Insect Pests / Repellant

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Essential Oils to Deter Crawling Insects

June 20, 2011 in Best Essential Oils, Buy / Purchase, Common Questions, Diffusing, Essential Oils, Green, How do I use, Insect Pests / Repellant, Lavender, Lemongrass, Make My Own, Natural, Peppermint, Thyme, Using Essential Oils by Evelyn Vincent | No comments

I’ve found it pretty easy to use my essential oils to keep crawling insects out of my home. The results are practically immediate. Plus, it makes the entire area smell really nice. What I also like about using essential oils for this type of purpose is that it helps me stay in alignment with my desire to maintain a natural home, no toxic products around here!

These are the 6 essential oils I typically use to deter crawling insects in my home:

Peppermint
Lemongrass
Lavender
Thyme
Geranium
Thieves

You can make a spray (for topical or for spraying into the air or on surfaces) from of any combination of the oils above, or simply put some drops of your chosen essential oils on a cotton ball and set it in the location, or diffuse (with the TheraPro Diffuser or nebulizer diffuser). Spider

I’ve also found that diffusing Thieves essential oil regularly (one to two times a week for about one hour) works very well to draw out and kill spiders. I rarely have spiders in my home just from simply diffusing Thieves essential oil. I also like to diffuse Thieves essential oil because it helps prevent mold.

How to Make a Crawling Insect Deterrent Spray

You’ll need:

14oz. spray bottle (I prefer the ‘Hudson’ brand sold at Lowe’s)
20-30 drops of your chosen essential oil or desired combination
Water

Fill bottle 7/8 full with water, add essential oils, shake, spray into the air /on surfaces that won’t become stained / topically.

Other Favorite Uses for Essential Oils Around the Home

50 Ways to Use Thieves Essential Oil
Peppermint Essential Oil to Repel Squirrel’s and Rodents
De-Stressing the Stressful Home with Aromatherapy
How to Use Purification Essential Oil for Bed Bugs
12 Quick Tips for Using Lavender Essential Oil Daily
Essential Oils and Ticks: removing and killing ticks effectively

Evelyn Vincent

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Articles by Evelyn Vincent, Young Living Independent Distributor #476766

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"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

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7 Simple ‘Green’ Living Tips

June 19, 2011 in Aromatherapy, Best Essential Oils, Gardening, Green, How do I use, Insect Pests / Repellant, Lavender, Lifestyle, Make My Own, Natural, Natural Household / Cleaning, Peppermint, Pets, Recipes, Using Essential Oils by Evelyn Vincent | No comments

Stored Winter Clothing – keep moths out of your stored clothing by putting several drops of both Lavender and Cedarwood essential oils on a cotton ball where the clothing is stored.
Mice Nests Indoors – use lots of Peppermint essential oil! Put drops directly on unfinished wooden surfaces, or put drops on a cotton ball and place cotton ball in desired locations. This WILL keep rodents away and chase them away if they’re already inside. You will have to refresh every so often for it to keep working. See My Story on Using Peppermint Essential Oil to Repel Squirrel’s and Rodents.
Weed Killer – kill weeds with vinegar – PLEASE – note that the dilution ratio and how often it is used can create positive or negative results. Here’s an article I wrote on Weeds and Vinegar based on two Ag studies and on using vinegar in the garden effectively.
Sleep Better – I have been scenting my bed linens every morning with an essential oil spray I make myself (it’s easy to do) when I make my bed for over 12 years now. It is so easy to do and I find it helps me feel and sleep so much better. Here’s an article I wrote, Aromatherapy Bed Linen Spray. Some of my favorite essential oil blends to incorporate into my bed linen spray are: Sensation, Thieves, Sacred Mountain, Humility, Gentle Baby, or Dream Catcher.
Vinegar for Fleas and Ticks on Dogs – Add a teaspoon of white distilled vinegar for each quart bowl of drinking water helps keep your pet free of fleas and ticks. The ratio of one teaspoon to one quart is for a forty-pound animal. My dog is 80lbs. so I added 2 teaspoons and he hated the taste. Maybe you will have better success. I have also read that vinegar can be used as a spray on dogs to repel insects… I made a 4oz. spray (water with and 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar) and sprayed this on my dog who was scratching frantically because he got fleas… my results have been very good (I do not spray all the way down to his skin in most places though), his itching has stopped and he has been licking the vinegar/water spray mixture off of his coat, so maybe that’s how I can get him to ingest the vinegar mixture. Note: spraying your dog’s skin too often with the water-vinegar spray can be harsh on your dog’s skin. See my article on Essential Oils and Ticks: removing and killing ticks effectively.
Cure a cement pond before adding fish and plants by adding one gallon of white distilled vinegar to every 200 gallons of water. Let sit three days. Empty and rinse thoroughly.
Keeping Cats Out of the Garden and Sand Box – Vinegar will help keep cats away from areas you don’t want them. Sprinkle vinegar on any areas where you don’t want the cat walking, sleeping, or scratching. Pour it around the perimeter of your children’s sandbox and repeat every two months and this will discourage cats from using it as their sandbox. Caution: Using Vinegar on grass or plants will kill them and can change the pH of your soil, so be mindful where you pour vinegar outside!

