You just have to try some of these natural essential oil bug repellent. I love how doTERRA products like TerraShield can help me enjoy being in nature.

I’ve learned that different essential oils work best on different types of bugs for different situations. Just a little confusing. . .  So that’s why I created this post!

Here’s a chart I made showing what works best for what insects:

doTERRA for Ants

I was working outside one day and I noticed that the cracks in my driveway had been overtaken by ants. There were thousands of them! In my rush to resolve this problem in the quickest possible manner, I decided fire was my best option.  A few hours later I returned to inspect the ant colony only to find they were still there. Honestly, I was frustrated but also impressed.  Maybe we could learn to co-exist.

I would control the boundaries from the basketball hoop to the eastern gate, and the ants would control the western boundaries ending at the sidewalk.  As I searched for paper and pen to draft new property boundaries I stumbled across a bottle of Peppermint. I recalled my essential oil training and how Peppermint can be used as a safe and effective bug repellent.  I liberally dropped the oil in the cracks and all around where the ants were to see if that would do anything.  When I came back to it later, the ants were gone.

Natural Ant Repellent

12 drops Peppermint

1/2 tsp liquid castile soap * or doTERRA On Guard Foaming Hand Wash

8 ounces water

Mix in a glass spray bottle *. Apply to problem areas, shaking frequently. You can actually spray directly on ants and watch them instantly die then spray their trail and entry point down. Don’t wipe it up. This covers up the scent of their trail and deters them from entering your home.

DIY Mosquito Repellent

6 drops Lavender

6 drops Lemongrass

1 tsp Fractionated Coconut Oil

8 Ounces Water

Mix a glass spray bottle *. Spray skin or entrance points (such as doorways, windows or tent openings), shaking frequently.

Here are some tips from doTERRA on repelling bugs in the garden:

Here is some specific advice on pests in the garden from doTERRA Living Spring 2018

doTERRA for Bug Bites

I have heard so many different opinions on what good essential oils for bug bites will sooth irritations are and I think part of this is because it varies so much from person to person. I’ve been trying to write this post for years by experimenting every time we get a bug bite.

You might say I get a little too excited when someone in our family gets bitten because I take it as an opportunity to experiment with what oils work best. The problem? We don’t get bit very often because we live in a dry climate with relatively few bugs and when we do think we could get have a problem, we use one of these DIY essential oil bug repellent recipes.

I think what works depends on what types of bug bite you, what you’ve eaten, maybe what blood type you are and some other unknown factors like that. Here is a list of essential oils to soothe away irritations from bug bites we have found to be the most helpful to our family, in order of what has helped the most often for most of us:

• Arborvitae
• TerraShield Outdoor Blend
• Purify Cleansing Blend
• Lavender
• Frankincense
• Melaleuca

We just apply one drop directly on the bug bite, but it would be even more effective to put the oil in a roller bottle with fractionated coconut oil. This accomplishes two things – #1 essential oils don’t last as long as you may hope and the fractionated coconut oil helps them last longer. #2 the fractionated coconut oil helps you save lots of money since you don’t need to use nearly as many drops of essential oil.