Tips to Bug-Proof Your Home with Essential Oils
Bug-proof your home with essential oil recipes you can make yourself!
I have nothing against bugs like ants and spiders—they are so beneficial to our world—but I do like them to stay outside of my house... and not live in my mailbox!
One year after we had moved into a new house, we found our mailbox was infested with ants and spiders. That was going to make getting the mail every day quite the adventure! We decided to try using essential oils to get the bugs to "bug out."So we carefully cleaned out the mailbox with a paper towel soaked in water and Peppermint essential oil. Then we left a Peppermint-scented paper towel in the mailbox.
It worked! Bugs, it turns out, don't care much for the scent of Peppermint.
I wanted to share this and some other tips to bug-proof your home with essential oils.
If you have an ant problem, try placing cotton balls with a few drops of Peppermint essential oil (Mentha x piperita) on them at the places where you think the ants are coming in, and along any trails they usually make through your house.
Make your own Aromatherapy bug spray! I have a recipe here that you can use.
To keep spiders and pests out of drawers and cabinets, put a few drops of Eucalyptus essential oil (Eucalyptus globulus) on a cotton ball or paper towel, and place it at the back of the drawer.
Discourage moths from living in your closet! Soak a few paper towels in Frankincense hydrosol (Boswellia carterii). Add two drops of Juniper essential oil (Juniperus communis) and two drops of Cedarwood (Juniperus virginiana) essential oil to each paper towel. Drape them over the horizontal bars of a few clothes hangers in your closet. If your hangers don't have horizontal bars, you can just drape the wet paper towel over the neck of the hanger. It will dry there and stay in place. (You can also use this trick in drawers.)
Discourage mosquitoes from settling on screen doors, so they don't find their way in when you open the door. Make a spray with 1 oz (30 ml) water and 18 drops Patchouli essential oil (Pogostemon cablin). Spritz it on your screens.
Worried about bed bugs? Make a linen spray with 4 oz (120 ml) Frankincense hydrosol (Boswellia carterii), 10 drops Palmarosa essential oil (Cymbopogon martini var. motia), and 8 drops Cedarwood essential oil (Juniperus virginiana). Make your blend in a 4 oz (120 ml) glass spray bottle.
Diffusing essential oils, using room sprays, and burning incense are also helpful for repelling flying insects from your space. Use the essential oils I mentioned above to get creative! For the blends with water and hydrosols, I recommend making them fresh every few weeks.
