Finding the Best All Natural Bug Spray

Details:

Price: $14.99 for 2.7 oz. ($5.55/oz.) or save on a 3-pack; $21.00 for 2 oz ($10.50/oz) for Wildthings Extreme

Where to Purchase: Wildthings

Active Ingredients: Essential oils of citronella, geranium, catmint, and lavender/orange (depending on scent chosen)

Safety Notes: None.

Other Ingredients: Purified spring water, witch hazel

Easy to use? Very! It sprays a nice, thin mist and easily covers everyone.

Sticky? Nope.

How does it smell? I really like it. A friend even commented, “Wow, your bug spray actually smells good instead of gross!”

Did it prevent mosquito bites? Yes! We had multiple positive experiences with this insect repellent spray, including times when there were clearly biting bugs flying around and bugging us (pun intended), and then they were no longer an issue after spraying on WildThings. They would not land on us.

KS recommends? Absolutely my highest recommendation. We’ve defaulted to using this brand (we have a few of the scents) all summer long and I couldn’t be happier with it, both in ease of use and effectiveness.

PLUS the brand also has an oil-based repellent, which is of course one more step to apply, but perhaps because the oils are distributed so evenly or coating thicker, it’s even more effective (they call it “extreme”).

In fact, I heard from the founder about their USDA bug repellent tests, and this is SO interesting to me:

We did get our results back from USDA, and they were great! Although it was very frustrating to me to see that their entire focus is on whether repellents last 6 hours with not a single bite, which DEET manages to pull off some of the time (although DEET did not last quite 6 hours in our set of tests, interestingly).

Our new oil-based “Wildthings Extreme” was off the charts for natural bug repellents, getting to almost 5 hours of total repellency in a cage of 200 starving Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes (those are the bad ones that carry malaria, Z ika, yellow fever – found mostly in the southern US, but creeping north at an alarming rate). The USDA scientists were very excited!

But I was nonetheless annoyed that the gold standard was a very random 6 hours with no bites, and NOT: repels bugs incredibly well for 2 hours and doesn’t poison you or melt your plastics, and is safe for children!! Seems like that would be a more important criteria.

And as we are told to re-apply sunscreen every 2 hours, why not bug-spray? So I was very happy with all the results, which showed our different potions to be very effective, albeit for different lengths of time… but our personal experience had been telling that anyways 🙂

We still use just the water-based spray most of the time because I love the easy application and the smell. Have only resorted to the oil-based Extreme once – last weekend – in the worst of swarms while camping on [the coast of Maryland]. It did great – no bites even on on bare legs and arms. We outlasted even the heartiest of the fishermen on the beach that evening, who had all been set up for night fishing but they cleared out in a hurry once the mosquitoes arrived… but the bugs were too thick to even see, even if we weren’t getting bit – truly annoying, so we headed for less buggy territory for the night after all.

We’ve been working on some new products, and I’m delighted to have almost entirely organic oils (all but the catnip) for our ingredients now. We are hoping to begin distilling our own catnip/catmint oil sometime in the next year so that we can have quality control over that key (and most expensive) of the ingredients.

—from Monica, emphasis mine

Ticks too? Yes! From Monica:

There are quite a few studies showing catnip oil and geranium oil are extremely effective in repelling ticks as well as moquitoes. These are our two main ingredients. Here is a link to one study.

This is very wordy and scientific (link no longer available), but the bottom of page 112 has a “summary” that indicates catnip oil as a repellent, and also, very interestingly, says that basic catnip oil works better than any of the extractions scientists have done of the “active components” like nepetalactone. They don’t know why, but they are still unable to pull out the chemical components and get the same results as they do with the natural product. The natural product actually works better! In addition to being good for you in many other ways. 

That said, I am hoping to put a stronger spray on the website specifically for ticks (probably stronger smelling than you’d want on the rest of your body, but great for shoes, socks, lower legs when tromping through tick country. The Wildthings Extreme is fantastic for ticks, but is oil-based so not good on clothing. GREAT on skin though.”

I’m super impressed with Wildthings year after year, and I really want to see scientists do more studies with catnip, especially some with human arms and within a formula like this one. We know it works, now let’s get some data!!

Details:

Price: $15 for 4 oz. or $10 for 2 oz. ($3.75/oz for 4 oz.)

Where to Purchase: Rainwater Farm

Active Ingredients: Listed on the bottle as only “essential herbal oils.” The site description lists rose geranium, eucalyptus, and Litsea Cubeba. I heard from the founder! The oils are Lemongrass, rose geranium, litsea cubeba and cedarwood. All kid-safe!

