Fresh Mint Bug Spray July 8, 2013 in Body, DIY, Recipe | 32 comments I once read that Calgary has two seasons: winter and mosquitoes. I’m betting we’re not the only place that feels that way. With all the rain and flooding we’ve had this year, there is enough standing water to birth a few thousand platoons of the bothersome creatures, and I find myself swatting at various appendages like a crazy person whenever I’m outside. Ugh. 13-07-08-pic01 While deet is very effective against bugs, it can also melt plastic bags and do other dodgy things, so when I can avoid (a.k.a. when I am not in Manitoba… haha), I like to. This bug spray gets its power from mint infused water (thanks for the tip, Sarah!) and a healthy dose of a wide variety of essential oils that the little vampires are supposed to hate. This recipe is about 10% essential oils by volume, which (according to my research) strikes a good balance between being effective but not irritating to the skin. 13-07-08-pic05 13-07-08-pic08 I first tested it out on one of many walks surveying the flood damage back in June. We were walking along a ridge, looking out at the river, and losing blood by the pint. We hadn’t bothered applying the spray at home, but we were both spritzing within 200m of my door. And it worked! Brilliant! While the hordes of skeeters still swarmed us, they didn’t land on our sprayed skin. Phew. 13-07-08-pic04 13-07-08-pic10 As we were walking we spotted a fellow about 25m out who was doing the mosquito inspired Charleston—flailing about, slapping and wiping and generally just reeking of the agony and frustration only a hoard of mosquitoes can cause. We struck up a conversation with him and learned he had just moved here from Egypt, and had been in Canada for 6 months. And oh boy, did our mosquitoes love his fresh blood. I shared some bug spray with him—well, I spritzed it on him after he said he wanted some, because he couldn’t stop slapping himself long enough to take the bottle from me and do it himself—and we advised the calamine lotion was good for the itching. We ran into him again on our way back and he said it was working, so awesome! 13-07-08-pic11 If you’re worried about the cost of the essential oils, don’t be! If you drop the geranium (the most expensive of the oils), you can get a 15mL bottle of each for a total of $25—and you won’t use anywhere close to all of the oils, so you’ll have plenty left over for all your other projects! Fresh Mint Bug Spray 1 cup loosely packed mint leaves Boiling water, as needed 3g lemon eucalyptus essential oil 2g peppermint essential oil 2g citronella essential oil 2g lemongrass essential oil 2g lavender essential oi 10 drops clove essential oil 10 drops cinnamon essential oil 10 drops geranium essential oil (optional) Equal volume of solubilizer to essential oils; approximately 35g (optional, though it won’t emulsify without it, so you’ll have to shake vigourously before each spritz) Tear up the mint leaves a bit and place them in a Pyrex measuring cup. Fill with boiling water to the 1 cup line and let steep overnight. The next morning, strain the mint leaves out of the water. Discard the leaves, reserve the water. In a 250mL mason jar, measure out the essential oils. Top off with an equal volume (not weight!) of solubilizer, and stir to dissolve. Slowly add 100mL (=100g) of the mint water, stirring after the first addition to incorporate. Decant what you can into a small spray bottle and store the rest in the sealed mason jar in the fridge.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 20:10:34 +0000
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