DIY remedies for midges and mosquitoes

What to do if from mosquitoes no longer live, but use industrial means for some reason there is no way? In this case, it is worth using old folk recipes for making mixtures to scare away bloodsuckers or make traps. The production of some devices does not require any special skills or specific details. You can also make a mosquito repeller on your own.

Homemade mosquito repellent

Homemade products include:

• all mixes essential oils and sprays based on them;
• creams with the addition of aromatic oil or spices;
• decoctions and infusions of herbs and spices;
• homemade fumigators;
• mosquito traps.

Industrial capsules are already available with aromatic oils to repel and mosquito bracelets with citronella oil. Industrial capsules that need to be “glued” to the body overnight are unlikely to be copied. Their effectiveness is also low: 2 capsules per foot and 2 capsules on the shoulders.

An industrial bracelet with a capsule is easily replaced with a homemade one. And this option is more promising as fumigator mosquito repellent.

How to make scare drugs

The complexity of preparing the mixture depends only on the desire of the cook. The easiest way is to mix several types of aromatic oils and use them later in the aroma lamp or instead of perfume. To make a mixture for spray, you will need:

• 2 tbsp. l alcohol or vodka;
• 2 tbsp. l refined vegetable oil;
• 100 drops of aromatic oil.

You can divide these 100 drops between different types of aromatic oils or use one of them.

Pour all the ingredients into the perfume bottle (the spray nozzle will clog very quickly) and shake well. Spray the resulting emulsion into exposed areas of the body. Since the fractions do not mix with each other, the bottle must be shaken every time before use.

On a note!

The disadvantage of such "perfumes" is that vegetable oil greatly stains clothes. But the spray is useful for use in the country or at home. Mosquitoes don't like even just oil surfaces.

Cream

The cream is made on the basis of aromatic oil or vanilla powder. Most commonly used clove oil, as it has the strongest and most persistent aroma. In addition, in its pure form, this aromatic oil burns the skin.

To make a product with clove oil, you need to take a fresh cream, squeeze it into a clean container, drop a few drops of cloves there and mix thoroughly. Further, the cream can be used as usual everyday.

On a note!

It is better to store the cream in the refrigerator in a closed jar.

Cream with vanilla powder do exactly the same, only instead of cloves take a bag of vanilla powder. Do not use sugar.

When using creams, mosquitoes will not fly up for 4 hours.

Sprays

They are best done on the basis of decoctions of aromatic herbs. There are two advantages to this: the atomizer does not clog and there are no oily spots. A decoction can also be made from clove buds, if 5-10 buds are boiled in 0.5 l of water. But since clove emits very burning substances, this broth is very likely to require dilution. It will be necessary to select a dose experimentally, depending on the sensitivity of the skin. Carnation “works” for 4 hours.

“Traditional” aromatic herbs are slightly weaker: mint, wormwood, sage, citronellathyme - act from 20 minutes to 1 hour.

On a note!

A decoction of wheatgrass roots has a long-term effect: 100 g of roots per 1.5 liters of water.

Shampoo

Any shampoo is taken as a basis, adding vegetable oil and 9% vinegar to it. Before use, shake the product, achieving uniformity. But they do not use the drug as a shampoo. A mixture of shampoo and vinegar lubricate exposed areas of the body before going out.

Scare devices

In case of an allergic skin reaction to aromatic substances, even spraying clothes can be dangerous. Then you need to use mosquito repellent devices or make traps. But only on condition that there is no allergy to smells.

In a literal translation, the fumigator means “repeller”. The following can act as a fumigator:

• wooden or fabric decorations;
• lemon with clove buds;
• ordinary incandescent lamp;
• tin can or roasting pan;
• aroma sticks.

The effect of such fumigators is weaker than that of industrial devices, but they can protect them from mosquitoes.

Bracelets & Pendants

Most often, wooden bracelets with a smoothly cleaned, but unpolished and unpainted exterior are used as fumigators. Aromatic oil is applied to the links of the bracelet, which is well absorbed by the wood and dries slowly. Such protection lasts for several hours, depending on the depth of impregnation of the links. In this case, the oil does not reach the skin.

On a note!

You can use fabric bracelets if there is no allergy. But the validity of the fumigator of this species will be shorter.

Lemon

The simplest natural fumigator that does not require special costs and skills. The lemon is cut in half, stuck in halves of 10-12 buds of cloves and placed near the bed. It works all night. The next night will have to make a new one.

