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Keep away the mosquitoes in the house
With the arrival of summer and the increase in temperatures, mosquitoes return on time every year, ready to torment us with their buzz and above all with their bites. How to do keep mosquitoes away with natural methods and remedies, without resorting to potentially harmful insecticides? Let’s find out.
Mosquito nets
Certainly the most effective way to keep these annoying insects away from the walls of the house is to install mosquito nets to doors and windows. If possible, it is better to opt for fixed mosquito nets, but if this path is not practicable, you can fall back on various alternatives, including economic ones, such as mesh curtains or movable mosquito nets to be applied to window frames, doors, windows and skylights using hooks or removable tapes. They also exist on the market net curtains to be mounted on the bed, to protect yourself from mosquitoes while you sleep and rest better.
Fans
Also ceiling fans and blades they are excellent allies in the fight against mosquitoes since, by moving the air, they make it difficult for insects to fly and above all because they allow disperse a large part of the carbon dioxide we emit breathing and attracting mosquitoes.
Essential oils
Spreading essential oils in the rooms is a valid remedy to keep mosquitoes away. Essential oils are natural substances produced by plants, often precisely to discourage insects, parasites and predators. Among the most effective essences against mosquitoes definitely stands out the lemongrass, but essential oils also work geranium, lavender, mint and rosemary, whose scent is more pleasant to us but always unwelcome to mosquitoes. The essences can be spread in all the rooms of the house using electric diffusers and burners, in which to place five to ten drops of essential oil in water.
Get rid of mosquitoes on the balcony and in the garden
Candles and incense
Essential oils are effective natural repellents for mosquitoes even in open spaces, not just indoors. In the garden or on the terrace, in addition to the burner, you can also use citronella candles and incense. Obviously outdoors the range of action of the essences is more limited, so it’s good place the burner at a short distance from where you stop, for example near tables and deck chairs.
Repellent plants
To ward off mosquitoes outdoors, you can also resort to plants disliked by these insects, to be grown in pots on balconies and terraces or in the ground in the garden. Among the most effective species to deter mosquitoes we find geraniums and lemongrass, as well as several aromatic plants including lavender, basil, mint and rosemary, also useful in the kitchen.
Those lucky enough to have a large garden can also planting eucalyptus trees, whose fragrant leaves keep mosquitoes away. Even more effective against mosquitoes are the catambra and the catalpa, two trees with repellent action thanks to the presence of catalpolo, a substance that our sense of smell cannot perceive but that mosquitoes seem to hate.
Coffee
The aroma of coffee seems to be unwelcome to mosquitoes and, for this reason, it is often recommended to fix some coffee bean or the exhausted mocha powder inside the saucers. The stagnation of water in the saucers of the plants can in fact become the ideal place for the deposition of mosquito eggs and, thanks to the coffee, the growth of the larvae of these annoying insects would be inhibited.
Keep away mosquitoes outdoors
We’ve seen how to keep mosquitoes away in your home, garden and balcony, but how do you get rid of mosquitoes on a walk or a night out? Mosquitoes are attracted to numerous visual and olfactory stimuli that “guide” them to us, including dark or bright colors, carbon dioxide from our breath and other substances secreted through sweat. Some people are almost ignored by mosquitoes, while others are more targeted for genetic traits that affect the smell of their skin. Those who belong to this second group can try to defend themselves by wearing light colored clothes and using natural repellents.
Natural repellent remedies
To effectively protect yourself from mosquito bites outside the home, it can be useful to apply natural repellent products to the skin. Among these we find lotions or gels based on essential oils unwelcome to mosquitoes such as those already seen of lemongrass, geranium and lavender. The repellent sprays that we find in herbal medicine are formulated with natural ingredients and often contain these essences.
Those who are a little familiar with DIY cosmetics can also try their hand at self-production by adding a few drops of one or more essential oils to a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Among the most suitable vegetable oils to ward off mosquitoes we find, for example, neem oil, known for its repellent and insecticidal properties. As an alternative to oil, which for some people can be unpleasant on the skin especially during hot and sultry days, it is possible to use fresher ingredients such as aloe vera gel pure or solutions prepared by mixing water and alcohol. In any case, it is always important that the essences are used in small quantities and always diluted in a carrier to avoid irritation.
Applying essential oils to the skin is not recommended in case of allergies, on children, pregnant and breastfeeding: in these cases, natural creams prepared with rice starch and neem oil, two ingredients well tolerated even by sensitive skin. Rice starch helps to keep mosquitoes away thanks to its ability to absorb sweat which, as we have seen, makes us very “palatable” for mosquitoes.
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