I don't know about you, but I found the mosquitoes to be pretty ruthless this summer. I was bitten 10 times and through my jeans no less! With super sensitive skin, I tend to shy away from bug sprays and have tried everything from citronella candles to zap-its with no real relief.
Recently a friend suggested I try a combination of cinnamon oil and vodka, and to my surprise, no bites. Like most repellants, it must be reapplied hourly to all exposed skin. Certain oils like cinnamon, citronella, lemon eucalyptus and castor have been found to repel mosquitoes when combined with an alcohol or carrier oil.
Of course the best approach to dealing with those pesky bugs is the proactive route. Mosquitoes love dark clothing and fragrances, so steer clear of high hedges, gear up in lighter shades and avoid scented soaps, fragrances and even shampoos.
Remember, a little goes a long way, just 15 drops of oil to 2 tablespoons of vodka will suffice. If you mix too many oils and repellants the scent can turn into something more appealing to those dreaded insects.
Now that mosquitoes are out of the way, what about ants? Sure, they don't cause any real harm, but they do tend to ruin a perfectly good picnic. As a child I remember filling mostly empty bottles of lotion with water and dish soap and squirting ants around the house -- it worked, no lies! Since I don't imagine you'll want to run around spraying every ant you see, you can also try planting mint around your home. Not only does it smell and taste great to humans, it deters ants! Other natural repellants are cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves and even cucumber peels; keep these nearby to keep ants from ruining your summer fun.
The final pest? Fruit flies. No matter how clean a house is, if there is fruit there are usually fruit flies. I once heard that if you spray fruit flies with hairspray their wings would get stuck and they would simply fall to the ground. I considered trying this many times but I just don't like the idea of having hair-sprayed fruit flies all over my kitchen. So instead I create a sugary solution to trap and discard these little nuisances.
All you have to do is mix 1 cup of apple cider vinegar with 3-4 drops of dish soap, cover the solution with plastic wrap and poke a few tiny holes in the top, not too many, and not too close. The flies will fly in, get trapped and drown. If you prefer just capturing the flies to release later you can create a cone out of paper and place it in a jar of fruit bait, once the flies go into the cone, they get stuck and you can let them go outside.
Do you have any inexpensive and natural ways to eliminate bugs? Share them below!
Joy D'Souza is a web coordinator with Foodnetwork.ca and pilates instructor based in Toronto who loves to travel, plan parties, bake and try new things.
Follow Joy all month long on Slice.ca, HGTV.ca and Foodnetwork.ca as she brings you great ideas and tips for easy and fun summer entertaining.
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