Safety Notes: Eucalyptus is not safe for children under 10, plus I don’t like when a company doesn’t list every single oil. I wouldn’t let my kids use this one this summer since I wasn’t sure. Some people say that borax isn’t a good idea for kids either, and I’d lean toward that side as well.

Other Ingredients: distilled water, glycerine, saponified coconut, olive and castor oils, avocado oil, potassium hydroxide, borax. Note: my bottle doesn’t have potassium hydroxide or borax on the outside so the formula has changed a bit.

Easy to use? Sure. It’s a simple spray bottle.

Sticky? A little bit.

How does it smell? It’s so flowery in comparison to the slightly sharp scent of so many of the others. The “rose” really comes through as a major player.

Did it prevent mosquito bites? We think so! My husband used it while out camping, and while quite a few mosquitoes literally hovered around him, none landed on his skin for at least 10 minutes. A few pesky ones landed on his unsprayed shirt. After 10 minutes one did land on his leg a few times but never bit – admittedly, we finally lost patience and smacked it! So much for experimenting in the name of science! 😉 We just needed to finish dinner and quit playing with mosquitoes.

KS recommends? Unsure. Although the product seems to be effective and smells great, because I don’t know the ingredients fully, I can’t give it a hearty recommendation. So glad to be able to give this one a high recommendation now that I know the ingredients. Yay!

Additional Notes: Rainwater Farm also has an insect repellent stick that looks pretty cool and includes extra soothing herbs, plus a REALLY fascinating item: Camper Soap. It has the same essential oils in it as the bug spray and is used as a daily shower soap. From the owner: “As you know, everything we use gets absorbed into our skin, and this acts like a permanent bug repellent. It has helped my customers avoid mosquitoes and ticks. Another way this bar is used is slightly wetting the bar and rubbing on exposed skin (or in areas chiggers tend to bite).”

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Price: $9.95 for 2 oz. (nearly $5/oz.) Where to Purchase: Greenbug online or Amazon (prices vary) Safety Notes: Cedar is a “0” rating (extremely safe) at EWG, and I can’t find anything on liquid quartz Active Ingredients: cedar oil (10%) Other Ingredients: silane fluid (90%) liquid state of quartz Easy to use? Yes, spray is simple Sticky? No Katie’s notes: This formula is the only one to rely on a single ingredient, which I think is fantastic. I figured being totally different, it would either succeed wildly or fail miserably. Cedar oil doesn’t show up in many other natural bug sprays, either. Although upon further digging, I think it’s the same as “cedarwood” essential oil…if it’s even an essential oil.  How does it smell? The bottle says “pests can’t stand it!” Unfortunately, people can’t either (in our house). When I sprayed it on my son, he nearly cried and was mad at me for half an hour for putting it on his arm and not his leg. This stuff really does stink (but then again, so does the DEET-containing competition). I could smell it on myself – and didn’t like it – after using it outside and coming in to type up results! To be fair, everyone reacts to scents differently, so it’s very possible that some may love the smell – it’s cedar, like a cedar chest but less woody. In fact, when rollerblading near Lake Huron recently, I smelled something that seemed familiar, and I realized I was reminded of Greenbug and was rolling through a grove of cedar trees. It made me wonder: if I hung out there, would I never see mosquitoes? 😉 Did it prevent mosquito bites? Tested twice; no bites on son at day camp, but it didn’t keep mosquitoes away by the pool for hubs and me. No bites, but they were annoying enough to chase us inside. KS recommends? Tough one. I think this stuff really works, but my kids hate the smell. I really want to look into their other products for keeping bugs away from the house in general and am going to order this one to battle our carpenter ants! (see below) I love the reason it was created: CREATED FOR OUR TROOPS: Gulf War Syndrome has been directly linked to chemicals including pesticides, so the US Department of Defense went to the manufacturers of EPA 25(B) products asking them to create a safe, yet effective pest control solution to deal with sand fleas (sand gnats, no-see-ems) creating misery for US Troops in the Middle East. Greenbug met the challenge and these standards wonderfully. Note: EPA 25(B) is a list of active ingredients for pest control that have been tested and proven to cause no harm to humans, animals or the environment. Additional Notes: Greenbug also works on fleas, ticks, ants, head lice – even bed bugs. Read more about it here. I’m pretty excited to know the natural solution for lice, since it’s always been a fear of mine to get lice in the family and be forced to use super strength chemicals on everyone/everything! I also love the idea of spraying it on hotel sheets to prevent bed bugs. :/ RELATED: More on naturally eradicating bed bugs from your home, although I’d rather use one spray and rid hotels of them when I stay there! I tried spraying Greenbug near some ants outside, and here’s what happened: The ones who stayed directly in the spray died within a minute, and the others wouldn’t go near it. (The photo above is probably after two minutes; many of the ants scattered to the left, and most were smart enough not to go anywhere near the patch of Greenbug on the right.) If you don’t buy Greenbug for your skin, I would definitely have some on hand for home pest control and head lice. I wish I would have remembered this use when we had ants in our kitchen (again) this year! I was trying all sorts of things from the how to get rid of ants naturally post and it took forever for me to win the battle.

