Author: Joy Iafallo, Associate Real Estate Broker
It’s Springtime in the great Northeast and you know what that means… all the bugs are coming out to play! Repellent can be costly and full of harsh chemicals. Before running to the store, try these homemade recipes with items from your kitchen!
Sometimes when you think of owning a home, you imagine that it’s all paint colors and everything you see on HGTV. But once you’re settled, you’ll realize there’s more to taking care of your property, and that includes battling pesty insects.
The two bugs that are on my mind, in particular, are ants and ticks. It’s only May and personally, I’ve had to deal with both already. For both, ants and ticks, I use natural homemade repellent recipes to deter these little guys from sharing my home with me and my family.
There are many recipes you can find Online, but I want to share the one that has proven effective to protect my two young daughters. This homemade tick repellent recipe uses equal parts water and white vinegar, and about 10 drops each of eucalyptus oil and peppermint oil. I’ve been using it for a couple of years and it really works well, plus these ingredients should not stain your clothing. I use an old Windex bottle to really spray my kids good! And of course, don’t forget to spray yourself and even your pets.
If (and inevitably when) a tick finds its way into your life, there is this great website called to ticknology.org where you can mail the tick to their lab for testing. They will email you the results so you can see if it is positive for Lyme Disease. For $25 you can get results in 3-5 days. Having the peace-of-mind of knowing whether the tick was dangerous or not is worth the cost!
The other bugs that I’ve had to deal with lately are ants. In addition to the spray recipe above, you can also make homemade ant traps! These traps consist of soaking cotton balls in a Borax and sugar mixture and placing them on bottle caps. Place the traps where you see the ants most, but make sure it’s out of reach of children and pets. The hardest part is to not kill the ants when you see them. You have to let them eat the mixture and then go back to the colony and share. I’ve found this usually works within a few days and the ants don’t return.
Hopefully, these recipes help bring protection and relief to you and your home this Spring! See the links below for the sources of these recipes and more information:
http://wtaq.com/blogs/the-great-outdoors/158/home-made-tick-repellent-so-cheap-and-so-easy/