Safe DIY Pest Control

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DIY Bug Repellants

Your diet may have something to do with your popularity with the mosquitoes. To reduce your attractiveness, you may want to forgo bananas during mosquito season. According to alternative health nutritionist Dr. Janet Starr Hull¹¹, “there’s something about how your body processes the banana oil that attracts these female sugar-loving insects.” She also recommends supplementing with one vitamin B-1 tablet a day from April through October, and then adding 100 mg of B-1 to a B-100 Complex daily during the mosquito season to make you less attractive to mosquitoes.
Regularly consuming garlic or garlic capsules may also help protect against both mosquito and tick bites. Bear in mind, the best way to avoid ticks is to make sure you tuck your pants into your socks and wear closed shoes and a hat—especially if venturing out into wooded areas. You can also make your own mosquito repellent using any of the following:

• Cinnamon leaf oil (one study found it was more effective at killing mosquitoes than DEET)
• Clear liquid vanilla extract mixed with olive oil
• Wash with citronella soap, and then put some 100% pure citronella essential oil on your skin. Java Citronella is considered the highest quality citronella on the market
• Catnip oil (according to one study, this oil is 10 times more effective than DEET¹²)

Another option is to use the safe solution I formulated to repel mosquitoes, fleas, chiggers, ticks, and other biting insects. It's a natural insect repellant with a combination of citronella, lemongrass oil, peppermint oil, and vanillin. An independent study showed it was more effective than a product containing 100 percent DEET. And it's safe for you, your children, and your pets.

Safer Alternatives for Ant, Roach, Lice and Flea Control

With mosquito control out of the way, what about other pesky bugs? Not to worry, there are safer alternatives for most infestations. For example:

• Knock out roaches, ants and termites with boric acid powder. Sprinkle some in the inner corners of your cabinets and in the corners under your cabinets. Pests will carry it back to their nests on their feet and kill the remainder of the infestation. Boric acid is generally non-toxic for animals, but you’d still be well-advised to place it in areas where your pet will not ingest or inhale it, as it kills bugs by causing dehydration.
• Treat head lice with an old-fashioned nit comb and essential oils of anise and ylang ylang, combined into a spray. This has been found to be highly effective in eliminating over 90 percent of head lice.
• Control your pet’s fleas and ticks with safe, natural pest repellents, such as:
• Cedar oil
• Natural, food-grade diatomaceous earth
• Fresh garlic -- work with your holistic vet to determine a safe amount for your pet’s body weight
• Feeding your pet a balanced, species-appropriate diet. The healthier your dog or cat is, the less appealing she’ll be to parasites. A biologically appropriate diet supports a strong immune system.
• Bathing and brushing your pet regularly and performing frequent full-body inspections to check for parasite activity.