Natural Bug Repellent DIY!

For me, there are only a few downsides to summer, but right at the top (next to the humidity level in Nashville) is allll the summer bugs that we encounter in our yard. Besides the super annoying mosquitos that seem to be worse at our house since we are near a wooded stream, we also get a lot more tick encounters, being right next to the woods—and those are a bit more scary since they can carry Lyme disease as well as other diseases. I’ve wanted to try an essential oil-based bug repellent so we could repel the ticks naturally without the potentially harmful DEET product that is in a lot of bug sprays, and I wanted to make a kid’s version for our toddler that doesn’t have eucalyptus or peppermint in it (we don’t recommend eucalyptus under the age of 10 and peppermint under the age of 6) since all the store brands I’ve seen (including the kid’s brands) have one or both of those. Thankfully, there are a few essential oils that repel both mosquitos and ticks, so you can use them for one or the other or have it do double duty like we need at our house. I made a separate dilution rate and blend for a kid’s bug repellent, but if you want to make just one you can use the kid’s version on adults as well.

ADULT BLEND (age 15 and over):

10 drops of lemon essential oil
10 drops of lemongrass essential oil
8 drops of lavender essential oil
8 drops of eucalyptus essential oil
1.5 ounces (minus one teaspoon to make room for the essential oils in the bottle) of distilled water
.5 ounce 95% proof grain alcohol*

*the grain alcohol is used as a preservative as well as a carrier for the oils, but you can also use a product like this instead of grain alcohol at a 1:4 ratio (1 drop essential oil to 4 drops Solubol) if you’d rather and then just fill the rest with water to fill the 2-ounce spray bottle.

Add the grain alcohol (or Solubol) to your 2-ounce spray bottle and drop in your essential oils. Swirl to combine and add the cap back on the bottle. Allow the oils to disperse in the alcohol for about an hour and then add in your distilled water, swirling again to combine.

KID’S BLEND:

10 drops of lemon essential oil
10 drops of lemongrass essential oil
4 drops of lavender essential oil
1.5 ounce (minus one teaspoon to make room for the essential oils in the bottle) of distilled water
.5 ounce 95% proof grain alcohol*

*the grain alcohol is used as a preservative as well as a carrier for the oils, but you can also use a product like this instead of grain alcohol at a 1:4 ratio (1 drop essential oil to 4 drops Solubol) if you’d rather and then just fill the rest with water to fill the 2-ounce spray bottle.

Add the grain alcohol (or Solubol) to your 2-ounce spray bottle and drop in your essential oils. Swirl to combine and add the cap back on the bottle. Allow the oils to disperse in the alcohol for about an hour and then add in your distilled water, swirling again to combine.

And if you want to print some labels for your bug spray, just download these and print onto sticker paper!

While there can be concern about citrus oils on the skin when exposed to sunlight, lemongrass isn’t a photosensitive oil and if lemon essential oil is steam-distilled rather than cold-pressed (ours is cold-pressed) it can be used on the skin. So just make sure to note which one your lemon oil is and only spray on clothes if you don’t have a skin-safe lemon oil (which is an application method a lot of people prefer anyway if they are more sensitive to oils). I love that I can make my own bug repellent that’s natural and is also something I can whip up a new batch of at home whenever we are out. I know our bug friends will be visiting us the rest of summer and into fall, so I’m glad we have a defense against them now! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.