Citronella Oil is considered by most people in the natural health industry to be the best alternative to DEET oriented mosquito repellants. Pretty much all the natural repellants on the market today are based on citronella oil as there main ingredient. This includes many of the name brand natural products you may be familiar with like Burt’s Bees and Jason’s.
Citronella oil is derived from a heat loving plant that grows as an annual in the United States. It has attractive lavender blooms. Just growing the plant in your garden or especially on your patio can deter many unwanted pest including mosquitoes. The odor of the plant is very strong and many bugs and animals don’t like it. Most of the citronella oil in the world is grown in China and Indonesia.
The United States FDA (Food and Drug Administration) states that citronella has little or no toxicity when applied for use as a topical insect repellant. Over a 60 year period there has been no adverse reactions reported. I believe that all insect repellants, even natural ones should be used sparingly and with caution. There is little question that when compared to DEET citronella is a much better and safer choice, but don’t overuse any of these products.
Pure deet is not good for kids or animals - using citronella is a much better alternative. I have a number of candles on the patio that seem to work well.
Great post and good site. I have been looking for a good deet alternative for a while. Thanks.
I was in the jungle a couple of months ago and was concerned about using DEET. I ended up taking Vit-A and Vit-D plus used a lavender/lemon oil. It worked! Thanks for the post.
i used deet last onth when i was abroad and it is okay but i wouldn't use it on kids or animals, i don't think it is good for them
This is very interesting. I have a big forest behind my house and sooo many bugs find their way to my backyard. I'll pass this along to my wife and see where we can get some of those Citronella plant seeds.
Thanks
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This was a very nice read with a lot of information within! Awesome article by the author! I will absolutely try to grow citronella in our backyard as it is not only a good insect repellant but also can beautify your environment. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Citronellas are very nice plants to look at. We actually have it in our backyard but didn't know it was a good mosquito repellant. So that's how explains it. No mosquito bites! Thanks for the info.
What an awesome blog! You've taught me significant information on citronella as an effecinative mostquito repellant from this article. I appreciate you for taking the effort to extend this topic so comprehensively. I look forward to learning more on your upcoming posts. Thanks.