than mint for repelling bugs, so I’d say so! Have fun and let me know how that works for you 🙂
thanks I have lots of catnip Ill give it a try thank you Marie.
Awesome! I can’t wait to hear how it works for you 🙂
what do you recommend I use as the solubilizer and where do I purchase? can i make at home?
Click the link in the ingredient list 🙂
I’ve read your recipe and the vodka/clove one as well. Think I’ll make a batch of both and see how I do. I’m allergic to bug bites & stings of any kind and nothing else seems to work. I’m also allergic to DEET, not that I like using anything with DEET. I was miserable and desperate my first summer here. With all the flooding & rain this year I’m West Nile waiting to happen. I think I have all the ingredients handy. Fingers crossed one or both work.
Oh no, it sounds like you’ve hit the catch 22 jackpot as far as bug bites go, Mickey :/ I always find that whenever I am somewhere new, the ‘skeeters are so much worse. It’s like they know I’m local and they’re after something more exotic 😛 They are always way worse in Manitoba than Alberta (I know this is a stereotype, but I swear I get more bites per ‘skeeter over there!).
Something else you can try is diffusing the EOs in the bug spray when you are out on the porch—I have watched ‘skeeters do a 180° when they hit the mist from my diffuser on the porch!
Now there’s a new thought! Diffuser on the porch. Currently I use those coil things to keep the buggers away. I like the idea of a diffuser. I’m a true California girl and miss my time outdoors. I’ve been to Manitoba and can’t say the mosquitoes are worse there. All I can say is they are always worse around me no matter where I am.
I think I must be an Australia girl at heart 🙂 I lived there for a while and absolutely fell in love—I constantly wonder why on earth I came back to Alberta, especially when it’s -30°C in the winter and the sun is setting at 4:30PM 🙁 I dream of the days I can wear skirts and dresses every day of the year and never have to worry about freezing to death when I’m out for a walk… and never having to bundle up like the Michelin man! Sigh. Someday!
Marie you make me laugh. For 10 years worth of winters I’ve been saying I look like the Michelin man’s new girlfriend. I never in my life had to wear so much stuff in the winter in California. You are now 2 for 2. Bug spray works. At least it’s working today. I’ll try it again tomorrow when I’m outside working in the yard all day.
The Michelin man would be lucky to have us 😉 At least we are softer than he is 😛 So thrilled to hear the bug spray is holding up—how did it do with the day in the yard test?
How is your weather over there? Our high yesterday was 13. I am thinking about holding a strike or something. Disgraceful!
I can’t wait to try this.
Let me know how it works for the skeeters in your area when you do, Paula 🙂
I thought it was going to snow yesterday it was so cold. I had to wear my fleece lined denim jacket. Rain last night and plenty of bugs out today even though it’s been on the cool side. No new bites. Yea! Bug spray still working. Where is summer this year?
Booo! This summer is proving to be a bit of a let down 🙁 We had that one day that was 40°C and now we can barely crack 25°C. I should not have to wear down in July! Fingers crossed the weather is better in Manitoba when I’m there in a couple weeks 🙂
Can regular eucalyptus oil be substituted for the lemon eucalyptus? Also, The NDA site has several different varieties of eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass and so on. What are the differences and is one better than the others? I’m confuzzled.
Sadly, no, especially since Eucalyptus Globulus smells nicer than Lemon Eucalyptus. It’s that specific variety of eucalyptus that has bug repelling properties (and some of the strongest ones at that).
To learn about the differences between all the different varieties in EOs I’d really recommend reading up on them on their product pages on NDA (and the reviews—they are usually super helpful!). Sometimes it’s just a matter of where the plant is grown, and sometimes it’s an entirely different variety of the plant. In some cases one will likely be better than others (Helichrysum splendidum vs. Helichrysum italicum, for example—italicum is the “true” helichrysum), but it some (like with many of the lavenders), it is simply a matter of price and scent preference. It’s super fun to learn about all the different oils… just try to avoid my habit of buying far too many out of curiosity 😛
Can the essential oils be combined in a cocoa butter/beeswax type carrier? Family reunion across the US this summer, so I’m limited to minimal amounts of liquids (checking bags is verboten!) and I know I will be eaten alive!
You could, but here’s what I’d recommend instead—mix up the EOs and solubilizer at home, and pop them in a small 15mL (or whatever) bottle. It shouldn’t be hard to stay under 100mL. Pack an empty spritzer bottle as well. Then, mix in the water at your destination 🙂 That way you won’t end up massaging bug spray EOs into your hands, and you still get the benefits of the quick & easy spray application method!
