Sandfly & Mosquito Repellant Recipe

Things bite me. Lots.

Wherever I go I feel like I’m pretty much a human buffet for the local insect life… and then of course there’s the insane itching afterwards which has me swallowing tablets and rubbing all manner of anti-itch lotions and potions.

Do try the Plantain Cream Recipe by the way – it’s amazingly effective on insect bites.

Anyway, this particular recipe is for a repellant which stops sandflies and mozzies from feasting on you in the first place. Even better, it doesn’t contain DEET or any other of the nasty chemicals which work so well, but which have an unfortunate tendency to be neurotoxic…. not something you want to be applying to your skin every day, nor on your kids for that matter.

This recipe is courtesy of Myrtle, who has tested it extensively on her own family (and child) – and having used some while visiting her recently I can say with confidence that it really works! By rights I should have been eaten alive as there were sandflies everywhere.. and all I got was half of a single sandfly bite. (I think it tried biting me, didn’t like the taste and spat me out again!)

It’s cheap, it’s easy and it works – yay!

So – to make your own Sandfly & Mozzie Repellant you will need:

- An empty  bottle (an atomiser spray bottle is best, but not essential)
- Baby oil
- Dettol original liquid disinfectant

Simply mix the bay oil and Dettol in a 50/50 ratio in your bottle. The two liquids won’t mix, so give it a good shake before you squeeze or spray some out and simply apply to your skin and rub in.

It doesn’t smell too great to begin with, but it does fade over time. As an optional extra you can add a few drops of citronella or tea trea essential oil.

Be sure to apply particularly at dawn and dusk. In hot, sunny weather you’ll find that sandflies bite more frequently at these times.