If you want to know how to make bug spray with essential oils and water, you’ve come to the right place! Especially if you want to use natural ingredients with repellent properties. A few drops of essential oils and a dispersant turn water into an effective insect-repellent DIY bug spray. Create a range of effective homemade bug sprays with Tea Tree, Citronella, Lemon Eucalyptus, and Thyme essential oil. Save your Roses with our Aphid Bug Spray with essential oils. Enjoy peaceful and relaxing evenings in the garden when you banish pesky mozzies with our Mosquito Repelling Bug Spray with essential oils. Then our Multi-Purpose Insect Repellent Bug Spray with essential oils is designed to repel all manner of nature’s beasties. Finally, tackle those other types of bugs, microbes, bacteria, and viruses with our recipe for Surface Cleanser Bug Spray with essential oils.
Recipes For Non-Topical Application
In this article, we focus on recipes for non-topical applications. However, if you do need skin care recipes, please use the links below.
If you want to make yourself a bug spray or lotion, please pop on over to Choosing The Best Essential Oils For Travel.
If you’re battling head lice and nits, arm yourself with the Nit Kit Of Doom which you can find on How To Deal With Nits With Essential Oils.
For my newest recipe check out Patchouli Essential Oil Skin Care - Bug Off & Bug Bite Balm
What Is Bug Spray With Essential Oils
A Bug Spray with essential oils is designed to repel, and in some instances, kill certain offending beasties.
Essential oils are so powerful and concentrated that we use tiny dilutions when we use them on ourselves. Imagine then the effects they will have upon something as tiny as an ant or greenfly.
What Do You Want To Target With Bug Spray With Essential Oils?
When designing your Bug Spray with essential oils it’s important to know which kind of bug you are targeting.. Different chemical constituents deter wasps from greenflies, ants, or bed bugs.
We have plenty of past blog articles to give you guidance on a plethora of bugs!
Liz comprehensively covers essential oils to repel bugs like wasps, ants, bedbugs, roaches, and ticks in Insect Repellent Essential Oils and How To Make Mosquito Repellent With Essential Oils.
If you have a kitchen full of fruit flies. Banish them once and for all with recipes in How To Use Aromatherapy Around The Home.
And what about the bugs you can’t see? Microbes, bacteria, and viruses that might be lurking on your work surfaces can all be blitzed with the right essential oils. Read more in DIY Natural Cleaning Products: Get A Sparkling Clean Home, Naturally!
Whichever type of Bug Spray with essential oils you need, we are sure to have the answer in here…or there ….somewhere!
Understanding How Essential Oils Work
When you come to make your own Bug Spray with essential oils it is worth understanding how they work. For that, we need to go back to the living plant. To save me writing loads here, if you are interested in the science, Liz goes into it quite deeply in Insect Repellent Essential Oils.
Herbs like Peppermint are often used as companion plants in vegetable patches to deter bugs and pests.
Plants have their own defense mechanisms against bugs. They manufacture volatile oils to deter pests and creatures looking to munch on their leaves and stems. When we distill an essential oil, we capture these into bottles. It is these volatile compounds we want to harness in our bug spray with essential oils.
Often, the defensive volatile compounds are found in most abundance in oils that perfumers would classify as top notes. These are ones like citrus oils for example. The molecules add small and light so the plants can release them in quick bursts of fragrance to deter potential bug attacks.
Because they are so light and mobile these volatiles dissipate very fast. This causes us problems because this means their effects wear off very fast too. However, there are ways to make them last longer by combining them with base notes( like Patchouli) or fixative ones (like Benzoin).
Best Essentials Oils For Bug Spray With Essential Oils
Lemon Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus citriodora)
If you want to make a Bug Spray with essential oils to t repel mosquitoes, it seems that Lemon Eucalyptus and Vetiver are the best essential oil repellents you can find. In studies by Frances (2014) Lemon Eucalyptus was found to be almost as effective as DEET.
Vetiver (Vetiveria zizanoides).
When I was in India, restaurant owners placed small dishes of smoking Vetiver incense around our feet while we sat in the garden. The gorgeous fragrance smelt amazing, was calming, and protected us against mosquitoes and other biting insects.
Vetiver is a wonderful base note that can be used to fix more volatile fragrances. A study by Nararak (2023) recommended using it synergistically with compounds to achieve the best effects.
If you choose to use Lemon Eucalyptus in your Bug Spray with essential oils, add Vetiver to bump up the efficacy and make it last longer. This would work in garden candles too. Please Take care of placing naked flames by people's ankles!
