These bug repellent lotion bars are perfect for summertime. While moisturizing your skin with all-natural ingredients: you will also be keeping bugs at bay. Safe for all ages!
Last winter, I made some homemade lotion bars and absolutely loved them. In fact, I made such a large batch we still have a couple left. So while I was getting ready to whip up another batch, I thought, why not add in some bug repellent essential oils?
Instead of adding lavender essential oil, as I did before, I used oils like lemongrass, peppermint and cedarwood. Now when we rub these on, not only will we receive the moisturizing benefits, but we will be bug-free too!
After making these, I realized just how great of an insect repellent for babies and kids this was. I didn’t have to risk the bug spray getting in their eyes, and I can rub this directly on their faces.
If you prefer a spray, check out my bug and tick repellent HERE.
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WHY USE ESSENTIAL OILS TO REPEL BUGS?
Essential oils can be very effective in deterring bugs of all kinds. I have so many stories to prove it! Essential oils are very concentrated and give off a powerful scent. Bugs don’t like these scents and flee from them.
Once, we had ants in our house. We tried a few different tricks, and until I broke out my peppermint oil, they weren’t leaving.
I mixed 30 drops of peppermint essential oil with 8 ounces of water and sprayed the door frames, windows, and any area they were in. By golly, we were ant free the next day, and they stayed away!
Recently, we had a major gnat issue going on in our chicken coop. So bad, in fact, they killed several of our hens. Again, we tried everything! We even bought a bug spray online that was specifically for gnats. Guess what? It didn’t work!
I did some research and made a spray with vanilla extract, lemongrass essential oil, and peppermint essential oil. We sprayed the entire coop, and it worked! We joked, saying that we were going to start hanging out in the coop to get away from the gnats in our yard. It was the only gnat-free area on the whole property.
The best part about essential oils, other than the fact that they work, is that they are all-natural. I love that I can spray my house and my kids without worrying about the chemicals going into the air. With kids toddling around, I don’t want chemicals lurking in my home, on my walls, floors, or in the air.
WHAT ESSENTIAL OILS WORK BEST FOR BUG REPELLENT?
Several essential oils can be used for bug repellent, and certain ones work better for certain bugs. I like to add a little of everything to keep all the flying, crawling, and biting things away.
PEPPERMINT & EUCALYPTUS
Peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils are excellent natural bug repellents for aphids, squash bugs, whiteflies, ants, beetles, spiders, and fleas.
You will also find peppermint as the main ingredient in my mouse-repellent spray.
LEMONGRASS
Lemongrass can repel flying and crawling pests without harming plants, animals, or skin. This one is great for gnats.
ROSEMARY
A potent repellent for many types of insects, including flies, fleas, and mosquitoes.
Rosemary is also great for garden plants because it can deter insect larvae that can easily destroy entire crops of tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, and even some root veggies if left undisturbed.
CLOVE & THYME
Clove and thyme work well together for flying and biting insects: like chiggers, ticks, roaches, and flies.
CEDARWOOD
Cedarwood is excellent for repelling ticks. I always add cedarwood to my bug repellents because we have lots of woods near our house, and we visit my parent’s farm every weekend.
This oil is great for dogs too. We soak our dog collars in a cedarwood water mixture during spring and summer to keep ticks off of them. It helps so much!
TEA TREE
Tea tree is another great oil for repelling insects of all kinds; it is a natural mosquito control and the best mosquito killer, in my opinion. If you already have bug bites, tea tree would be a good essential oil to apply to the area. It has cleansing and purifying properties that will help soothe the skin.
Find your natural bug repellent essential oils HERE.
WHAT ABOUT CONVENTIONAL BUG SPRAY?
Conventional bug sprays are filled with toxins and chemicals. I prefer not to spray these on my skin or into the air I am breathing.
In hopes of deterring bugs, most people run to products that contain DEET. DEET has been used for many years, and research is now saying that it can have harmful side effects for the skin, brain, and cells.
HOW IMPORTANT IS BUG SPRAY?
If you are going to be outside during the warmer months, bugs are going to be a problem. You will most likely get bit by something at some point. Most bug bites won’t require any medical attention and will go away on their own.
However, they can be very annoying, itchy, and can cause swelling. In some cases, you could contract a disease or have an allergic reaction. Though these things aren’t extremely likely, it is always best to prevent them as much as possible.
I keep my homemade bug repellent lotion bars by the back door to rub on my kids before going out for the day. I keep my bug spray in my diaper bag to spray everyone’s legs and clothing when we are out and about.
If you do get bug bites, you can apply a blend of lavender, tea tree, and frankincense to the area of concern. Get the full roller bottle recipe HERE.
HOW TO MAKE BUG REPELLENT LOTION BARS
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup cocoa butter or shea butter (or you can use a combination of the two)
- 1 cup beeswax
- 30 drops of bug repellent essential oils (pick one or multiple oils from the list above)
- Silicone molds or metal tins
INSTRUCTIONS
- Melt all the ingredients, except the essential oils, in a double boiler. You can make your own double boiler by placing a glass bowl over a medium-size saucepan.
- Bring the water to a boil until the ingredients are melted.
- Once ingredients are melted, remove the bowl from the heat. Let mixture cool slightly, and then add in essential oils.
- Stir well until combined.
- Pour the mixture into silicone molds or metal tins.
- Allow the mixture to cool completely, and then pop the bars out of the molds.