This works awesome! Walked out to the park near my place (in Calgary) and was immediately attacked by mosquitoes and got 2 bites in about 15 seconds! sprayed this on right away and immediately was left alone! amazing! My boyfriend used store bought spray and got more bites than I did:) I didn’t have the clove EO and I did substitute regular eucalyptus EO cause I didn’t have the lemon eucalyptus. Still worked awesome:)
I love it! I did a similar test last year and was quite pleased with the results 🙂 I was sharing with strangers on the path who were doing the slappy-dance lol.
I want to begin making this tonight. Thanks to 7 months of constant rains and a mild-ish winter, my catnip and mints are already bushy. I’m in the steeping stage.
I don’t have solubilizer. But I do have a huge bottle of burn your house down 190 proof grain spirits in front of me. This stuff instantly dissolves essential oils I’ve noticed 🙂
Can I use the booze for my liquid? Please say yes! Cause I’m afraid our wet warm weather is going to kill us with skeeters any day now.
And thank you for this recipe. I just won’t use deet.
Hey Cristie! You can use the booze, but I’d recommend using just enough to dissolve your EO’s, and using the mint water for the rest 🙂 That’ll keep your skin from drying out!
Has anyone tried this with fresh basil instead of mint? I have an abundance of basil this year and one can only make so much pesto. I know that basil is a repellent, but is it as good as mint?
I haven’t tried it, but I remember a reader saying she made a bug spray using fresh basil as a base, and that it worked for her. If you give it a go, let me know how it works 🙂
Well, it’s about the end of summer so I can safely review the basil substitute bug repellent. I have not had a single bite all summer. That could be due to low mosquito population this year, or the spray. Either way, it worked for me this year. That being said-my personal preference is that mint smells better than the basil. 🙂
That’s fantastic! If I am ever lucky/skilled enough to keep a large patch of basil alive I will be sure to keep this in mind 🙂
Hi, I love your blog! Could I use the above-mentioned essential oils in a glass bottle roller? Would I need to dilute them in a carrier oil? I’m trying to come up with a small and neat bug repellent to put in my kids’ bags for summer camp. Thanks!
Hey Anne! You can put this concoction in a roller bottle, but please do not use it undiluted! Dilute ’em in a carrier oil or high proof alcohol. This spray is 3.5 parts EO to 10 parts water/carrier, so I’d recommend sticking to that dilution level.
Thanks Marie! I just got the roller bottles, so I’m ready to put this together.
Enjoy!
Hi Marie, does this spray (or other EO sprays) require a preservative? I’ve been reading that anything aqueous-based requires a preservative. Thanks in advance!
Hey Anne! It definitely does—I’ve gone in and explicitly stated so. I have so many recipes up here that it can be hard to catch them all with that note about preservatives, so thank you 🙂
Thank you! I was afraid you would say that… I’ve also been looking at some info on Susan’s Swift Crafty Monkey blog – she has some info on Tinosan, which I noticed wasn’t in your preservative article. Any thoughts? I’m trying to find something without phenoxyethanol, parabens, or PEG, and preferably available at one of the online stores that I frequent (Voyageur has it). Sorry for all the bother – the rollerball that I made just doesn’t cover enough body surface area easily. One of my sons already has about 15 bites in Vancouver!
Yeah, sorry… bacteria is a bummer! I’d never heard of Tinosan before, so I looked it up, and it sounds rather fussy. Between the limited pH range and the sensitivity to light it sounds like you’d need to buy a pH testing kit and would either need to avoid any recipes that are basic or have a secondary preservative around for those… or something to shift the pH of your projects (which might not be a great idea depending on the project). I haven’t worked with Tinosan, though, so that’s just from my reading.
how often do you have to spray the repellent around your house?
Never; you apply it to your skin 😛
Are the mint leaves required? Will leaving them out decrease the effectiveness of the spray? Thanks!
No, in fact I would definitely leave them out as they will make this quite hard to preserve. I’ve updated the post with a note with alternatives 🙂 Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
I tried making them just now. It felt so minty on my skin even after I washed it off. Is this how it should feel or is the mint supposed to be subtle? It came down to around 20 ml essential oils, 20 ml Polysorbate 20, 100 ml water and 2g of optiphen plus as preservative. Are the numbers more or less right, or is my scale off? Are the ingredients safe for kids? Will spraying it just on clothes also work? Thanks Marie
Hey! I’m sorry about this recipe. It’s really old, and I don’t recommend making it anymore—I’ve updated the post to indicate this. I didn’t have any issues with it when I made it, and I don’t remember it being overwhelmingly minty. If you do still want to use it, I’d recommend applying it to the clothes rather than the skin. DIYing is quite the learning curve and this is one of the first things I made—I’ve learned a lot since then!