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Price: $18.98 for 4.2 oz. ($4.27/oz.) Where to Purchase: My Miessence store Active Ingredients: citronella essential oil, olive tea tree essential oil, tea tree essential oil, lemon tea tree essential oil, neem extract [note: my bottle, which I just ordered, does not include this ingredient but it is on the website. ???], bitter orange fruit extract Safety Notes: This is sourced organically to the highest standards and does not include any ingredients not safe for children. Other Ingredients: aloe vera leaf juice, water, sclerotium rolfsii gum Easy to use? Unfortunately, no. The Miessence product is really a runny, squirtable lotion that you have to rub onto your skin. With four kids and two adults in the family, we just don’t have time to be messing around with a lotion-type product for bugs. Sticky? Not so bad. How does it smell? Nice. I can really smell the lemon and citronella. Did it prevent mosquito bites? It does seem that this bug spray is effective on skin, but since one cannot at all apply it to clothing, it loses some power in the overall battle against bugs. We did use it once when another brand was totally failing, and within a minute 95% of the bugs stopped bugging us! It was a pretty impressive display of efficacy. KS recommends? Sadly, no. I am happy that this is one of four kid-safe brands I tried, and I’m also happy that the price per ounce isn’t too terrible. But even though I technically “sell” this product in my store (which I just have because of the probiotics we use in the family), I don’t think busy families should buy it. I’d rather have an actual spray. (Our sprayer piece broke, too, but we just opened the bottle and rubbed it on, so it wasn’t as big of a deal as if a “real” spray broke.) If you love the ingredients, however, and aren’t worried about having to rub it in, then the product will be up to your standard for sure. 2018 note: The bottle looks different online, and I wonder if it is any thinner and spray-able! I may have to retest this one…

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Price: $12.25 for 4 ounces ($3/oz.) and available in smaller sizes and refill Where to Purchase: LuSa Safety Notes: polysorbate-20 is rated “3” at EWG, just out of the range of the super safe (0-2) but still considered fairly benign. Active Ingredients: essential oil blend of lemon eucalyptus, cedar, rose geranium, and citronella Other Ingredients: *Aloe vera juice, witch hazel distillate, and polysorbate-20 (an olive oil and sugar based emulsifier). *certified organic ingredient (2022 update: Polysorbate-20 has been removed from the ingredients. Yay!) Easy to use? Yes, spray bottle Sticky? No How does it smell? Not unpleasant, a little sharp from the lemon Did it prevent mosquito bites? During a camping trip, mosquitos were clearly landing on our 4yo and me quite soon after spraying LuSa on our skin. Disappointing! KS recommends? Only sort of. I’m hesitant about the preservative when no other brands needed it, and since we have one #fail on record, why bother? On the other hand, at least the oils are safe for children. Additional Notes: The bug spray comes in a metal bottle, which made me wonder if it would get too hot in a sunny vehicle. 2022: This formula has been slightly changed, to omit the preservative and add citronella to the oil blend. About the company: LuSa Organics is a small family operation committed to supporting local and regional economies. Their ingredients are naturally sourced, primarily organic, and consistently high quality. They scent their products with essential oils and create color with natural pigments, herbs, and clays. Ten percent of LuSa’s annual profits are donated to organizations creating positive global change. Their intention is to leave the world a better, happier, and yes, cleaner, place for their work.

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Price: $16 Where to Purchase: MadeOn Hard Lotion Safety Notes: Base lotion ingredients rated “0” at EWG (very safe!), but rosemary (a new ingredient as of 2016) is not rated safe for kids. 🙁 Active Ingredients: citronella essential oil, cedarwood essential oil, rosemary essential oil Updated ingredient list as of summer 2016. Other Ingredients: beeswax, coconut oil, shea butter Easy to use? So so. Nothing beats the speed of a spray, but the bar isn’t difficult, it just takes longer to apply. Sticky? Sort of, like a good lotion. If you’ve ever used MadeOn’s hard lotion bars, it just feels like that. A little bit greasy. How does it smell? I like it; the citronella is very strong. I’ve only tested the old formula; in the new formula, the citronella was decreased and cedarwood increased.  Did it prevent mosquito bites? Yes. I lent the bar to my son’s day camp last year, and the kids overall loved it and thought it worked great. A colleague of mine also allowed mosquitoes to land on him if they wanted, and although some landed on the arm with the MadeOn Bug Bar, they never bit. KS recommends? Well…I used to love this one, but with the caveat that a bar is very different than a spray. With the new formula, it now includes rosemary EO which is not generally seen as safe for kids. Bummer. Additional Notes: Bonus on using the bar – you’re also moisturizing at the same time, so at least you get a benefit for the bit of extra time it takes to apply (vs. a spray).

