As part of my Eco Living series this year I've decided to try and find more natural ways to protect the family from these pesky bugs and my first attempt is with citronella candles. I had some beeswax left over from my homemade lip balms which I melted down and added some citronella essential oil too. I put loads of essential oil in because I wasn't sure how much I needed in order for it to be effective so it certainly smells strong enough. I want to make some more but I've realised I'm going to need a whole lot more beeswax as you need a fair bit to make a decent sized candle.
I also found this organic mosquito spray in our local Biocoop to try. I hate the smell of our usual mosquito spray and usually avoid putting it on if I can. The kids in summer often get really bitten at night so I was looking for something more natural that we could try on them. It's pretty heavy on the essential oils (lavender, citronella and eucalyptus to name a few) so it smells quite strong, but in a good way. I'll let you know how we get on with it. I'm keen to try making my own mosquito spray so if you have any good recipes do pass them on, and any other tips that you have for preventing mosquito bites.
We've tried using citronella. I think the spring weather affects how bad our mosquitoes are. We live near a river too. #GoingGrenLinky
ReplyDeleteWe're not anywhere near a river! It just seems to be one of those things living in the French countryside!
DeleteMOH always gets bitten much more than me, but we haven't had much luck with citronella - hope you had better luck #goinggreenlinky
ReplyDeleteSame here! My husband always gets bitten more that me. He's my insect repellent!!
DeleteWe use citronella canles against mosquitoes and as I fished my last citronella candle last year I may look at making my own. Where did you get beeswax in France, Becky? And did the biocoop repellent work as younger son otherwise gets eaten alive at night (no idea why he is more susceptible than anyone else but he is poor, lad. Thank you for adding this idea to the #GoingGreenLinky ... now all we need is for summer to arrive!
ReplyDeleteI order my beeswax online...usually from baldwins.co.uk The biocoop repellent seemed to work for us. It's pretty smelly! But at least it's all natural!
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