Incandescent lamp

A conventional 40-watt incandescent bulb can replace an industrial electric fumigator. But it’s difficult to call it a homemade device, since it is necessary to use it as a consumable insecticide industrial plates. Using home-made cardboard, paper, or rags soaked in flammable aromatic oils increases the risk of fire.

Bank or roaster

Smoldering pine needles in a jar, and pine cones in a brazier, effectively drive mosquitoes outdoors from the company that went to the forest. But such a fumigator cannot be used indoors. Carbon monoxide acts unnoticed.

Aroma sticks

Fashionable in the East bamboo sticks coated with a mixture of aromatic plants can work as a fumigator in the room. But in this case, the room is filled with combustion products.

Traps

Poor devices due to the mosquito’s three-level navigation system. Traps may be;

• with carbon dioxide;
• with electric lamp;
• with water.

The first two traps use mosquito ability to find a victim by the smell of carbon dioxide and heat.

Carbon dioxide

Initially, the mosquito flies to the smell of lactic acid and only a few hundred meters before the victim “switches” to the smell of carbon dioxide. At this stage, you can try to deceive him and send him into a trap.

For such a trap you will need:

• disposable 2 liter bottle;
• a glass of warm water;
• some yeast;
• 50 g of sugar;
• piece of thick paper or cloth.

The bottle is cut into unequal parts: the upper one is smaller. The upper part is inserted into the lower neck down to make a funnel. Sugar and yeast are poured into the bottle, water is poured. Next, the bottle is wrapped in paper or cloth. The trap is ready.

In theory, a mosquito flies to the smell of carbon dioxide and falls into a trap. In practice, the device will have to be set far from home, since when approaching an object the bloodsucker switches to infrared vision and searches for prey by the amount of heat released. A carbon dioxide trap does not produce heat.

With lamp

“At the last frontier of defense” there is a chance to deceive the mosquito with a more powerful heat emitter in the form of a lamp. To make a trap you will need a large bottle and some knowledge of electrical engineering. A funnel at the entrance is made as in the first case. But in the bottom of the bottle, a hole for the cartridge is cut. The second version of the trap provides for the complete removal of the bottom for installing a fan, which will suck mosquitoes into a gauze bag glued to the bottle. Such a trap does not kill mosquitoes. They will have to be destroyed manually.

With water

From mosquito bites does not save and is designed to reduce the insect population in the district. The results are dubious. Initially, the workpiece is made similarly to others. But a bottle of water is wrapped with a cloth so that the edges hang in a funnel. The hole in the funnel is closed mosquito net. The fabric is kept wet. The calculation is that the eggs laid by the Komarikh will fall through the net into the bottle. After turning larvae in the imago, the insect cannot get out of the trap.

Advantages and disadvantages

The main disadvantage of aromatic oils and mixtures is that they can cause allergies. If you use them in a mixture with ordinary vegetable oils, then also leave stains on clothing. But high-quality aromatic oils can be used instead of perfumes, which is their advantage. Ease of use should also be attributed to the pros.

For homemade fumigators, the main problem is the fragility of the action. Since when using fumigators all the same aromatic oils are used, the pluses and minuses are the same here.

Traps are simply ineffective. Even dear industrial electric traps, according to user reviews, also do not differ in efficiency.

What to use for children

For children up to a year, they use all the same aromatic oils and decoctions of herbs that are used for adults. But the condition for the use of these drugs in babies is a non-contact effect: a cotton swab or bottle with the product should not come in contact with the skin of the child.

For older children, apply a cream with vanilla powder or a wheat grass decoction. If folk recipes did not help the child, it is worth studying the assortment of pharmaceutical preparations, among which there are means for crumbs up to a year and mosquito products for children over one year old.

To the street or to the house?

Some of the homemade products are more effective in the house, others on the street. A roasting pan or incense sticks are best used outdoors, although the sticks are also suitable for indoor use. Traps are also better to set out on the approach road. Once in the house, the mosquito is unlikely to confuse a person with a trap.

Aroma oils are suitable both for the street, and for the house. There are more ways to use them indoors.

Conclusion

You need to choose a method of protection against mosquitoes, based on the reaction of your own body. Essential oils are good for someone. In others, they cause an allergic reaction, and it is better for such people to use decoctions of herbs or fumigators. But to find out what works best for a particular person can only be done experimentally.