Tis the season when the mosquitoes will carry you away. Any natural remedies yall can recommend?

[raccoon]

I mean, something to put on your skin to keep them away.

[d_r]

1. this is just my opinion

You might get a LITTLE break from a few things. Try this, but no guarantee.
Get some fresh basil leaves and some garlic and some cinnamon, break out the garlic cloves and peel them and squash them in to a pot and put in the basil leaves and cinnamon and boil them in a cup of water. Bring it to a boil then let it sit for three hours. Then pour it through a stainer and catch the liquid. Mix it with a cup of vodka and a bottle of tea tree oil. And spray it on your EXPOSED SKIN! DON"T DRINK IT!!!

[pinboy3niner]

2. Sounds interesting

But it probably tastes awful!

Unless you hold the basil, hold the garlic, hold the cinnamon, hold the water, and skip the boiling and straining and tea tree oil.

[d_r]

3. OH GOD DON"t DRINK IT

spray it on you. DON"T DRINK THAT. DON"T DRINK TEA TREE OIL!!!!

Put it on your skin. Put it in spray bottle.

[alcina]

26. Good idea

Then you probably won't care too much about the bites.

[pinboy3niner]

27. I see we're on the same wavelength

And we probably choose the same Screwdriver.

[hobbit709]

4. Eat lots of garlic.

Very few of those bloodsuckers ever bite me.

[a kennedy]

5. This time of year is a pain in the neck for my husband, me? no problem....he's an attractor....

I feel so bad for him, he'll be mowing the lawn and have at least 10 mosquitoes on his back and I won't have one. He's not the putting liquid stuff on exposed skin type either...so I just rub dryer sheets on his clothes and that helps, but he IS just an attractor. He hates this time of year. I've heard the "skin so soft" product is good. Good luck.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Catnip. The oil is said to be an effective mosquito repellent.

Here's a recipe: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/using-catnip-to-repel-mosquitoes-and-insects

There may be a side effect, though: Cats.

[Avalux]

8. I'll second this one!

I've tried catnip and it works for my daughter. She's an easy target for mosquitoes....they hate me so I've never had to worry about it.

[a kennedy]

7. Just saw this: consumer reports weighs in on insect repellents:

http://www.today.com/health/consumer-reports-tests-reveal-best-insect-repellents-t20756?cid=par-huffpost-gravity

Lots of heavy duty drugs though. Ugh......

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

9. mosquitoes

I've heard good things about an Avon product called skin-so-soft.

In my experience mosquitoes generally prefer hot to cold, wet to dry, dirty to clean, old to young and male to female.



Hot, all wet dirty old men have it worst.

[lastlib]

10. My sister swears by taking vitamin B-1 during bug seasons......

Can't find any empirical data that it actually works, but she seems to have less problem with bugs when she uses it.

[pinboy3niner]

11. I tried that but the mosquitos just escalated; they started taking Vitamin B-2

[lastlib]

12. Hmmmm......Stealth skeeters.........

no defense against those.......they don't show up on radar.............

[pinboy3niner]

13. Time for us to escalate

Death B-4 dishonor!

[lastlib]

20. Could we try F-117?

(of COURSE you don't see a plane--it's a STEALTH fighter! )

[mackerel]

14. We have citronella plant in the front yard and back yard.

We rarely get mosquitos.

[mainer]

16. Only DEET works effectively and longterm

citronella lotion repels for only about 15 minutes.

[femmocrat]

17. Some say Avon "Skin so Soft" works.

I just saw some kind of lemon and eucalyptus stuff on a TV report too. It looks pretty good. I'll try it if I can find it.

They bite the living heck out of me regardless and I can't stand those oily repellents on my skin.

[RebelOne]

23. Yes, it works fine. I used to soak my dog with it in South Florida.

Now I use the oral remedies that repel ticks and fleas and prevent heartworms.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. Chain-smoke

Mosquitoes don't like the smoke.

It'll kill you, but you won't die itchy.

[raccoon]

25. Yeah, that was one advantage to smoking. nt

[Yo_Mama]

19. Horse radish. Eat it.

If they are really determined nothing will stop them, as in a GA swamp, but if the density is less you will notice a real difference. The horseradish also tends to make horseflies and wasps/hornets veer off.

[LiberalElite]

21. Mosquitos LOOOOOOOVE me -

I'm breakfast, lunch, dinner and a midnight snack for them. A good friend isn't bothered by them at all. She claims it's because she likes to drink vinegar.

[Dont call me Shirley]

22. Reduce sugar intake. Take vitamin B-12 regularly. Skin-So-Soft Spray by Avon.

[Flaxbee]

24. I was just looking at options - here are two links

NOTE: Many of these are just for planting in containers to keep the buggers away from your porch, but a few can be eaten and/or rubbed on skin. The articles note which are useful for direct application - not necessarily as convenient as a lotion, but much less toxic.

Catnip is 10 times more effective than DEET, by the way (and you can rub crushed catnip on your skin - but be prepared for extra feline attention!).

http://www.gardenista.com/posts/first-aid-kit-5-essential-healing-cure-plants-to-grow-summer

http://www.motherearthliving.com/gardening/fresh-clips-herbs-to-repel-insects.aspx?newsletter=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=MEL%20eNews&utm_campaign=5.22.14%20MEL#axzz32MWr9yqp