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Price: $11.87 for 8 ounces ($1.48/oz.) or save by buying a multi-pack

Where to Purchase: Mexitan or Amazon (prices vary)

Safety Notes: Potassium Sorbate is rated “3” at EWG; vanillin is a “0” but many don’t like to use it in food products. Peppermint is not safe for children.

Active Ingredients: Citronella Oil (4%), Lemongrass Oil (4%), Peppermint Oil (2%)

Other Ingredients: Vanillin, Purified Water, and Potassium Sorbate

Easy to use? Yes, simple spray – can even be sprayed upside down!

Sticky? No

How does it smell? Mmm, really good. The vanilla scent is heavenly.

Did it prevent mosquito bites? Maybe? We only had one test, and no one got bitten, but maybe they wouldn’t have anyway.

KS recommends? Jury is out. I don’t love the preservative included, but the price is nice, and if these active ingredients work for you – and especially if anyone doesn’t love the smell of the essential oils – Mexitan is a well-sourced brand. Also, Skedattle is one of the more inexpensive brands.

Additional Notes: After 8 hours of swimming and sprinkler play, you could still smell the bug spray on my kids. It has staying power! Note: That test was obviously before I understood that I shouldn’t use peppermint on my little ones. 

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Price: $7.99  for 4.2 ounces ($1.90/oz) or save with bigger refill bottle

Where to Purchase: Purple Prairie

Safety Notes: polysorbate 20, a preservative, is rated “3” at EWG; oils not deemed safe for kids include eucalyptus, rosemary, and peppermint.

Active Ingredients: eucalyptus citriadora (lemon eucalyptus) oil, azadirachta indica (neem) seed oil, cymbopogon schoenanthus (lemongrass) oil, eucalyptus globulus (eucalyptus) leaf oil, melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) oil, mentha piperita (peppermint) oil.

My bottle is really quite different from the online ingredients. The formula must have changed in the past year or two, but I’ll go with what is listed currently.

Other Ingredients: aqua (water), hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel), polysorbate 20

Easy to use? Yes, spray is easy

Sticky? Maybe a little

How does it smell? Pleasant but strong; the lemon and eucalyptus come through

Did it prevent mosquito bites? No. In two trials on two different people, it failed both times, both in keeping mosquitoes from landing and from biting. Note that the formula has changed though…

KS recommends? No. Many brands don’t need a preservative, and this one didn’t seem to be a good fit for my family, PLUS there are multiple non-child-safe oils.

Additional Notes: Can be used as a general itch reliever on bites or chicken pox, etc.

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Price: $13-$17.33 for 15 mL (~$26+/ounce)

Where to Purchase: doTERRA or check pricing on Amazon

Active Ingredients: proprietary blend of 15 essential oils including at least lemon eucalyptus, citronella, and lemongrass

Safety Notes: Since we don’t know what’s in it, I wouldn’t use it around kids. Plus, I don’t know the dilution percentage if at all. Too much of a gamble to bother.

Other Ingredients: fractionated coconut oil

Easy to use? Not at all. The oils come in a regular oil bottle, so you either have to get just a few drops out and put on the skin or put a spray attachment on, in which case you end up using wayyyy too much for the price, and it doesn’t mist very well. This was the only bottle that leaked all over.

Sticky? Yes (sort of oily, really)

How does it smell? Smells like candy

Did it prevent mosquito bites? No. Not at all. In fact, the instructions say that TerraShield can be used aromatically as well, which would be great, except that when I opened the bottle all the way to try to form a cloud of protection around my face, hungry mosquitoes landed right on the bottle.

KS recommends? No. Besides the fact that it’s uber expensive, enigmatic, and doesn’t really stretch farther than other formulas, it didn’t work and most likely stains clothing.

Additional Notes: I don’t like “proprietary blends” anyway. What if someone was allergic to an ingredient, like my aunt’s violent reaction to eucalyptus oil?

2022 Update: TerraShield now comes in both the 15mL bottle and a 30mL spray bottle. The website does now give all the ingredients: sesame oil, citronella oil, lemongrass oil, thyme oil, cedarwood oil, geranium oil, and peppermint oil.