Bugs are obnoxious.
From fruit flies in your home to mosquito bites and everything in between, I’ve got you covered.
(If you haven’t gotten your toxin-free wellness kit yet, click here: Young Living Starter Kit)
Bug/Mosquito Spray
I have to repel bugs, but I refuse to sacrifice our organs and overall health to do it.
Thankfully, we have a few great options.
Option 1: Buy
This toxin-free mosquito repellant is the business.
Safe for everyone in the house 0-99+, it is tested to repel mosquitoes, ticks & fleas using only 100% naturally derived, plant-based ingredients.
Pure sesame oil and a blend of essential oils used for years for bug-repellent properties come together to make up 99% of the active ingredients in this formula. The other 1% is Vitamin E.
No worries about synthetic chemicals.
You’ll also enjoy the smell and smooth, non-greasy, non-sticky feel.
Formulated without DEET, parabens, fillers, phthalates, petrochemicals, animal-derived ingredients, synthetic preservatives, synthetic fragrances, or synthetic colorants.
It is also vegan friendly.
PRO TIP: It’s not meant to be sprayed on (it can stain clothing), but you can create a spray by diluting it in a spray bottle with distilled or purified water, and then swirl/shake before each application.
Option 2: DIY
This DIY option is great for the same reason I love all my DIY recipes: I always have the ingredients on hand.
I keep stock of all the things I need to DIY on a regular basis, so we never run out of skin, organ, and body-nourishing ingredients.
Making this one is a breeze!
Find the essential oils here.
Get my favorite witch hazel here.
See which spray bottles are best to store DIYs with essential oils in them here.
Carpenter Bees
We had just attached decorative wood to our back porch ceiling, the kids’ entire swing set is wooden, and we did the same decorative wood on the front porch when they came.
Holes everywhere.
Shavings of the wood we loved was in piles on the ground.
Option 1: Buy
Until we found this trap. It is well worth the investment, but placement is key.
Observe your bees to see where exactly they’re trying to burrow then fill the holes with steel wool. After they’ve left, you can caulk or place 3/8 inch dowel rods where the holes used to be.
Option 2: DIY
You may even want to spray this DIY toxin-free recipe around to deter them from coming back:
30 drops Young Living Eucalyptus Radiata and 8 oz of water in
an 8 oz glass spray bottle like this one and spray it in and around the holes.
Ants
It seems like ants pile up fast!
Option 1: Buy
You can try something like this or this as quick toxin-free ant traps that you can grab easily. I’ve never used them, but I have heard great things about them!
Option 2: DIY
Try this amazing DIY the next time you find ants in your house or outside near your home!
1/4 cup water
15 drops Young Living Peppermint essential oil
15 drops Young Living Tea Tree essential oil
7 drops of your choice of Young Living citrus essential oils (orange, lemon, grapefruit, etc) OR 1-3 drops Young Living Clove essential oil.
Mix in a glass spray bottle and spray over and around affected area.
Or try this one:
1C apple cider vinegar
1C water
3 drops Young Living Clove essential oil
Mix in glass spray bottle and spray around affected area.
Gardening
While your garden can use essential oils to grow more and better produce, you also want to use them to keep unwanted bugs away.
Option 1: Buy
This claims to be toxin free, organic, and effective. It has good reviews, but for me, I’ll stick with my oils, since I always have them on hand and they work so well.
DIY
Try this simple DIY recipe to repel the bugs that eat away at all your hard work:
- Fill a 16 oz spray bottle with water then choose your essential oil depending on need.
Peppermint: Ants, Aphids, Beetles, Caterpillars, Fleas, Gnats, Flies, Mosquitoes, Plant Lice, Moths, Spiders
Cedarwood: Chiggers, Cutworm, Roaches, Slugs, Snails, Ticks, Weevils.
Fruit Flies
Annoying yet so common, especially in summer, the fruit fly is actually quite simple to remove!
Option 1: Buy
This claims to be effective and safe without any fragrance or chemicals and has decent reviews.
However, I find the following DIY to be super simple, so it’s my go-to!
Option 2: DIY
After watching to see where the flies are congregating the most, put together the following:
- Fill a shallow glass with apple cider vinegar about half way.
- Put a piece of seran wrap over the glass and a rubber band over it to hold it down.
- Poke a small hole, about the size of a pencil eraser in the top of the wrap.
- Leave out for a few days, making sure the area around it extra clean. I like to use Thieves Household Cleaner to scrub around the traps.
You may need to put out more than one.
Final Thoughts
It is much simpler to rid of bugs through the year when you have your defense system in place.
For us, Young Living essential oils are it.
We use them for our health, wellness, and for everything in between.
If you’re ready to add the world’s best and most trusted essential oils to your life click here.
Many blessings!
Andrea 🙂
