photo credit: Bobbi Misiti
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 oz. Spearmint hydrosol
- 1-1/2 oz. Aloe vera gel
- 18 drops Catnip essential oil
- 14 drops Turmeric essential oil
- 11 drops Rose Geranium
- 7 drops Vanilla extract
- 4 drops Lemongrass
Instructions
Recipe #1 – Tick spray safe for skin and clothes
Combine water and aloe vera gel in a 3 oz. glass spray bottle.
Blend essential oils together then blend the synergy into your water and aloe.
Shake well.
Shake well prior to each use.
You can purchase this item pre-made by Bobbi:
2 oz. in a spray bottle for $15.00 (+tax)
Being from Central PA where we have lots of lovely woods to hike in I have spent my share of time pulling ticks off myself. Because forest bathing and being outdoors is good for us, we don’t want to avoid the lovely summer woods due to ticks. In addition to having a good balanced immune system we do have some promising research from the world of plant chemicals that shows essential oils can be effective at repelling ticks, killing their larvae, and even strong enough to disinfect a biofilm (if it left one) after a tick has been removed.
Here is a link to a well researched article on ticks and essential oils I came across from the New York Institute of Aromatic Studies.
Using this research I also put together a few other tick repellents in a stronger clothes only spray, a disinfectant for after removal of a tick, and a nice skin lotion that also has repellent qualities and is skin safe.
My recommendation for being tick safe when outdoors:
For your skin the above spray or the lotion below, my tick spray for clothes only, and tick bacteria disinfectant to use after removal of a tick.
Always check yourself thoroughly when you come in from the outdoors. If you do have a tick the quicker you remove it the less your chance for lyme transmission.
Tick Removal:
Use a forceps or a special tick tool, grab the tick as close to the skin as you can and pull upward firmly and steadily. Any mouth parts remaining in the skin are usually expelled by your body.
Stick the tick in a glass jar and freeze — if you do develop any symptoms you can examine the tick for lyme or similar bacteria.
Disinfect the site where the tick was attached, if there are any remnants of lyme bacteria, the disinfectant below has essential oils that have effectively killed lyme bacteria and their biofilms (in vitro), biofilms are especially hard to eradicate even with antibiotics.
Tick Disinfectant:
Carrier Oils:
1/2 oz Calendula Infused oil
1/2 oz Coconut Oil
Essential Oil synergy:
Oregano – 2 drops
Cistus – 2 drops
Cinnamon Bark – 1 drop
Clove – 1 drop
Blend together essential oil synergy and mix into carrier oils. Test a small amount on skin before use to make sure you are ok with this blend — it uses caustic oils — especially the oregano however oregano is the most effective essential oil at helping to break up their biofilms.
Do not use on freshly shaven skin or any broken skin. I have tested this on myself, it is slightly warming but not caustic to me in any way.
Apply oil blend (a roller bottle works nice) morning and night around site where tick was attached avoiding any broken skin for 2-3 days.
This makes much more than you need, but you have to make this amount to dilute the essential oils adequately.
I can sell you one roller bottle full already made:
1 10mL roller bottle of Tick Disinfectant = $15.00
Clothes Spray — this is for outer clothes only — do NOT get this on your skin! This is excellent for shoes and hats.
These oils at this dilution are both caustic and photosensitive (meaning you could get sunburnt if they are on your skin when you are exposed to sun). This is a stronger repellent blend than the skin safe blend.
Clothes Spray to repel ticks:
Available for purchase $9.50 / 2 oz spray bottle
Combine in a 2 oz spray bottle:
1 oz distilled water
1 oz vodka
Essential Oil Synergy:
Geranium – 14 drops
Turmeric – 18 drops
Cinnamon Leaf – 14 drops
Thyme ct. thymol – 5 drops
Tagetes, minuta – 9 drops
Combine synergy into water and vodka. Shake well with each use.
And Lastly a tick repelling skin lotion that is also calming and nourishing to our skin.
In my lotion base I use Calendula infused oil, coconut oil, vitamin E oil, Aloe vera gel, and spearmint hydrosol. To 4 oz of lotion base I add this synergy:
Catnip – 24 drops
Geranium – 14 drops
Turmeric – 19 drops
Lemongrass – 5 drops
Vanilla – 10 drops
If you are interested in any of these products I will be happy to make them for you, please contact Bobbi for more info and pricing.