- Store in an airtight container for up to one year.
HOW TO APPLY BUG REPELLENT LOTION BARS
Rub the lotion bar onto the skin where you want to use it. It is best to apply to any exposed skin. When you rub it on the warm skin, it will melt slightly, making it easy to apply. Massage into the skin.
A few more summertime DIYs
Sea Salt Spray for Wavy Beach Hair
PRINT THE RECIPE BUG REPELLENT LOTION BARS
Bug Repellent Lotion Bars
Equipment
- Double Boiler
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup cocoa butter or shea butter or use a combination of the two
- 1 cup beeswax
- 30 drops bug repellent essential oils pick from the list above
- Silicone molds
Instructions
- Melt all the ingredients, except the essential oils, in a double boiler. You can make your own double boiler by placing a glass bowl over a medium-size saucepan.
- Bring the water to a boil until the ingredients are melted. Once ingredients are melted, remove the bowl from the heat.
- Let mixture cool slightly, and then add in essential oils. Stir well until combined.
- Pour the mixture into silicone molds or metal tins.
- Allow the mixture to cool completely, and then pop the bars out of the molds.
- Store in an airtight container for up to one year.
Becky says
I sit in my chair and do computer stuff and am pestered by a bunch of flies and just hate shooing them away every 5 seconds. I just tried a tiny recipe of my own using a 1/4 t of olive oil as the carrier and 2 drops of eucalyptus and I’ve been sitting here for 5 minutes and no flies. Is the amount of drops verses the olive oil OK? I love your videos and plan to make the insect repellent bars as soon as I get all the ingredients.
Laura says
Wow, that is great! Sounds like that ratio is working great for you, thanks for sharing!
Jojo says
Laura your recipes are so good. You have so much imagination it’s flowing like an ocean in your mind. You are so bright to do all these recipes and they are good. We all love you very much. Keep up the good work.
Laura says
Thank you so much! I am so glad you are enjoying my recipes!
Jessica says
Hi! I was wondering if instead of molds or tins I could pour into a tray and then cut into bars? Thanks!
Laura says
Yes that is a great idea!
Brenda says
Hi there,
I was excited to try this recipe out and followed it exactly. Unfortunately, even tho I applied it very liberally, I flubs that the scent had faded to almost nothing after about an hour. Wasn’t really motivated to re-apply given I was still greasy from my initial application. Is this normal?
Laura says
I am so sorry this didn’t work for you. I reapply every couple of hours or as needed. You can add more essential oils if needed, sometimes the brand of oils you use can make a difference in this.
Tina says
I was just wondering if the essential oils and the other ingredients mask the smell of the beeswax. I understand why it is needed and it’s benefits, but I personally don’t like the smell of beeswax.
Thank you.
Laura says
Yes I think it does!
Louise says
I would love to makes these bars but unfortunately I have an allergy to coconut – is there an alternative you could recommend.
Margaret says
Hello, I live in the tropics in Queensland Australia! I’m wondering if they might be a bit soft with do much coconut oil in our climate and whether I should add more beeswax?
Laura says
You can store them in the refrigerator and they will stay firm!
Becky Sanner says
Lemongrass oil attracts bees.
Barbara says
Hi I would love to trybthis recipe but I don’t have beeswax. What can I use instead? Can I replace it with equal parts of coconut oil and shea butter ?
Btw I found ypur Channel not long ago and I am obsessed with it and making lots of your diy home/skin products😊
Thanks in advance
Laura says
Thank you so much! The lotion bars need beeswax to make them a “bar” it is really what firms it up. I have a link to the beeswax in the post if you want to get some! I use it in a lot of my DIY’s and find it handy to have on hand.
Mandie Wood-Donaldson says
I LOVE this recipe! Thank you! I’m making this for my best friend, who is allergic to mosquitoes. We both hate the smell of commercial repellents. (It never fails that I get some in my eyes or mouth. Yuck.) Since, I’ve been researching and getting on track with getting away from chemicals, she has to also, right? Lol 😉 Thank you again!
Ps. Your recipe is the ONLY one I’ve found that said to add the Essential Oils AFTER you melt the butters & wax. Luckily, I knew not to do this, but many don’t. Thank you.
Laura says
I am so glad you like this recipe and thank you so much for the sweet comment. You are a great friend to make these for her too!! Thanks again!
Ashley @ Wishes & Dishes says
Normally I hate the smell of bug repellent! This is great!
Laura says
Oh yes, I agree! This stuff smells great!
Kandice says
This recipe looks great!
How many bars does it make?
I want to make sure I have enough ingredients for a group 🙂
Laura says
12-15 depending on the size you make.
Virion says
Hi Laura! Love the recipe. Is this safe for toddlers?
Laura says
I use it on all my kiddos and never had any issues. 🙂
Bronwyn says
I love your recipes, but I really prefer using weight recipes. At any poimt in would you be open to making your recipes with weights?
Laura says
Thank you! I will look into it, thanks for the suggestion!
Bethany says
If you are going to use all of the essential oils to cover every creepy crawly, would you split up the 30 between all of them?
Laura says
Yes exactly, 30 drops total is plenty for this recipe.
Charlotte says
Which cedarwood do you use for these bars; cedarwood atlas or cedarwood himalayan? Thanks! Love your vudeos and all the great tips and recipes!
lauraascher says
Mine is cedar wood juniperus virginian.