With summer in full swing, the arrival of insects is inevitable. Cockroaches, flies, ants, centipedes, and, of course, mosquitoes could all possibly end up in your living space, no matter how hard you try to keep it clean.
If you’re thinking about how to bug proof your home we have some tips for you! As well to keeping your apartment clean, incorporating homemade insect repellents, and DIY insect killers are an effective way to avoid being bothered by the bugs. From natural flying insect repellent for your house to a natural ingredient mosquito bug repellent spray, and homemade ant killer too; here are our go-to recipes.
Homemade Ant Killer Using Borax and Sugar
Ingredients:
¾ cup warm water
1 tbsp borax
⅓ cup sugar
When considering how to bug proof your home, the first step is sorting out the ants. Ants are often around in summer, especially where there is food involved. Small insects can easily make their way into homes, so here is our DIY solution for getting rid of ants.
Borax is a popular product used for killing ants. However, when making a homemade ant killer, borax needs to be mixed with something else. It can’t simply be used by itself because the ants won’t eat the borax. This is why you add sugar, or something sweet into the homemade mix so that the ants will feast on it.
You only need three ingredients to make a homemade ant killer; borax, sugar, and warm water. You’ll also need some balls of cotton wool that you can use to soak up the DIY mix.
The first step in making the homemade ant killer; borax. You want a mix of roughly 3 parts sugar to one part borax, and a small amount of water for the mix to dissolve into.
Mix 1 tablespoon of borax with around ¾ of a cup of warm water. Next, mix in the ⅓ cup of sugar and stir until it has all dissolved. Soak cotton wool balls in the mix and place them on the surfaces close to the ants. Make sure to place the cotton wool balls on top of something, such as wax paper to make things easier to clean up.
If you don’t have sugar available, you could also make a paste of borax and combine it with either honey, maple syrup, or peanut butter.
DIY Flying Insect Repellent For Your Home
Ingredients:
A combination of 2-4 of these essential oils: Lavender essential oil, lemon eucalyptus oil, citronella oil, rosemary oil, peppermint oil, cinnamon oil, or dill oil.
White vinegar
Distilled water
A glass spray bottle
It’s worth making a flying insect repellent for your home, which you can pull out as the sun goes down and spritz around your living space or use outside if you are spending time outside at night.
When making a flying insect repellent you will need a combination of essential oils, white vinegar, and distilled water. Lavender and lemon eucalyptus work really well as all round bug repellents. Peppermint works well for mosquitoes and spiders, cinnamon, thyme, and lavender are good for mosquitoes, and dill is good for repelling cockroaches.
One combination you may want to try is lavender, lemon eucalyptus, and citronella oil. First, mix ¼ cup of water with ¼ cup of white vinegar, and combine this with around 15 drops of each essential oil. So 15 drops of lavender, 15 drops of lemon eucalyptus, and 15 drops of citronella.
Mosquito Bug Repellent Spray For Skin
Ingredients:
2 drops of lavender essential oil or lemon eucalyptus oil
20 drops of witch hazel
Glass spray bottle
You may be searching for how to bug proof your home, but when it comes to mosquitoes, sometimes the easiest solution is to protect yourself from them with a repellent you can put on your skin. Mosquito repellent sprays can be costly, and they often contain a lot of harmful chemicals that you don’t want to be using. Here’s where a DIY bug repellent spray comes in handy.
Essential oils are very much essential when it comes to repelling a variety of bugs and insects, and mosquitoes are no exception. For any bug repellent spray for mosquitoes, in particular, you want to choose an essential oil and combine it with a carrier that is safe for your skin, such as witch hazel.
Generally, both lavender essential oils and lemon eucalyptus essential oils work well in a natural mosquito bug repellent spray. Choose one of these and combine 1 part essential oil with 10 parts witch hazel and place the mix into a glass spray bottle for easy application. You could also use a mix of apple cider vinegar and witch hazel as the carrier.
It’s important to mix the essential oil with a carrier ingredient because they aren’t safe to apply directly onto your skin. Some other essential oils also have repellent properties but they may not be safe for the skin, so please avoid these in your DIY bug repellent spray.
Please be careful as test a small amount first in case of an allergic reaction. Oils can stain clothing so please apply the flying insect repellent carefully.
Other Tips on How to Bug Proof Your Home
As well as homemade insect repellents, one very helpful item to bring into your home are citronella candles. Citronella is a mix of essential oils and citronella candles work very well as a flying insect repellent – as a bonus it will leave your home smelling beautiful too!
Instead of making an essential oil bug repellent spray for your house, you could experiment with an essential oil diffuser. This can create a calming ambiance in your living space whilst also helping to reduce the number of insects that hang around.
We hope these DIY bug repellents help you out this summer! For more tips on how to bug proof your home, please check out our post on Tips for Avoiding Insects in Japan.