Mosquitos

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
mosquitos love me. I loathe them.
I'm having my yard sprayed...the exterminator has a new product he is using that he sprays every three weeks for the summer and it is suppose to greatly help.
They love me and I get big welts etc. just a mess.
My plan for the summer is to spray a more natural product on my bare skin and a teeny tiny spray of a DEET spray on my shirt when going out.
Just curious, has anyone had any good luck with any natural products to thwart mosquitos?
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Mosquitos usually don't bother me unless there is no one else around. I've heard (but don't know how it works) that carrying dryer sheets in your pockets is suppose to help.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Have you tried the things that to INTO you, rather than ON you? One is to eat lots of garlic. The other is to make apple cider vinegar part of your daily diet. Either one makes you less interesting to mosquitos.
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
We've had one (at least) flying around inside, but I suspect he has friends. I have bites on my arms and shoulders. My mom said to put an orange peel by the bed and the mosquitos wouldn't bother me. She was wrong.

I would spray if I knew where to spray.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
If you can abide the smell, neem oil. It is used for skincare and is also edible and gives humans and oour pets no ill effects. It is used on organic crops as a very effective and safe pesticide. I hate the odor of it, but have used it for various bugs around our home. Entomologists that I have spoken with are quite in favor of it. I read a detailed article about problems with mosquito borne diseases in India a couple of years ago. Entomologists cited in it suggested that the poor in India mix neem and coconut oil and use this all over to repel the mosquitoes. They cited other essential oils that could be added but said that none were needed really. Adding the EOs helps the scent issue for humans and can increase the effectiveness, but the neem/coconut oil is effective enough IF re-applied every 1-3 hours. The govt of India was trying to find ways their poorest citizens could avoid the illnesses and still afford to pay their bills. Both substances are widely and cheaply available there from what I gathered.

EOs are also greatly effective at killing and repelling mosquitoes. Interestingly (to me at least) enough, catnip oil is incredibly effective. Other mints are also effective but not as much as catnip EO. At least one study found few other substances exist that are as effective as catnip. I love catnip and have for years, so this stuck with me.

Whatever you use, PLEASE pay attention to your bites, esp as they are first showing up. If they are larger than you think they were in past years, take benedryl right away. If the edges are not round and you have more than just a very few, go to the ER to get them checked. I am NOT joking. I had a friend who had just moved to my state who thought I was being a sissy until she suddenly couldn't breathe. If we had not been right with her, she could have died. The ER doctor said she probably would have died if I hadn't pitched a royal fit about her not going up to bed when she started to feel unwell. There are some nasty types of mosquitoes here in the US and the reaction that makes you itch is a small scale version of the reaction that can kill you. Generally the worst reactions are in the spring and after you have moved to a new area because y our body isn't used t the bites.
 

Scent of Cedar *

Well-Known Member
What an interesting thing, about the neem and catnip oils, susiestar.

Do you know whether say, lavendar essential oil would repel woodticks or mosquitoes? I don't know which is worse, mosquito bites or smelling terrible.

Woodtick season is almost over, here.

My mom said to put an orange peel by the bed and the mosquitos wouldn't bother me. She was wrong.

I wonder whether an unlit citronella candle would help, KTMom? It must be that mosquitoes dislike the scent of citrus. Cats don't like that scent, either. If we want to keep cats away from our gardens, orange peel seems to work.

And eggshells for slugs, which is off topic.

Sorry, you guys.

One is to eat lots of garlic. The other is to make apple cider vinegar part of your daily diet. Either one makes you less interesting to mosquitos.

This makes sense, IC.

There was a time I would drink a tablespoonful of apple cider vinegar in water with dinner. (I did this for my stomach.) I will begin doing that again. I served it in a wine glass. We eat garlic pretty frequently already (Italian D H). I will keep that garlic idea in mind.

A friend who lives near me now told me we should not wear perfume because it draws ticks. (Love this living in the woods, you guys.) I wonder whether the same is true for mosquitoes? In the sense that they may be attracted to the scents in our soaps or shampoos or fragrance? It makes sense that this would be so.

