is it true that mosquitos dont like the scent of peppermint?

Question

I'm trying to find an alternative to traditional bug spray / lotions.

Answer 1

Yes mosquitos don't like mints of any kind.

Lemon balm is also a member of the mint family & smells like lemons when the leaves are rubbed.
You can rub Lemon balm leaves over yourself & your clothing to repel mosquitos. Lemon balm contains volatile oils, including citral, citronella, eugenol, and other components as well as flavonoids, triterpenoids, rosmarinic acid, polyphenols, and tannin. Several new antiviral and antioxidative flavonoids were discovered in lemon balm in 2002.
http://www.answers.com/topic/lemon-balm?cat=health

Art Tucker, research professor at Delaware State University and co-author of the Big Book of Herbs, confirms that rose-scented geraniums (Pelargonium x asperum, sometimes sold as P. graveolens) contain both citronellol, which is similar to citronellal, and geraniol. But, he says, the widely promoted 'Citrosa' geranium, which is the so-called "Mosquito Plant," appears to contain only small amounts of citronellal and is not likely to be any more effective as a mosquito repellent than other rose geraniums. He states that a better choice for a homegrown mosquito repellent may be lemon balm (Melissa officinalis). Tucker says lemon balm is easy to grow from seeds and contains citronellal, geraniol and geranial.
http://www.herbsandnaturalremedies.com/herbal-insect-repellent.htm

Here's some other ideas:
Cinnamon oil shows promise as an environmentally friendly pesticide, killing mosquito larvae more effectively than DEET.

The CDC says " oil of lemon eucalyptus provides protection time "similar to low-concentration DEET products in two recent studies."

Iowa State U. researches have reported that an essential oil found in catnip (Nepetalactone)
is more effectivethan DEET. (Organic Gardening Aug/Sept '06) It is 10 times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET. I don't know if you'd like the smell of catnip, it's really pungent.
Good luck! Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I read an article that said to plant rosemary,marigolds, scented geraniums(that you can even rub the leaves on your skin),peppermint or spearmint in your yard and it will help keep mosquitos away. Don't know if it works or not-but worth a try.

Answer 3

I shop a bottle of fragrance in my vehicle and that i spray it on when I get out of the tub, then generally and randomly. It no longer purely keeps me smelling candy, yet looks to repel mosquitos. I stay close to a lake, and my city is infested with mosquitos, regardless of if it is totally almost the tip of June and that i've got by no capacity been bitten one time this twelve months! i became waiting to aim my theory that fragrance from "tub and physique Works" repels mosquitos on final nighttime. My aunt and that i've got been sitting on a properly-lit porch that became swarming with mosquitos. She became getting bitten; I wasn't! I went to my vehicle and have been given my Twilight Woods fragrance, further it lower back to the porch and sprayed some on. She used it too. until now long, no mosquitos must be considered. They have been long previous!! We sat obtainable for variety of thirty extra minutes, yet all of us started getting warm and went interior.

Answer 4

I know ants hate peppermint. It make sense that mosquitos wouldn't like it either.

Answer 5

Okay, Mosquito's don't like hair.

Answer 6

i can't remember the co. name, but there was a repellent called shoo fly and it was made with peppermint oil.

Answer 7

vanilla will keep them away...I live in Louisiana...and put vanilla scented stuff on

Answer 8

No.. they don't like citrus. Ant's don't like mint.

Answer 9

not sure...i have heard that do not like garlic though