3 Natural Ways to Keep Mosquito Away

Many people prefer to use natural mosquito repellents because of this method considered more affordable and safe instead of chemical products.

There are at least 3 common natural mosquito repellents which you can count on to be the best mosquito organic defence at home:

• Lemongrass
• Coffee grounds
• Garlic

Read on to see which one of these natural repellents which you can try at home!

Lemongrass

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) is a fragrant plant that has many positive uses for humans. These perennial herbs are one of the favourite scents of many people because it can radiate a pleasing and relaxing aroma when it is extracted to a variety of commercial products like perfume, aromatherapy, lotion and candles.

But, do mosquitoes hate lemongrass? The short answer is yes. Lemongrass contains citronella, natural oil that has been known among people of many cultures around the world as a natural ingredient to keep mosquitoes away.

According to a scientific study on the efficiency of the plant-based insect repellents in 2011, revealed that Citronella from lemongrass has a strong odour that able to repel mosquitoes over a 2.5 hour period and it also has proven to reduce mosquito landing around 40%.

How to make lemongrass mosquito repellent?

Follow these 5 minutes simple homemade mosquito repellent spray with lemongrass and essential oil.

Ingredients

• Lemongrass (1 piece)
• Essential oil (1 tablespoon)
• Water (2 cups - 473 ml)
• Small spray bottle (capacity 250 ml)
• Strainer

Directions

1. Wash and chop finely the lemongrass sticks.
2. Leave the chopped lemongrass in a blender and mix well.
3. Add a tablespoon of essential oil.
4. Boil water and add to the lemongrass mixture.
5. Drain using a strainer and put into a spray bottle.

Spray enough to open body parts that are easily bitten by mosquitoes such as hands and feet.

Coffee grounds

Coffee grounds are one of the often natural ingredients used as an insect and household pest repellents like cockroaches and ants. But, who would have thought if using burned coffee ground is also serve as a natural and safe mosquito repellent solution?

Many insects don't like the smell of coffee, and mosquitoes are one of them. Coffee grounds have a very strong smell, and even stronger when they are burned.

The common belief is the strong smell of burned coffee grounds can reliably block mosquitoes to track us from the emitted carbon dioxide that humans naturally exhale when they biting us.

How to make burn coffee grounds for mosquito repellent?

Here’s the complete list of ingredients and directions on how to burn used coffee grounds to repel mosquitoes at home:

Ingredients

• Used coffee grounds
• Aluminium foil
• Glass plate or bowl
• Charcoal
• Lighter

Directions

1. Remove the coffee grounds from your coffee maker.
2. Put them in a container and place it in a cool or dry area until it’s completely dry.
3. Once it dried, place them into a bowl or plate that cover with aluminium foil (to ensure that you are not burning the container too).
4. Ignite the coffee grounds by using hot charcoal until the coffee grounds start burning and smoking.

Once it starts burning and smoking, place it in a place or location in surface-level like on the top of a table or cabinets for the best results.

Garlic

Apparently, garlic can be more than just a perk up the flavour to your food. Garlic is known on its natural sulfur that is toxic when mosquitoes ingest it.

Thus, homemade garlic-based natural mosquito repellent getting more popular since many people's beliefs that its strong smell are able to offer mild protection to pesky flying insects like mosquitoes.

By utilizing the amino acid content found in garlic, eating large amounts of garlic and/or rubbing garlic on your body are beliefs help to make your body more unattractive for mosquitoes to bite. Though, there is another way to make use of garlic without needing you to eat it - for example by making garlic mosquito repellent sprays.

How to make garlic spray to repel mosquitoes?

Steps and ingredients how to make garlic mosquito repellent spray at home:

Ingredients

• 3 cloves of garlic
• Water (2 cups = 473 ml)
• Spray bottle (capacity 250 ml)

Directions

• Blend 3 cloves of garlic with a little extra water to make a better liquid in the mixer or blender.
• Pour the liquid using a strainer into a spray bottle to separate the solids from the oil.
• Add the rest of the water into the spray bottle, mix well.

You can apply this garlic spray to kill larvae as well as to stop mosquito eggs from hatching in the mosquito breeding sites or in a place where water normally stagnates found around the home, such as:

• Buckets
• Vases
• Flower Pot saucers
• Trash can

Natural mosquito repellents vs pest control service

With a wealth of information about homemade natural mosquito repellents on the Internet, raises new questions to many homeowners when measuring the effectiveness of these cheap and easy methods: do natural mosquito repellents work?

Natural mosquito repellents

The natural mosquito repellents can be working well depends on how high is the mosquito infestation level at your place. If you have a small infestation, natural products may be can work pretty well for you.

However, you have to remember that the natural remedies itself may have a health and safety risk as well as not be the best long-term solution for your mosquito problems, these include:

• Lemongrass spray – can cause irritation or allergic reactions in some people when it applies to sensitive skins.
• Coffee grounds – can cause a fire at home when it’s not well made. Other than that, it can also harm your children’s safety when they are able to access the incense you made.
• Garlic spray – maybe work for a short period, but once its savour is gone, mosquitoes are ready to return back and start breeding at your property.

Professional mosquito control service

By enlisting the help of professional mosquito control service, you can be assured to assess mosquito populations and limit breeding on your property. A professional mosquito control service can provide total-mosquito control solutions through:

• Understanding mosquito behaviour.
• Identifying the most prevalent mosquito species at your property.
• Monitoring and controlling mosquito populations - so that they can use the best control techniques for any situation based on your needs.

Stop mosquitoes from invading your yard or home and avoid health risks. Contact Rentokil today!