Other Cool Summertime Tips

18 Tips to Save Money and Stay Cool This Summer
Lavender and Sunburn
Summertime Chamomile Milk Bath Recipe
50 Ways to Use Thieves Essential Oil
75 Ways to Use Young Living Essential Oils

Evelyn Vincent

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Articles by Evelyn Vincent, Young Living Independent Distributor #476766

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Bandit, our dog Tick season is here!!! YUCK!!! This past week I’ve found two on me. And Sunday night I wished that I had grabbed my video camera so you could see what I do when I find a tick on myself, Curt or Bandit (our dog). I didn’t grab my video camera because… I was chicken… I wanted to get the thing off of me ASAP!!! This tick was embedded on my thigh, just above my knee.

Fortunately, my Essential Rewards order arrived last week and in it was a bottle of Palo Santo (#3607) essential oil – in my book, you MUST have this extremely valuable oil handy during this time of year!

Three years ago Curt and I began experimenting on ticks to see which were most effective at getting them to let go and at killing them, here’s what we discovered…

The Jars for Our Tick Test

We had 3 different little jars, each jar contained 3 drops of only the 3 different Young Living essential oils individually.

Jar #1 – had 3 drops of Peppermint
Jar #2 – had 3 drops of Purification
Jar #3 – had 3 drops of Palo Santo

Each time we returned home from walking Bandit we would examine him, and ourselves, for ticks before they became embedded. Every time we found a tick we would scrape it into one of the 3 jars and watch what would happen. These ticks were not embedded.

For the embedded ticks we would apply 2-3 drops of any of the 3 essential oils mentioned above and watch to see if the tick would die or dislodge itself from the skin.

Our Tick Jar Results Read the rest of this entry »

Evelyn Vincent

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Articles by Evelyn Vincent, Young Living Independent Distributor #476766

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"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

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Using Vinegar Around the Garden and to Kill Weeds

June 13, 2011 in Acidic / Alkaline, Application, Chemicals / Toxic, Common Questions, Disinfectant, Education, Gardening, Green, How do I use, Insect Pests / Repellant, Make My Own, Natural, Recipes, Safe Use, Science by Evelyn Vincent | 5 comments

Spraying weeds Yes, vinegar can be used effectively in the garden to kill weeds but there are things you need to know so that you don’t kill everything and ruin your soil. White vinegar works as a fungicide, a poison, a source of nutrients, and for cleaning tools and pots. Be sure to read my entire post here because there are two studies, cautions and dilution ratio’s to follow for best results and so you don’t ruin your soil (vinegar can change your soil pH) and any beloved plants. I will also cover 17 other ways you can use vinegar in the garden.

