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I don’t think I need to emphasize what a menace mosquitoes can be. Not to mention the number of dangerous diseases these little insects can spread, its quite scary.

Where I live, depending upon the season, we get a lot of mosquitoes and from time to time other insects as well. I have tried some store bought mosquito and insect repellents in the past but those seem to repel my family more than the mosquitoes.

Firstly there is the strong smell. Then the powerful chemicals, artificial substances used. Both my daughter and I end up getting rashes on our skin even while staying away from these repellents as much as possible.

That’s why I did some research and thought wouldn’t it be a good idea to make my own mosquito and insect repellent that not just works but does not keep the family away as well.

As far as DIY or make your own projects go, this particular project checks all the boxes for me as follows:

• It’s environment friendly – Tick
• It’s completely organic with no artificial substances – Tick
• It’s safe for everyone in the house – Tick
• It’s super easy to make – Double Tick

It is also insect friendly to be honest (if that’s possible). It does not kill the insects but just makes them stay away from your room or house.

So without further ado, this is how you can make your own eco-friendly mosquito and insect repellent.

Ingredients Needed

You will need the following:

Pure Organic Citronella Oil
A glass of water
Funnel (not required but it will make your life easier)
Any empty spray bottle.

NOTE:

1) When purchasing citronella oil, do not get confused with lemongrass oil. Sometimes vendors try to cheat by saying it’s the same thing as they look quite similar. However, the two oils are different and have varied uses. Please buy citronella oil only.

2) There is no need to buy oil that is marked as “Essential”. Believe me, there is nothing essential about these oils. The word ‘essential’ is just a marketing gimmick and used to increase the price of the oil threefold. Just any pure citronella oil will do here. Cheaper the better but pure with no mix of anything else.

3) When using an old used spray bottle, make sure you have washed and dried it completely. You don’t want any of the old fragrance or residue remaining from whatever it was used for earlier.

How to Make Your Own Mosquito and Insect Repellent

This is the easy part. Basically you need to mix citronella oil and water in the ratio 1:4. Hence if you take 20 ml of citronella oil, take 80 ml of water. Just follow these simple steps:

1) Pour 20 ml of citronella oil in your empty spray bottle. If you do not have a measuring cup or your bottle does not hold 100 ml total, just use your estimation and pour 1/5th of the bottle. Use a funnel to make it easier to pour the oil.

In my case, as you can judge from the photos, I used my estimation as the spray bottle I was using was quite small.

How to Make Your Own Mosquito and Insect Repellent

2) Next pour 80 ml of water or 4/5th of the bottle depending upon what you did in the first step.

3) Close the bottle cap properly and shake gently so that the oil and water can mix. You may have to shake for a while for the two to amalgamate properly.

That’s it. Your own eco-friendly, organic mosquito and insect repellent is now ready.

How to Make Your Own Mosquito and Insect Repellent - Final Product

How to Use

Before each use, you have to shake the bottle again as overtime, the oil and water separates. Hence shake the bottle and simply spray around the corners of every room in your house. I sometimes just spray the corners of my bedroom and also on the sides of the bed.

Keep in mind that citronella oil has a sweet, citrusy aroma. Hence your room or house will smell kind of sweet after this. It acts like an eco-friendly room freshener as well.

I sometimes spray just outside my main door and windows as well. This keeps all the insects away who are trying to get inside.

Precautions

1) Considering this is a liquid, do not spray near electrical power outlets as otherwise it may cause a spark and lead to something potentially more dangerous.

2) Typically pure citronella oil is quite safe and there are no known allergies. However, just in case you or any member of your family experiences skin rashes, you should stop using it. As it is you should not spray this on your skin. It is meant to be sprayed on the corners of the rooms of your house. Also wash your hands thoroughly after each use and ensure nothing goes in your eyes.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, this is a super easy DIY project. It also helps you maintain a holistic lifestyle as this repellent does not hurt any insects. Just keeps them away. Yet, it works wonderfully and I have seen amazing results.

Please go ahead and give it a try. Do not forget to let me know how it goes.

If you are getting increasingly conscious about your hair as well as skin and want to establish an efficient routine for both, try to include pure Aloe Vera gel in your regular care schedule.

Aloe Vera is one of those natural ingredients that have the potential to leave you amazed in a short amount of time.

To learn exactly what makes Aloe Vera such a magical plant, how it works on your skin, hair and body and what are the effective methods on applying it on your face and hair, do read on for more insights on the topic.

