Which Scents Keep Mosquitoes Away From Your Home?
There are multiple scents that keep blood sucking mosquitoes away from a person’s home. Five of the scents are citronella, peppermint, basil, garlic, and lemon balm.
Citronella oil comes from a lemongrass plant. This oil is commonly put into candles and tiki torches that are lit outside. The scent immediately helps repel the bugs away. This oil is also incorporated into bug spray. People are able to rub the oil directly on to their skin, or mix it with other oils to create their own deterrent. The plant is visually appealing, so a person could plant it outside of their house. Citronella is not 100 percent effective, but it works well for being a natural oil.
Peppermint is another great mosquito repellant. It alters the mosquitoes senses causing them to flee, but it is not completely effective. It is still possible for the mosquitoes to land, and bite a person, even with the peppermint aroma. The peppermint can come as an oil, or it can be planted around a person’s house. A person may also rub the leaves directly on their skin. If a person does get bitten by a mosquito, they can use peppermint to relieve the itching sensation. It is a two in one!
Basil works which is shocking because most people assume it is just used in cooking! The scent of the basil is very strong, especially to the mosquitoes. It causes the mosquitoes to simply go a different direction most of the time. A person obviously doesn’t want to rub basil all over their body, so the most effective way to use basil is by planting it in your yard. It will decrease the overall population of mosquitoes in a person’s yard causing the percentage of bug bites to decrease as well.
Garlic is another cooking necessity that can be used to repel these irritating mosquitoes. With this substance, just by eating it a person is repelling mosquitoes. The garlic is a part of the onion family, and it masks a persons natural scent causing the mosquitoes to not be as attracted to them. The active ingredient that causes this to happen is allicin. A person can also cut up the garlic cloves and place them throughout the yard space. They can mix oils, one being garlic, and create a yard or personal bug spray. The smell is very irritating for the mosquitoes causing them to get a taste of their own medicine.
Lastly, lemon balm which is another member of the mint family. The scent is very calming for humans, but it is unpleasant for many bugs and insects. People should grow this plant in areas where they really do not want mosquitos to be around. The plant looks very similar to a mint leaf plant, and it will not cause the visual appeal of your yard to go down. A person is able to rub the crushed leaves onto their skin to act as a repellent. It has many other great benefits besides repelling mosquitoes.
