Natural mosquito repellents: 4 natural methods to try

August 11, 2022

Every summer, mosquitoes become one of the greatest enemies to daily peace: for many hours during the day and throughout the night, they force us to chase them away using a whole series of remedies and products to do so. The main aim is to keep these blood-suckers away and to stop them from biting us (causing very irritating itching).

In addition to the sprays and various commercial products we can put directly on our skin - as well as the different types of mosquito traps that we can deploy around the house and the garden - we can also resort to some DIY remedies (based on natural ingredients), that will help us repel these annoying insects during the summer season. Listed below, are some remedies you can try:

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Coffee grounds: among the home remedies used, coffee grounds are perhaps most well known. They can be used in two different ways: 1) by distributing them on the ground in the areas where mosquitoes deposit their larvae, or 2) by burning them slowly like commercial mosquito coils.
- In the first case, this is a remedy that is unfortunately not effective against adult mosquitoes, but only serves to prevent them from laying their eggs in areas that have been sprinkled with coffee grounds (or even diluted coffee).
- In the second case, you need to put bone dry coffee grounds in a bowl lined with tinfoil (but tin containers, such as old tuna cans, are also fine), pour a little lighter fuel over them (not too much, or the grounds will will burn too quickly), light the grounds and then extinguish any flames as soon as the fire takes, (just like when lighting incense sticks). The grounds will burn slowly, producing a smoke that mosquitoes do not like.

Vinegar: Any type of vinegar works to repel mosquitoes, due to its intense and sour smell. In the case of white vinegars, however, it is necessary to dilute them first with water. Mosquitoes "taste" through their legs, and therefore, substances that have very strong tastes will keep them away. It even appears that people who consume a lot of apple cider vinegar manage to alter their natural smell sufficiently enough to make them "less palatable" to mosquitoes and other insects.

Mouthwash: This is a method that appears to be popular online (and the Listerine brand is often mentioned in this regard). But there are also many who report that using mouthwash is not really effective. What does (or should) work when using it as a repellent, is the fact that many mouthwashes contain eucalyptus oil, which repels mosquitoes. But this substance, however, is present only in tiny amounts and evaporates quickly. Because of this, it should be applied every half hour to have a truly appreciable effect.

Coconut oil: Another big favorite of DIY mosquito remedies is actually only indirectly effective. It is said that frequent use of coconut oil as an lotion will repel insects. Compared to diethyltoluamide (the substance found in almost every commercial repellent you can buy), coconut oil is much less effective. It serves mainly as a vector for other ingredients capable of warding off mosquitoes, and it is also true that it is not always recommended to cover the whole body with coconut oil, since in the long run, it can cause skin irritation.