About Aloe Vera Plant In General

This thick type of plant called Aloe Vera or Aloe Barbadensis is enriched with carbohydrates and has numerous beneficial compounds like vitamins, amino acids, minerals, etc.

The most prominent characteristic of Aloe Vera gel that should be mentioned above all is that it acts as an excellent moisturizer.

The reason behind it, is connected to the fact that the plant of aloe grows in rather a dry climate, which actually makes it full of water, hence an effective moisturizer.

Besides that, Aloe Vera is a well-acknowledged remedy known to treat skin sunburns, be used as a mouthwash, and even as a method to fight against diseases such as cancer.

Benefits of Aloe Vera Gel For The Skin

Besides it being a perfect moisturizer for the face, Aloe Vera gel also has the capability to downturn the look of irritated skin, and this is due to compounds of the plant, like acemannan, which aid the cells to reduce the redness of the skin.

Another benefit of Aloe Vera gel for our skin is its ability to act as an anti-aging remedy. Components present in the plant of Aloe Vera help improve the natural collagen production of our skin cells. The regular application of Aloe Vera is known to have tightening effects for the skin.

Adding to the benefits mentioned above, the antibacterial and antioxidant properties of this plant also act as a helping hand when a person deals with acne. There are variants of masks to try out; however, even applying the Aloe Vera gel itself with nothing added is a way to soothe the skin cells and treat acne.

Moreover, if you notice some dark spots on your body and want to find a remedy to treat those naturally, try applying Aloe Vera directly to the affected places.

Aloe Vera Gel For Hair Care

Enough said about skin benefits. What about the amazing results that Aloe Vera may have on your hair?

Besides being a great natural product to be used on the skin, Aloe Vera gel can help you with its unique advantages when it comes to hair care.

If your hair scalp struggles from excess oil build-up, you have dry and damaged hair, or you desire quick hair growth, then Aloe Vera can be one of the ideal solutions for your problems.

When you rub Aloe Vera gel directly to your scalp and leave it for nearly one hour, it works as a cleanser for hair follicles. It cleans up all the excess oil while simultaneously keeping the natural oils inside the hair, promising healthy and shiny looking hair.

Since this plant contains vitamin A, C and E, and other essential amino acids, it is also beneficial to achieve soft and healthy hair. These vitamins are acknowledged to promote healthy cells, which therefore results in having shiny looking and smooth feeling hair.

On top of this, when applied to the hair scalp, this plant acts as an excellent hair growth promoter. It is full of minerals like zinc and copper, which are known to be enriching the hair follicle actively, leading to extensive hair growth.

The simplest method of applying Aloe Vera is to use the gel from the plant’s leaves, or if you prefer a bottled version, you can buy Aloe Vera gel from your nearest supermarket or pharmacy.

How to Use Aloe Vera Gel?

There are two ways that people usually get hold of pure Aloe Vera gel.

1) You can buy the thick leaves of this plant and extract the gel yourself. There are those who grow the plant in their garden and use the leaves as and when ready to harvest.

However, if you are planning on doing this, you need to be careful. When you cut the leaves of Aloe Vera, they also contain a yellowish liquid along with the actual gel. This liquid needs to be carefully drained out from the leaves before you can scoop the gel for further use. Not doing so can lead to skin irritation and worse in some cases.

2) The other method is to simply buy pure Aloe Vera gel from the store. This is the easiest and most recommended method of acquiring natural Aloe Vera gel.

What you need to keep in mind here is that the store-bought gel should be pure and free from other artificial ingredients. Some companies add a natural perfume and Vitamin E to the gel to enrich it further. This is fine as long as both those ingredients were natural and not artificial. Perfume is added since pure Aloe Vera gel has a fragrance that not many will like.

Regardless of how you get your Aloe Vera gel, for usage, you need to take a teaspoon worth of the gel on your fingertips and massage gently around your scalp or skin.

Initially, you may feel a bit slimy but the gel dries out very fast. So keep this in mind and wait a few minutes after applying Aloe Vera gel.

Final Thoughts

Aloe Vera gel is one of the best gifts of nature for both our hair as well as skin. As long as you are using pure Aloe Vera gel, you are fine and can possibly see excellent results.

As always with anything, do apply only a bit first to check for allergic reactions. If you are fine, then use it regularly for your skin as well as hair care routine.