Mosquito Repellent Recipes

louel53 has obviously never tried a home remedy, and he can pollute his body with harmful chemicals like Deet all he wants, but I use essential oils to repel ticks and mosquitos. Lemon euculyptus, lemongrass, and geranium in a carier oil works great. deet doesn't even work well. It has to cover every part of your skin. A mosquito will bite right next to skin covered in Deet!

That sounds like a Jerry Baker concoction! It's probably in one of his books, which you might find at the public library. I'm sure you meant a mosquito repellent for the house or patio, not for your skin. For your skin, some people say Avon's Skin-So-Soft works. I don't like the scent, so I use their spray with the Picaridin in it. There's also good old-fashioned citronella oil. This summer I put a lavender scented body splash on before I went to a barbecue, and all the bugs let me alone, even though they bothered people sitting right near me!

You wouldn't really spray yourself with something that left you smelling like Listerine and beer, would you? Homemade remedies are not very effective. If you don't want to use a product containing Deet (which does work) on your skin, wear long sleeves and long pants. Off has a lamp and the coils which work pretty well, as does the Thermocell.