DIY Natural Oil Mosquito Repellent That Actually Works!

Skip the chemicals—this DIY natural mosquito repellent is a simple, effective way to keep bugs away!

Made with just a few ingredients, this DIY essential oil spray is safe for kids and adults alike, and it truly works. Whether you’re headed to the backyard or out on a hike, this essential oil mosquito spray will help you enjoy the outdoors without those pesky itchy bites.

I live in the woods of New Hampshire, and we have an abundance of mosquitoes every year. I’ve tried many different versions of ready-made natural bug repellents, but I always come back to our homemade mosquito repellent recipes.

Today, I’m sharing 2 different natural mosquito repellent sprays and a roll-on, too! Choose your favorite, they all work great!

Erika Bragdon is a Certified Essential Oil Coach from the Essential Oil Institute

Why should I use an essential oil mosquito repellent?

Essential oils work very well in effectively keeping the bugs away.

A homemade mosquito spray with essential oils is incredibly easy (and fast!) to make, and it’s more cost-effective when compared to natural store-bought repellents. That’s because a bottle of essential oil will last a very long time, allowing you to make many batches.

Essential Oils that Repel Mosquitoes

In this post, I’m including 3 different recipes so you can have options to try as you figure out what blend works best at repelling mosquitoes for you.

Here is a list of essential oils that fight off those pesky bugs:

• arborvitae
• catnip
• cedarwood
• citronella
• eucalyptus
• geranium
• lavender
• lemon eucalyptus (eucalyptus citriodora)
• lemongrass
• litsea
• patchouli
• peppermint
• tea tree oil (melaleuca)
• thyme
• vetiver

🦟 Bug Repelling Essential Oils Ebook! ↓

3 Essential Oil Mosquito Spray Recipes to Try

I personally use a higher concentration of essential oils with my own family (ages 8+) than what I have listed in this post, as we’ve found the blends not to be as effective for us in the lower dilution rates.

You will find the commonly recommended diluted rates in the blends here. If you want to increase the number of drops as I did, you should only do so gradually and after you’ve tested out the original recipe.

For this post, I have included some essential oil bug blends for kids at a 1% dilution rate.

Essential Oil Mosquito Spray Recipe #1

Homemade Mosquito Spray Ingredients:

This is a 2% dilution rate. I personally increase it to 4% for my family (my kids are 10 and older) for better results, but I always recommend starting with less essential oils.

• 4 oz glass spray bottle
• 2 oz witch hazel or apple cider vinegar
• 2 oz water
• 10 drops catnip essential oil
• 10 drops litsea essential oil OR lemon eucalyptus
• 8 drops citronella essential oil
• 8 drops lemongrass or lemon eucalyptus essential oil
• 8 drops arborvitae or patchouli

*If you use a larger container, make sure you increase the essential oils accordingly.

For ages 2-6, try this blend instead…

• 5 drops catnip
• 5 drops lemon eucalyptus
• 5 drops citronella
• 4 drops patchouli

…with approximately 2 oz of water and 2 oz of witch hazel or apple cider vinegar. This is diluted to about 1%, which is the conservative recommendation for children.

Essential Oil Bug Spray Recipe #2

Homemade Bug Spray Ingredients:

• 4 oz glass spray bottle
• 2 oz witch hazel or apple cider vinegar
• 2 oz water
• 10 drops lemon eucalyptus
• 8 drops rosemary essential oil
• 8 drops tea tree (melaleuca essential oil)
• 8 drops cedarwood essential oil
• 8 drops thyme essential oil

*If you use a larger container, make sure you increase the essential oils accordingly.

For ages 2-6, try this blend instead…

• 5 drops tea tree or melaleuca
• 5 drops cedarwood
• 5 drops citronella
• 6 drops lemon eucalyptus

…with approximately 2 oz of water and 2 oz of witch hazel or apple cider vinegar. This is diluted to about 1%, which is the conservative recommendation for children.

How to Make Homemade Mosquito Spray:

1. Add the essential oils to your spray bottle.

2. Fill your bottle about halfway with witch hazel. You can eyeball it; exact measuring is not required.

3. Fill the remainder of the bottle with distilled water. 

4. Label your bottle (optional, but recommended). Print this free homemade mosquito spray label, or make a label using a label maker or a permanent marker on masking tape.