Citronella (Cymbopogon nardus)
Wasps become torrid degenerates because they have been ruthlessly kicked out of the family nest in late summer and early autumn. Without warning, they are turfed out to fend for themselves. Rabid with the need for carbohydrates, they hunt for sugar, just to stay alive. Your lemonade is actually a matter of life and death to them.
So If you do feel a pang of compassion for them, set aside a dish of something fragrant and high in sugar away from the main crowd. They particularly enjoy jelly or fruit butter.. Tuck it in a corner of the garden the kids can’t get to.
Any that do survive the summer feast on greenflies and caterpillars. Here in the UK, they consume 14 million tonnes of bugs and insects annually. Yes! 14 million tonnes!
So what was supposed to be support for Citronella turned into a homeless campaign for wasps. Sorry, not sorry.
If you really must make a Bug Spray with essential oils to deter wasps, then so be it.
Citronella is the essential oil that you need. They hate it!
Peppermint (Mentha piperita)
Using Peppermint in your Bug Spray with essential oils needs to be done judiciously because it is both a repellant AND an attractant! So you need to weigh your options and create a careful balance.
You can harness its insecticidal, antimicrobial, antiviral, and fungicidal qualities to cover a myriad of options from a surface cleanser to repelling green, black, and white flies.
It is wonderful for repelling mosquitoes and even spiders but it is more likely to attract flea beetles and red spider mites.
Find out more with Can You Spray Peppermint Oil On Plants?
Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)
Tea Tree is most people's go-to essential oil for bugs of any kind. It’s a great choice for a Bug Spray with essential oils aimed at killing microbes, bacteria, and viruses, making it perfect for surface sprays to use around the home. It’s my go-to essential oil for this purpose.
Tea Tree essential oil prevents 50% of nit eggs from hatching, but it only repels the actual head louse. To kill them combine Eucalyptus And Lemon Tea Tree essential oils.
Is it only my head that is itching now?
You might also find Using Tea Tree Oil For Bed Bugs: Does It Work? Helpful too.
Recipes & How to Make Bug Spray With Essential Oils
We have a Bug Spray with essential oils for everyone here I think!
If you are fighting greenfly, black fly, or white fly in the garden, then use our Aphid Bug Spray with essential oils. Use it regularly to keep pesky blighters off your precious blooms and veg and we’ll have your Roses tip top in no time.
Whip up a batch of our Mosquito Repelling Bug Spray with essential oils to keep dreaded flying pests at bay. To keep them at an acceptable distance. Refresh it every hour or so to keep it working at its best for you.
Want something wider-ranging to combat a myriad of nature’s blighters? Then make our Multi-Purpose Insect Repellent Bug Spray with essential oils and target ants, wasps, bed bugs, and many more. Please only use this as a spot treatment to avoid an indiscriminate massacre of beneficial insects. With great knowledge comes great responsibility!
Why is it that it’s the bugs that we cannot see that are the scariest? Tackle microbes, bacteria, fungi, and viruses with our Surface Cleanser Bug Spray with essential oils. Kick them all into touch and take control of your surfaces!
For all of these recipes:
You Will Need:
- Measuring jug
- Stainless steel spoon
- Funnel
- Spray bottle
- Oil and waterproof label
Ingredients, Safety, and How To Use:
See the individual recipes
Method:
- Measure out your dispersant.
- Add your essential oils to the dispersant.
- Measure out your base ingredients.
- Add your dispersant and essential oils and stir thoroughly to completely combine.
- If any oil floats on the top of the surface of the water, add a little more dispersant.
- Decant into your spray bottle using a funnel for ease.
- Label clearly, listing all of the ingredients for safety reasons. I actually write the recipe on my bottle with a permanent pen, it reminds me how to make it too! I can remove the pen marks with Lemon essential oil if I want to remove them later!
Aphid Bug Spray With Essential Oils
I made a great Bug Spray with essential oils last year when greenflies invaded my Chilli plants. (This year the slugs have decimated all but two…sighs! But maybe a slug and snail repellent needs to be my new research)!
I have been using this mixture ever since and it does its job brilliantly. In fact, I have used it this very morning on some seedlings on the kitchen window sill that have attracted some greenflies.
Already, the greenfly looks far less lively. I’ll give them another spritz when I break for my lunch to ramp up the pressure on them!
It is supposed that dish soap has a couple of actions, one is that it washes off the protective coating of the aphid and causes it to dry out. Another supposition is that it covers the insect and stops it from being able to respirate adequately, and hence, suffocates the aphid. Either way, it seems to work especially well when combined with essential oils.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of water (tap water is fine, distilled or purified water is better) (Aqua)
- 1 tsp of dish soap (to act as a dispersant as well as an active agent).
