Natural Insect Repellents

There are two kinds of repellents used for repulsing insects : chemical based and organic/natural based repellents. Chemical based insect repellents contain active substance either Propoxur ,Dichlorvos dimethyl phosphate (DDVP), or Transfluthrin, or the manufacturers use combination of those active materials, to make their products more effective in killing disturbing insects.

Propoxur: It's poisonous and cause toxicity not only to human about also to pets and aquatic organisms. It's also a carcinogenic agent which the effect can lead to cancer.

Dichlorvos: Due to its carcinogenic character, the use of dichlorvos in America is restricted to foggers who have license as pest control operators.

Transfluthrin: although transfluthrin is considered weaker in its toxicity, this poisonous and carcinogenic chemical must be used accurately and carefully.

So, it's a very wise idea to avoid or limitedly use chemical mosquito/insect repellents in our life considering the effect of those dangerous chemicals in the long run may be worse than the mosquitoes bites that we are afraid of.

1. Zodia (Evodia suaveolens)

Zodia originally comes from Papua and contains evodiamine and rutaecarpine which the scents are not favorable to mosquitoes. This plant is physically known from its small, flat, green yellowish leaves. Place some pots of zodia around the house so that breezes bring the zodia aroma inside the rooms.

2. Lavender (Lavandula sp)

This purple flower is widely used to deter mosquito, moths and other insects. Lavender is also used as remedies to treat skin burns. The fragrance produced by lavender smells nice for human but becomes a deterrent for mosquitoes. There many brands of bottled lotion made of lavender extract as mosquitoes repellent offered in the markets, but if you want to use it traditionally you can just rub lavender (flower) onto your skin.

3. Geranium/Cranesbill (Geranium sp)

Geranium is another good-smelled flower but disliked by mosquitoes. the smell comes from geraniol and sitronelol (citrus smell) contained in the plant, so this plant is better located near windows or open spaces since the scents will fill the air when its leaves rub one another.

4. Fragrant Roots/Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides).

This plant is hated by mosquitoes because of it's etheric oil content which is actually smell nice to us, human. Because of this etheric oil too vetiver grass is dried and used as fragrance inside wardrobe to repel moths and moulds.

5. Lemon grass and Citronella grasses (Cymbopogon nardus and Cymbopogon winterianus).

Lemon grass and citronella grasses also contain geraniol and sitronelol which kill mosquitoes, besides as other insects repellent. Technology has enabled us to use the extract of citronella grass in the form of bottled lotion. In Asia countries this grass family is widely used as cooking fragrance too.

6. Marigold (Tagetes erecta).

Marigold has pungent smell as the result of terthienyl production, that repels insects including mosquitoes. Farmers also grow marigolds as interval plants at their vegetable cultivation fields also with the purpose to make use the flowers as pest repellent.

7. Pepper(Piper nigrum)

Pepper is useful for moths repellent which often live inside wardrobe. Pepper is also good for dye/color preservation of your clothes since some types of fabric can't stand chemical preservatives like camphor. Wrap some pepper in fine porous fabric or tissue paper and place it at some corners of the wardrobe.

Please be informed that the pepper you use as repellent is dried pepper fruits, instead of raw pepper like the ones you see in the picture nor pepper powder you have in the kitchen.

8. Garlic (Allium sativum)

Garlic has many uses in human life, this plant is widely known in curing Cardiovascular disease, common cold, as antioxidant, lowers cholesterol in blood vessels, including for anti parasitic against round worm or Ascaris lumbricoides.

Garlic also offers another benefit as insect repellent. This is possible due to alliin substance contained in garlic. when garlic is crushed alliin will be converted into allicin which produces odor that mosquitoes hate very much.

You are going to make spray mosquito repellent out of garlic. Materials you need for this are:

a kilo of garlic

1/2 liter of water.

10 grams of soap

2 spoons of Kerosene.

Grate or crush the garlic into garlic paste, then mix it with kerosene thoroughly. Leave it for 24 hours.

Solute the soap with some water then mix this solution with garlic paste uniformly.

Strain it with fine pore strainer.

You can dilute it with water first before you put it into the sprayer in 1(repellent) : 20(water) dilution.