Tips for Effective Use

To get the best results with your homemade mosquito repellent, follow these tips:

• Shake well before using it, every time.
• For adults and older children, spray in multiple places, especially on the neck, knees, ankles, etc.
• NEVER spray in or near your eyes. If the mosquitoes are especially nasty, you can spray a little on your hands and then carefully rub it on your forehead, cheeks, etc.

Essential Oil Mosquito Repellent Roller

An essential oil roller blend is a great alternative to a spray and actually lasts longer in my family’s experience, although it takes longer to apply than quickly spraying.

Mosquito Off Roller Blend Recipe #1

• 10ml roller bottle
• fractionated coconut oil or your favorite carrier oil
• 2 drops catnip
• 2 drops litsea or lemon eucalyptus
• 2 drops citronella
• 2 drops lemongrass or lemon eucalyptus
• 1 drop arborvitae

The above blend is about a 10% dilution rate. In my personal experience, it doesn’t work as well when I’ve tried lower dilution rates.

This blend is a good place to start with children ages 2-6:

1.5% diluted rate for this blend:

• 1 drop catnip
• 1 drop lemon eucalyptus
• 1 drop citronella

Mosquito Repellent Roller Blend #2

• 10ml roller bottle
• fractionated coconut oil or your favorite carrier oil
• 2 drops lemon eucalyptus
• 2 drops rosemary
• 2 drops tea tree (melaleuca)
• 2 drops cedarwood
• 1 drop thyme

1.5% diluted rate for this blend:

• 1 drop lemon eucalyptus
• 1 drop tea tree
• 1 drop cedarwood

To make your roller blend…

Add the essential oils to your roller bottle…

…and fill with fractionated coconut oil. Add the rollerball and cap.

Where do I apply this essential oil mosquito repellent roller blend?

Shake well; this helps distribute the oils more evenly.

You may apply this to the back of the neck, elbows, knees (including behind them), ankles, and wrists.

If it’s super buggy out, I have occasionally rolled this on my temples and forehead to ward off those annoying mosquitoes.

The Fastest Essential Oil Mosquito Repellent Method

Don’t have the supplies to make this homemade mosquito spray? Or don’t feel like buying the different essential oils you don’t already have?

I highly recommend Eden’s Garden Repel essential oil blend.

It works VERY well to effectively keep away mosquitoes and other pests, like black flies, gnats, flies, etc., and it’s inexpensive.

I’ve used it often when I haven’t had a spare 5 minutes to mix up one of my own blends.

One day, I was waiting with my kids for the bus (school runs into late June for us), and we started getting bitten up horribly by both mosquitoes and black flies. I ran inside, grabbed my bottle of Repel and my carrier oil, quickly diluted it, and rubbed the mixture on my kids and myself.

Immediately, we noticed the bugs starting to ignore us. I even experienced a mosquito fly up to my arm and then fly away. Success!

Buy it here: Eden’s Garden Repel

You can get a ready-made Repel Roll-on too! Just buy and roll it right on!

DEET-Free Natural Insect Repellents You Can Buy

Don’t want to DIY? Check these out instead:

• Herbal Energetics sells a ready-made bug repellent called “Don’t Bug Me“. It’s in gel-form so it tends to last longer, plus it includes bug repelling herbs, like thyme.
• Badger is a good brand we’ve used in the past and recommend.

Remember, if you DO get bitten by mosquitoes (we do too when I forget to use my repellent!), check out this essential oil mosquito bite relief blend!

I hope you have great results with this homemade essential oil mosquito repellent spray. And remember, if your results aren’t quite as good as mine, you likely have a different mosquito species, so try experimenting with different combinations of oils.

FAQs

Okay, do essential oils REALLY repel mosquitos?

Yes, they do! Don’t believe me? Check out these studies and see for yourself!

• Catnip – A 2001 study found that Catnip essential oil repelled mosquitoes 10 times more effectively than DEET! (The brand I used is a different species of essential oil than the study, but I have still found it to be essential in keeping bugs away.)
• Citronella -This 2011 study determined that citronella is as effective as DEET; however, it does lose effectiveness quickly as it “evaporates.”
• Lemongrass – This 2013 study found that lemongrass was “an effective repellent against mosquitoes” and house flies.
• Litsea – A 2016 study determined, “litsea oil had effective repellency in comparison with DEET and DEPA against Ae. aegypti mosquito at all concentration.”