A little about vinegar: Vinegar results when just about anything with sugar is fermented to form alcohol and then is fermented again. Commercial manufacture was common by 2000 b.c. Making it at home has concerns because usually it will not reach strengths of more than 3 percent, making it unsuitable for canning and pickling (which needs an acidity level of at least 4%).

A Note on Acetic Acid: It is NOT Vinegar

The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes that diluted acetic acid is not vinegar, indicating that it is:

“…misleading if the labeling of a food in which acetic acid is used implies or suggests that the food contains or was not prepared with vinegar. Acetic acid should not be substituted for vinegar in pickled foods, which consumers customarily expect to be prepared with vinegar.”

5 Cautions About Using Vinegar Read the rest of this entry »

Evelyn Vincent

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Basil and Cinnamon Bark essential oils Repelling insects naturally, without chemicals, using essential oils, aromatherapy, is a terrific way to be more ‘Green’ this summer. You will need to keep in mind that not all essential oils are created equally, 98% of what’s on the market is junk and will never produce desirable results, nor will they help those who prefer more eco-friendly lifestyle achieve their goals.

This easy recipe is terrific for making beeswax candles for your own backyard patio, or as a hostess gift for summer picnic’s and barbecues.

The moulds that you choose for the shape of your candle can be made of simple re-purposed items such as paper towel rolls (peel the paper cardboard off when wax has hardened), small Mason jars, or a small terra cotta pot, see what you have available around the house to re-purpose.

Essential Oil Insect Repellent Beeswax Candle Recipe

You will need:

Mould (see my ideas above, or get creative with your own ideas) – the size of the mould determines how many candles you can make, this recipe should make 4 candles using the tiny terra cotta pots)
Beeswax (one brick)
2 TBSP Carrier Oil (olive oil)
Candle Wick (cut a little longer than the length of your mould)
7-10 drops (total alone or combined) Young Living Essential Oil (see mosquito repellent list below)

Place the wick in your desired mould. Over low heat, slowly melt the beeswax in a double boiler. Add your desired essential oil(s). Pour the beeswax mixture into the mould with wick, making sure the the wick stays centered during pouring. Let stand until wax is firm.

Essential Oil List for Repelling Mosquitoes

Cedarwood
Clove
Eucalyptus
Frankincense
Thyme
Rosemary
Geranium
Lemongrass
Peppermint
Basil
Cinnamon Bark
Lemon
Citronella

Tip: try combining 3 of the above essential oils with Citronella to create a signature blend. Such as Citronella with: Thyme, Geranium and Lemongrass… or… Clove, Peppermint and Cedarwood, or… Rosemary, Lemon and Cinnamon.

Evelyn Vincent

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Articles by Evelyn Vincent, Young Living Independent Distributor #476766

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"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

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Tags: insects, recipe, repel

Household pesticide use has been linked to prenatal exposure to household pesticides according to a December 2007 study, Household Exposure to Pesticides and Risk of Childhood Hematopoietic Malignancies: The ESCALE Study (SFCE). In the study, French scientists used data from a large survey about childhood cancers and examined the relationship between parents’ use of household pesticides and the occurrence of acute leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma in their child. They found that the use of any pesticide by the mother during pregnancy was associated with an increased likelihood of acute leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the child.

Researchers examined information about the mother’s pesticide use during the pregnancy. They also looked at use of pesticides by the father during the combined period of the pregnancy and the child’s early years. The pesticides were differentiated as: “weed killers” (herbicides); fungicides; or insecticides used in the home, on pets, or on garden crops.

Analysis by the type of pesticide used by mothers during pregnancy showed that acute leukemia was linked to use of home and pet insecticides, and to a lesser degree, herbicides. Using insecticides on garden crops was linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

In the initial analysis, the father’s use of insecticides during the pregnancy and the child’s early years was associated with acute leukemia. However, when researchers looked at the combined effects of maternal and paternal use, the risk for acute leukemia appeared to be attributable to the mother’s pesticide use. Paternal use of both insecticides and herbicides was linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but researchers were not able to draw conclusions about the overall strength of this effect.