Thank you for this thread, Nomad.

Cedar
 

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Neem? I will check it out. I've seen this in the health food store.
I have low platelets. Have had this since I was a teen. It can come with Lupus and other autoimmune problems and it is a frequent battle for me.
What has been on my sites I visit and perhaps NOT on other sites is that I think the first person to die of the Zika virus in the US, actually died because his platelets plummeted and they couldn't get them back up, so he technically bled to death. This person had other health problems, but they aren't saying what exactly.

Ok, now...I hear that there is a person just today, that showed up in the US with the DENGUE VIRUS. What in the world? This is usually caused by MOSQUITOES and guess what? Among other things, it tends to DESTROY PLATELETS! Of course, my fellow ITP sufferers (low platelets) NEVER SEEM to have this particular issue. (Most of us are from the US and UK...some other parts of Europe)
This is typically something one hears about in Africa.

I am amazed and saddened.

My yard is being sprayed tomorrow and every three weeks through Sept. I also my husband spraying the front door area twice a week. I have a more natural product that I'm spraying on my arms and legs and I give myself a tiny squirt of a deet product on my clothing once a day. Mosquitos love me and I don't know why. I scrub myself with soap daily and it doesn't help. So far, this summer (and it's only June1) I've gotten about six bites and I'm concerned.

Will check out Neem, etc.
 

FlowerGarden

Active Member
If you are just sitting outside, try plugging in a fan. The breeze makes it hard for them to fly and they stay away. Whenever we sit on our patio we do this. I'm a magnet for them usually but the fan works!
 

pasajes4

Well-Known Member
Lemon squeezed into water ( more lemon than water) and placed in a spray bottle can be used as an alternative to chemical body sprays. You can also spray it on your bedding. Yard plantings of lemon grass and mosquito bush can be used as an outdoor barrier.
 

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I will try these natural things...dryer sheets in pockets, the fan and the lemon water.

I did order the chemical bracelets to wear outside. I'm getting a little desperate.

On top of everything else, and I don't know why this is, when I get bit, the bite lasts on me kind of a long time. I have one on my leg from a week ago and it looks just about the same as when I got it. Almost the size of a quarter and very red. It isn't as itchy anymore, but still itches. I do NOT scratch them, but it requires a lot of self control. I'm not sure if the unusual amount of redness is from the platelet problem or autoimmune stuff or what exactly. But, I do know it is a huge frustrating problem for me.

Thank you all!!!1 :)
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
The itch: dab it with a bit of plain white vinegar. It seems to neutralize the anti-coagulant the mosquito gives you - which is what creates the itch.
 
I have lived in a mosquito rich area for years but last year I moved to a place where the city/county doesn't spray and the habitat in my neighborhood is just HEAVEN for mosquitoes. It is horrible! and I am a magnet for them and react horribly to their bites. In previous homes I could deal with it by just using DEET and suffer through a few bites. But in this place I was forced to purchase clothing with insect repellent in the fabric. I was hesitant as I am sensitive to chemicals and smells but I was also desperate and didn't want to be held hostage in my home for the next five months. The clothing works great! Zero bites, no smell, no irritation and I don't have to put any type of spray repellent directly on my skin. Although the styles I bought were mesh and supposed to be lightweight they are still pretty warm to wear in the heat and humidity but I am trading being too warm for being miserable for days by being eaten alive with bites. Also, since I bought tops with hoods I do look like like quite the freak when I am out walking my dogs. But that has never bothered me much. ;)
 

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
The funny thing is I've noticed this more than once..,they love to bite people who seem to react badly to bites.

PS...I just ordered one of those shirts ...found it on Amazon. My special bracelets should arrive any day. I got three more bites yesterday. Im a candy bar with ice cream on top to those little sxxxs.
 
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pasajes4

Well-Known Member
My medication keeps mosquitoes away. The article also says that blood type o is very enticing and that A is a huge turn off followed by B. I am type A/B so they really don't want me.
 

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Pasajes...what medication are you on? I might have what you have....at least just for the summer.
 
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