looking for a natural mosquito repellant?

Question

I spent a nigt of little sleep last night being plagued by mosquitos. As I live near a pond I really get a lot of them in the house. Of course I could spray or use one of these plug in devices but as they are in effect toxic I'm not too happy using this kind of stuff. I want to know if anybody can give me some good advice about some plants or other home remedies that tend to repell mosquitos from a room. Most helpful answer wins 10 points.

Answer 1

Garlic is definitely good prevention (if you are not worried about repelling everyone else along with the mosquitoes... -:)))

A few things I'd recommend which can go some way to help prevention are:

- put up fine mesh screen in your windows and use mosquito net around bed
- mosquitoes cannot fly very well and cannot fly 'against the wind' and therefore would not be able to reach you if you arrange to have a fan blowing over your bed or somehow creating some kind of 'turbulence' in your bedroom
- citronella essential oil (best to use the essential oil as chemical equivalents used to make candles etc don't seem to work as well) works a treat! smells a bit like strong lemon grass, so definitely less repulsive than garlic on date nights...
- another common variety of plants which repels mosquitoes is the vervain plant; again it smells really nice + you can make a really yummy liquor by macerating leaves in alcool (old French monks recipe) you can have pots of the above plants on your windowsill

As a treatment if you still get bitten; use some cider vinegar to rub on itchy bites - vinegar soothes the allergic reaction causes by mosquito bites, as well as nettle stings, hives etc... Does not solve the problem or prevent it, but helps with the itching.

And after all that, if you still can't sleep, I'm afraid you might consider moving...

good luck!

Answer 2

You aren't going to have much success unless you get rid of the problem. If the pond is yours you can get Mosquito Dunk. They are disc that you can put in pond to kill larvae. It is non-toxic to humans or animals. If the pond isn't yours, try explaining your problem to the owners, and ask their permission to put them in their pond. I'm betting they are having the same problem. You can get it at Home Depot or most hardware stores. I have a creek which flows into a pond behind us on neighbors property, and they have animals. I use it all the time and with no problems and it truly helps. Any standing water, even a very small amount will give them somewhere to breed. Hope this will help cause I know what you're going through. Good luck!

Answer 3

garlic should be good. i havent tried it but i am told so. cannot say in what form you could use it. try eating to begin with. applyiing a crushed paste might be somewhat difficult- for you before the mosquitoes get there!!
another plant is the sacred basil. if you grow a lot of bushes in your garden, they help.
to get the natural order of things going you could get frogs that eat mosquitoes or even lizards. i recently saw a program on TV in which a scientist had created a very effective natural chain in this manner. this is really not difficult. or somehow if you could, have spiders that wove a web? try to see all the options that nature offers. i am sure there would be birds who eat mosquitoes too- dunno what parts you live in.
its a good idea to have mesh on the doors and windows. if you can use a mosquito net, that is really the easiest option- until a single mosquito enters the net!!!
oh yes! one last thing...wonder if you can do it...stop the breeding of mosquitoes wherever they are. mostly they complete their life cycles in water. if you could put something like kerosene oil, i think the larvae could die- without necessarily harming the other life forms of the pond. or you could ask people who know better about how to nip it in the bud.

Answer 4

A little trick I learned in Africa - keep a small rotating fan blowing over your bed at night, even on the lowest setting mossies just aren't strong enough to fly against it! Granted it needs to be fairly warm to do this but it is getting hotter by the day now and this is the only non toxic, non smelly way I know of. Good Luck!

Answer 5

Anything lemon scented will help - lemon scented geraniums placed in rooms are good - citronella scented candles also work, if you can get some lemon essential oil and put it on your bedclothes, combined with a mosquito net should solve your problem

Answer 6

Lemon balm. The french call this Citronelle. It's a clumpy grassy plant. There are shops that sell scented candles. The lemon ones should do the trick.

Answer 7

Citronella Candles are made from chrysanthemum oil. Out side i have used a product that was called mosquito beaters, it seemed like cedar chips with moth balls.

Answer 8

The very best defense is AVON skin so soft. Contact your local avon supplier. Its cheap and it really works. ask anyone in midge country scotland. It doesn't have a big smell so your not honking and its really good for your skin. Its brilliant. the best part about it is you are not changing your environment or feeling icky doused in some odd concoction. Good luck.

Answer 9

We are canal boaters and have the same problem.
Mozzies don't like strange or exotic smells - we take vitamin B tablets and garlic capsules (the smell comes through your skin). Also used lemon based skin creams on face and hands. These do seem to help.

Answer 10

Cover up, only thing mosies hate is clothing.

Try lemon juice on your face, not sure if it works but good for the complexion.