Researchers also found that certain subtypes of leukemia and lymphoma were strongly associated with either maternal pesticides or paternal pesticide use.

The authors pointed out that other studies have also linked childhood leukemia and lymphoma to children’s exposure to pesticides. Among theses studies, prenatal pesticide exposure appears to carry slightly more risk than childhood exposure. Given this information they concluded that perhaps pregnant women should not use pesticides.

How to Control Indoor Insect Pests Without Poisons Read the rest of this entry »

Evelyn Vincent

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Articles by Evelyn Vincent, Young Living Independent Distributor #476766

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"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

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Essential Oil Bed Bug Spray Recipe

April 23, 2011 in Best Essential Oils, Buy / Purchase, Common Questions, Family Health, Insect Pests / Repellant, Make My Own, Natural, Recipes, Using Essential Oils, Young Living Essential Oils by Evelyn Vincent | 1 comment

Try this all-natural recipe to get rid of those nasty bed bugs! Of course you will want to use superior quality essential oils, such as Young Living Essential Oils, to get great results. The image below shows a magnified bed bug and the actual size.

You will need:

4 oz. spray bottle
10 drops Palo Santo essential oil
6 drops Eucalyptus Blue essential oil
5 drops Cedarwood essential oil
distilled water

In the 4 oz. spray bottle filled 7/8 full of water add the essential oils. Shake. Spray on bed, bedroom carpeting being sure to spray around the baseboard well.

Additional Tip: Diffuse Palo Santo, Eucalyptus Blue and Cedarwood in the Essential Oil Diffuser (more on diffusers) in either the nebulizer type diffuser or the TheraPro Diffuser. The essential oil mist that’s put into the air will actually kill the bed bugs when the mist comes into contact with their Picture of bed bug enlarged and actual size body.

And, wash bed linens in Thieves Household Cleaner. Yes, this cleaner can be used in place of all other laundry products. It can also be used for all of your laundry too! Simply use 1-2 TBSP Thieves Household Cleaner in place of all laundry detergents and products.

More articles on pests:

Purification Essential Oils for Bed Bugs

Peppermint to Repel Squirrels and Rodents

Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil in Mosquito Larvae Control

Big Black Ants in My Kitchen Killed by Thieves

Essential Oil Sachets for Bed Bugs

Evelyn Vincent

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Articles by Evelyn Vincent, Young Living Independent Distributor #476766

Helping families make informed choices!

Subscribe to my "Oil Tip of the Day"

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"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

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How to Make Essential Oil Sachets for Nesting Bed Bug Eggs

April 22, 2011 in Best Essential Oils, Buy / Purchase, Common Questions, Family Health, How do I use, Insect Pests / Repellant, Make My Own, Natural, Recipes, Young Living Essential Oils by Evelyn Vincent | No comments

Go after nesting bed bug eggs by making these matress sachets. Of course you will want to use superior quality essential oils, such as Young Living Essential Oils, to get great results.

You will need:

10 drops Palo Santo essential oil
6 drops Eucalyptus Blue essential oil
5 drops Cedarwood essential oil
Baking Soda
Cotton Tea Bags (4-6 per bed)

In a small bowl, combine enough baking soda to fill the desired number of tea bags you wish to use. Add essential oils to the baking soda and mix thoroughly. Fill cotton tea bags with the essential oil / baking soda mixture. Seal tea bags. Place 4-6 tea bags between mattress and box spring.

Additional Tip: Use “Essential Oil Bed Bug Spray Recipe” to address adult bed bugs.

Evelyn Vincent

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Articles by Evelyn Vincent, Young Living Independent Distributor #476766

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"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

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