I learned something new today.  Repellant and repellent are both correct.  So whether you make “bug repellent” or “bug repellant” with your essential oils is up to you.

Why Do Essential Oils Make Good Bug Repellants?

When you take a vitamin, you’re getting that one single nutrient in isolation, separate from all the various chemicals that naturally occur together with it in foods.  When you eat (real) food, you not only get the vitamin, you get a whole collection of chemicals that work together — some in ways we don’t yet understand.  In fact, some of the chemicals may even be things we’ve not yet identified and don’t understand.

Something similar happens with essential oils.  When you use essential oils, you’re not using one isolated constituent; you’re using a naturally-occurring set of constituents that work together synergistically.  That’s just not the same as a bottle of DEET.

Which Essential Oils Make Good Bug Repellants?

This synergism does not mean that every essential oil is effective for repelling bugs!  There are particular oils that are known for being good bug repellants.  Some of these include:

• bergamot
• clary sage
• eucalyptus (of several varieties, including lemon eucalyptus)
• ginger
• juniper
• lavender
• lemongrass

How to Use Essential Oils As Bug Repellants

First of all, don’t forget about safety.  If you plan to use the repellant directly on your skin, don’t use photosensitizing oils (like bergamot), and if you plant to use it on young children, be mindful of which oils you include.

Second, use a blend if you can.  You can use a single oil, if you prefer, but different oils are more effective against different pests, so a combination of oils will give you broader protection.

Third, choose a means of application.  You can add your blend to a lotion.  Dilute it in a base oil and put it in a roller bottle, or dilute it in water and vinegar (or alcohol) and put it in a spritzer.  Drop it onto clothing or accessories.

If you need to repel pests from a space, as opposed to your person, you can diffuse the blend, or use it in a candle.  To do that, light the candle and let it burn long enough to create a small pool of wax at the top.  Blow out the candle, drip the essential oil into that melted pool of wax, then relight the candle.  (Don’t add the oils to a burning candle as some are quite flammable and it might flare up.)

[Need oils for your homemade repellants?  Check out my essential oil shop here.]

The information in this post is, as always, provided for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any illness.  Nothing here has been evaluated or approved by the FDA.