6 Natural Ways to Protect Your Family From Mosquitoes

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Perhaps the worst part of summer is the mosquito bites. It’s great to be outdoors, enjoy barbecues, sit by the campfire and relax at the beach, but unwelcome additions to all of these activities are usually the mosquitoes flitting around, threatening to bite you at any moment. Aside from being incredibly annoying and itchy, mosquito bites spread diseases like the Zika virus, so it’s really important that you keep mosquitoes away from your family.

To combat these pesky little bugs, these are some of the best ways to protect yourself and your family!

Make Your Own Natural Repellant

There are many natural oils that repel mosquitoes and other bugs just because of their scent. Instead of buying a bug spray that might be filled with unwanted chemicals, try making your own with just essential oils, water and witch hazel. This will create a spray you can use on the whole family to repel bugs, and it will also make you smell good!

Here are a few essential oils that repel mosquitoes (and most bugs):
-peppermint
-lavender
-eucalyptus-lemon
-lemongrass
-citronella
-tea tree oil

Use Your Gardens

Just like the natural bug spray, using certain scents in your garden or around your home can ward off these unwanted pests. Growing lavender, marigolds, lemon grass, basil and bee balm is one of the ways to use your garden as a natural bug repellant. Mosquitoes hate all of those smells, so you’ll get them to leave you alone while creating a beautiful garden.

Decorate With Citronella Candles

Citronella has long been known to keep away bugs. Investing in some citronella candles or sprays from your local department store will pay off in the long run. It’s so easy to light a candle by your outdoor event, so it’s a simple and effective way to let the bugs know they aren’t welcome.

Know When to Stay Inside

Mosquitoes usually come out during dawn or dusk, when the wind has died down and it’s cooler. Try to stay inside during these times when you’re most likely to get bitten. If you’re going outside anyway, place a fan by you, because mosquitoes find it hard to fly when there is even slight air movement.

Get a Mosquito Trap

Instead of repelling the mosquitoes, you can also try trapping them. Use a trap that entices the bugs with carbon dioxide. If they’re busy with the trap, they won’t be bothering you! This will also help the long-term problem of disease-carrying mosquitoes by killing off female mosquitoes so they’ll stop breeding and eventually reduce the population.

Wear White

Mosquitoes fly close to the ground and use their sight to look for food. They are looking for things that contrast with the horizon, since that’s what they are seeing from their point of view. Dark colors look enticing to them, while light colors like white aren’t attractive to them.

Using these tips to keep the mosquitoes away will make your summer months a lot more enjoyable and keep you protected from itchy bug bites and potentially dangerous viruses.

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