- 20 drops of Rosemary Essential Oil (Rosmarinus officinalis)
- 20 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil (Mentha piperita)
- 20 drops of Thyme Essential Oil (Thymus vulgaris)
Safety:
- Not for topical use.
- Check which way the spray nozzle is facing before spraying and avoid spraying in your eyes. If any of the solution gets in your eyes or on your skin, rinse with clean, tepid water. If irritation persists seek immediate medical advice taking the clearly labeled bottle with you.
How To Use:
- Be cautious where you spray this. I do use it in my kitchen with the window open behind the plants I am spraying but preferably just pop them outside, give them a spray, let them dry, and bring them back in.
- I will often repeat application 2-3 on the first day I notice an infestation, 1-2 times on the second day, and by the third day, it’s usually pretty much under control. But I use it very sparingly every few days as a repellent during the height of the season.
- If you want this for your roses, use a spray hose on a ‘jet’ setting to remove the aphids as much as possible from the buds. Let dry and then spray with this Bug Spray with essential oils for the best effect.
Mosquito Repellent Bug Spray With Essential Oils
Use this in the air around where you are sitting to keep Mosquitoes at bay. Lightly spray tablecloths, parasols, and seat covers.
Refresh it every hour or so, to keep it working as effectively as possible. I saw a really pretty decorative glass plant mister in a garden center yesterday and it would make the perfect vessel for keeping on the table to remind you to give it a spritz every so often!
The high ratio of alcohol helps this evaporate quicker from fabric and linens, so you can use them sooner after application and can refresh them regularly. The addition of Benzoin helps ‘fix’ the essential oils and helps them to work longer.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup of Water (Tap is fine, distilled or purified water would be better)
- ½ cup of Alcohol (High proof vodka, or even better, Perfumer Alcohol)
- 1 tsp of Dish Soap (to act as a dispersant if you don’t use Perfumers Alcohol)
- 60 drops of Palmarosa Essential Oil (Cymbopogon martinii var Motia)
- 20 drops Lemon Eucalyptus Essential Oil (Eucalyptus citriodora)
- 20 drops Lemongrass Essential Oil (Cymbopogon flexuosus)
- 10 drops of Vetiver Essential Oil (Vetiveria zizanoides)
- 10 drops of Benzoin Tincture (Styrax benzoin)
Safety:
- Not for topical use.
- Potentially flammable - do not use near naked flames or open heat sources like barbecues and fire pits.
- Check which way the spray nozzle is facing before spraying and avoid spraying in your eyes. If any of the solution gets in your eyes or on your skin, rinse with clean, tepid water. If irritation persists seek immediate medical advice taking the clearly labeled bottle with you.
- Lightly spritz onto fabrics and linen and always carry out a patch test first.
How To Use:
- Simply spritz in the air around your seating area.
- You can spray linens and fabrics like seat covers, parasols, and tablecloths for an extra boost.
- If you have hard paving under you, you can spray the floor to protect exposed feet and ankles.
- Refresh every hour or so to maintain its efficacy.
- You can use this essential oil blend to make candles for your table too.
Multi-Purpose Insect Repellent Bug Spray With Essential Oils
This is ideal if you want a multi-pronged approach. Use this Bug Spray with essential oils to repel a variety of household and garden bugs. It does have more essential oils than normal, but it gives you that wider approach.
Bear in mind that essential oils like Patchouli are so effective at killing ants, they could also be found to kill other beneficial insects if used indiscriminately. Use this as a targeted approach only, to mitigate this possibility, please.
- Lemongrass repels mozzies, wasps, and bedbugs
- Spearmint and Patchouli repels ants
- Palmarosa repels mozzies, bed bugs, and aphids
- Eucalyptus and Lemon Eucalyptus repel mozzies, cockroaches and ticks
- Clove repels ants and ticks
Ingredients:
- 2 cup of Water (Aqua)
- 1 tbsp of Dish or Castile soap
- 10 drops of Clove Bud Essential Oil (Syzygium aromaticum)
- 30 drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil (Eucalyptus globulus)
- 50 drops of Lemon Eucalyptus Essential Oil (Eucalyptus citriodora)
- 30 drops of Lemongrass Essential Oil (Cymbopogon flexuosus)
- 50 drops of Palmarosa Essential Oil (Cymbopogon martinii var Motia)
- 20 drops of Patchouli Essential Oil (Pogostemon cablin)
- 30 drops of Spearmint Essential Oil (Mentha spicata)
Safety:
- Not for topical use.