How long does essential oil mosquito repellent last?

While results may vary based on your own body, about 1-2 hours is the average, I’d say.

Keep in mind that a natural mosquito repellent does not last quite as long as the chemical-filled varieties. I have personally not found one version – homemade or store-bought – that lasts for 6+ hours as the DEET versions do.

There’s always a cost to everything, and if you want to avoid chemicals with your family, you will need to reapply your homemade mosquito repellent more often.

In my opinion, that’s a small price to pay for knowing my children are not being exposed to ingredients we prefer to avoid. And the mosquitoes do remind you of when you need to reapply!

My family and I have personally tested this mosquito repellent recipe in quite a few “buggy” situations:

• Hiking in the White Mountains. It lasts for 2 hours with no bites.
• Fishing on a hot, humid day (favorite mosquito weather). It lasted for 2 hours with no bites.
• Around our front yard fire pit on hot, muggy nights. The spray lasted for 1 hour with no bites, while the roller blend lasted for 2 hours.
• Sitting outside with my chickens. It lasts 1-2 hours.

If you and your family do get bitten by mosquitoes when your essential oil mosquito repellent wears off, essential oils can come to your rescue again! Check out this super easy essential oil mosquito bite relief roller blend.

Are essential oils as mosquito repellents safe for children?

I am not a medical professional, and the information presented here is merely for educational purposes and not intended to replace medical advice. It is your responsibility to do your own research, consult with your medical provider, and make safe decisions for yourself and your family.

One of the challenges with using essential oils for repelling bugs is that sometimes a higher concentration of oils is needed than is typically recommended for use with children (or adults) to deter the bugs effectively. However, there are some important things to keep in mind.

Essential oils are very potent, and a high concentration can potentially cause problems, too. Just because essential oils are “natural” does not mean they are automatically safe. Read this Common Sense Essential Oil Safety page for more information.

Using essential oils safely with children depends on a few factors:

Essential oil quality – Using cheap oils may mean they have had extra ingredients added that reduce the pure oil. This can cause irritation &/or reduce the beneficial qualities. This does NOT mean you have to buy super expensive essential oils. Click here to read more about how to choose quality essential oils.

Essential oil species – As with most things related to essential oils, there are many conflicting opinions in this area. Some say that certain oils, such as peppermint, should never be used on children under six, while others claim it is safe.

In this post, I’ve listed safer substitutes for any oils that are not recommended for use with kids under certain ages.

Essential oil dilution – Again, this is an area where people have very different opinions. Some say you should not use essential oils at more than a 1% dilution rate for young children, while others are more liberal in their dilution.

My personal opinion is that it’s wise to always start with a higher dilution rate (less essential oils). For my own family, I always start out with very low dilution rates and only slightly increase the amount of essential oil if I’m not seeing the desired results.

Bottom line: do your own research and talk with your medical provider so you can make the best decision for your family.

Can I use this natural mosquito repellent on babies and children under age 2?

I personally do not recommend it due to how sensitive a baby’s skin is. Instead of using essential oils, I suggest a baby mosquito netting – it’s great for car seats, strollers, pack ‘n plays, and more.

Related: Check out my Homemade Natural Bug Repellent Lotion for even longer-lasting results.

What essential oils keep mosquitoes away?

Have you ever wondered why there are many different recommendations for all-natural bug repellant? Why would one essential oil mosquito repellent recipe work so well for one person, while another had success with a completely different blend?

The answer? There are at least 176 different species of mosquitoes in the United States alone, and over 3,000 in the world!

So, if you’ve used an all-natural insect repellent in the past without any success, it doesn’t mean all-natural repellents will never work for you. It just means the pesky mosquitoes you’re trying to repel hate something else more. And you’ll want to try different varieties.

Related Posts

• If you liked this essential oil mosquito spray post, check out this homemade bug repellent lotion and insect repelling lotion bars recipes.
• This DIY natural tick repellent spray works great for wooded tick-infested areas.
• Don’t forget your family’s best friend – this homemade tick repellent for dogs was approved by our family vet and works great at keeping our cocker spaniel free from ticks!

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