Keeping insects away without unhealthy chemicals?

[SickOfSickness]

I need some suggestions that work for mosquitoes when I go outdoors. I would also like suggestions for others that bite and wasps and bees. And if there are ideas for indoors, because sometimes they get in the house and bite me.

I am worried about breathing in bad chemicals, or absorbing them into my skin. I'm also worried about scents that give me allergy symptoms or trigger migraine.

 

[K2 for Hope]

I suppose the Citronella candles outdoor would bother you.

I use them instead of sprays. Even though they have an odor, I place them near the screen doors on my patio which is farther away from where I actually sit.

Or I light them before I come out and then blow them out when I actually go outside if I am feeling extremely sensitive. That way the bugs are gone and I'm not sitting in the smoke. But, you can still kinda smell the citronella.

 

[SickOfSickness]

Citronella does bother me and trigger a migraine

 

[Lelvina]

I use essential oils to try & keep insects away.

I use a blend from Butterfly Express -- the blend is "Away" -- but it has Citronella (real, not synthetic) in it

I also like Lavender Essential oil -- I can spray it on, or dilute it & spray. Sometimes I put Lavender, Basil or Geranium on a bug bite.

Magnets are another thing I use to treat bug bites...

I hope something works!

 

[taniaaust1]

Its weird as I dont usually react to natural things but Citronella candles give me a headache so I cant use them (interesting to hear others here say the same thing)

There are some great bug zapper things which you plug into the electricity which ultraviolet llight attracts insects and zap them... I wasnt sure if they also zap mosquitos..so I just looked one up and it says it does http://www.ridabug.com.au/ (that one is ugly but they come in more attractive looks)

or as Lelviana said.. some essential oils also keep insects away.

There are also things out nowday which repel insects which emit certain frequencies out they dont like.

When my daughter lived home, she had one of the like princess beds so we put mosquito net curtain over it all which completely kept any out at night.

 

[SickOfSickness]

Yeah peppermint works for some insects. I did not know lavender does. I will look up lavender. I think you need at least 3 different scents to cover different insects.

Magnets are another thing I use to treat bug bites...

I need to learn more about this too.

A lot of bug zappers have bad reviews. I would like to find one that works.