Anyone make their own fly repellants?

Shane

Shane

Member
Joined
7 February 2011
Messages
16
Visit site
was planning on trying to make my own this year rather than paying the £12 per bottle i normally do... any reciepe ideas?

thanks,
 
I use:

4tbsp cider vinegar
1tbsp washing up liquid
2tbsp mentholated spirits
15ml citronella
1/2 pint strong, cold tea
Top up with water to make 1 litre.




Made the mistake of using it on a coloured and the cold tea made her white bits look dirty :o
Seems to work better than a lot of other recipes and shop bought sprays.
 
thanks, seems to be quite similar to a lot of online ones i saw, was wondering about the fairy liquid though... is that ok to speay on and leave on ok?
 
I've made my own this year, and i've been really surprised as is working really well, they never have any flies on them when i get them in or out hacking! In the past I've tried recipes,used home made stuff but hasn't worked quite as well!

I used 2 strong tea bags, 2 mint tea bags made up to about 500ml, left to cool then added 6 drops citronella, 4 drops tea tree, 4 drops eucalyptus, 4 drops lavender. tea spoon vodka, a squirt of washing up liquid to mix the oils, then top up with water to 2 litres.

I did a skin test on them first to make sure they weren't allergic to the stuff!

There is a recipe thread on here somewhere i believe too!
 
I cannot see how a liquid that you spray on to try and mask a horses pong can work for more than a few minutes at any time. Once the smell fades, the flies are back. The only successful way of repelling flies is to feed the horse something that comes out through its skin. Obviously immediate relief from flies for show class is fine for a spray but for longer term, surely its got to come from within ?

Now I might be barking up the wrong tree but there has to be something in the fact that us hoomans dont seem to have the fly problem that horses have... or even that you see on the poor African kids on TV (bear with me here...) and the only straw I can snatch at was that we tend to eat a lot more B vits and yeast products than horses and those in 3rd world countries (yep... scientific this isnt it ?). I then bumped into a hunt groom who told me that she feeds marmite to all of her horses as it was a old wives tale she came across in her youth. And that kind of ties up with what Ive seen....

Sooooo..... I then did some surfing and discovered that Brewers yeast is meant to have a beneficial effect on Sweet Itch. Well... that was me sold.

Last year I trialled feeding more brewers yeast than I do in the winter and the effect was less fly bites and hassle than using just fly sprays alone. Its waaay cheaper to buy a sack online from Charnwood Milling and feed a tablespoon ful twice a day than spend your dosh on sprays.

The BY also acts as a calmer and a coat conditioner so its makes sense all round really. I still use a spray but only for instant relief at shows as the horses just dont seem to be getting the grief at home that they did.

This may ofcourse be a load of old bummocks but you decide....
 
Mrussell - no that makes a lot of sense. I feed my horse BY anyway but als make my own fly spray. I bought the essential oils 3 years ago for £30 and have made countless bottles of fly spray since then and saved myself a fortune!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top