- Check which way the spray nozzle is facing before spraying and avoid spraying in your eyes. If any of the solution gets in your eyes or on your skin, rinse with clean, tepid water. If irritation persists seek immediate medical advice taking the clearly labeled bottle with you.
How To Use:
- Do not use this indiscriminately, please. Use it as a spot treatment.
- You can use it to spray thresholds and entrances to nests.
- If you use it to spray plants please do not kill beneficial insects unnecessarily and spot treats only, you don’t want to upset the balance of your garden's ecosystem. Upsetting the balance simply exacerbates your problem over time and has a cumulative effect.
Surface Cleaner Bug Spray With Essential Oils
Sometimes, we worry about all the bugs that we cannot see in our homes! Millions of unseen microbes, bacteria, fungi, and viruses can inhabit all the surfaces of our home. Use this Surface Cleaner Bug Spray with essential oils to clean your household surfaces and give you that extra boost of confidence.
It takes a little time to make this one! A month before you want it, steep citrus peel in white vinegar as your base. You can make use of the citrus juice and fruit. You will only need the peels, surely that must mean it’s cocktail time, right?
Citrus peels in vinegar make a wonderful cleaner in its own right. It’s a brilliant degreaser, cutting right through grease and grime in a heartbeat. You can always have a gallon jar of steeping peels and vinegar to decant some off as and when you need it. It’s not going to go off! Keep the system going for a constant supply at hand when you need it.
This recipe makes plenty so it is worth taking the time and being patient. If you can't be patient, swap the peel vinegar out for water with a decent dispersant.
Ingredients:
The Base
- 4 cups of Distilled White Vinegar
- 2 Grapefruit peels
- 8 Lemon peels
- 8 Lime peels
The Essential Oil Blend
- 50 drops of Thyme Essential Oil (Thymus vulgaris)
- 50 drops of Oregano Essential Oil (Origanum compactum Benth)
- 50 drops of Tea Tree Essential Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia)
Method:
- Fill up a large jar with the mixed citrus peels and top up with the distilled white vinegar and lid tightly.
- Leave the filled jar on a sunny window for 2-6 weeks to infuse.
- When ready, we recommend about a month, drain the peels and reserve the liquid.
- Decant this liquid into a labeled spray bottle.
- Add your essential oils and stir well to combine.
- Check no oils are floating on the surface of the fluid, if there are, add a little more dispersant.
OR
- 4 cups of Water
- 2 tbsp of Dish or Castile Soap or a commercial dispersant.
Safety:
- Not for topical use.
- Check which way the spray nozzle is facing before spraying and avoid spraying in your eyes. If any of the solution gets in your eyes or on your skin, rinse with clean, tepid water. If irritation persists seek immediate medical advice taking the clearly labeled bottle with you.
- Patch test your surfaces, and do not use it on natural stone surfaces like marble or granite.
How To Use:
- The combination of vinegar and citrus oils can be harsh, so please patch-test your surfaces before using them for the first time.
- You can use this liberally as an all-purpose surface cleaner around the home.
- It makes an excellent degreaser and shifts grime effectively too, it’s especially useful on stainless steel finishes.
- If you are using it on kiddies' high chairs and table tops, after application, wipe over with a clean, damp cloth to remove any potential residues that could upset delicate skin or be transferred to foodstuffs.
Final Words
If you are looking for a Bug Spray with essential oils, I'm sure you will find one that serves your needs.
If you still feel like you need a little extra, check out the supporting information in the highlighted articles for a more in-depth look at dealing with bugs.
Save your prized roses from Greenfly with our super-effective Aphid Bug Spray with essential oils. How do I know it’s effective? Well, I’ve been using it all year myself and the greenfly is dropping dead as we speak.
Our Mosquito Repelling Bug Spray with essential oils will help you keep the mozzies at bay, in the home or outside, just remember to refresh it often. Use our Patchouli Essential Oil Skin Care - Bug Off & Bug Bite Balm on your skin to protect …or soothe…you from insect bites.
Go for the wider approach and use our Multi-Purpose Insect Repellent as a targeted approach to dealing with nature’s beasties and blighters as a spot treatment.
Wave the magic wand that is our Surface Cleanser Bug Spray with essential oils over all the bugs that you cannot see. This surface cleanser stops microbes, bacteria, fungi, and viruses in their tracks. Make it with citrus peel and white vinegar for incredible degreasing and cleaning properties.
Whatever Bug Spray with essential oils you need, you’re sure to find your perfect recipe right here.
