Fly spray home recipe package - thoughts please

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gerbera

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Hi all, I would like to put the feelers out for an idea I have with regards to selling the ingredients to make up a fly spray package with free postage.

The package would include the following

1 bottle of Avon skin so soft
10ml Citronella oil
10ml Tea tree oil
10ml Lavender oil

Once water is added this will make up a 2.5 litre refill bottle, which will refill a 500ml spray bottles x 5. This is what I have used all summer to great affect and it gave my horses a lovely coat and tangle free mane.

The package would cost £15, which includes postage costs. This means one 500ml bottle will cost £3.00 to make.

It's just an idea as fly spray can get costly through the summer, especially when like me you own more than 1 horse!

I also know it's a bit late in the day, but the idea only popped into my head this morning! lol
 
It's worth a try. Nothing ventured...

Personally, I have my own recipe, not the same as yours, which works a treat. I also buy my oils in much larger quantities.

I don't use So Soft in my recipe, but it was in one of my experimental batches (that got rejected in favour of the mixture we all now use).

I had a few bottles of So Soft left over which I had to throw out this year as the contents, bizarrely, went rock solid. Don't know if that has happened for anyone else? (Mine were probably just too many years old).

Good Luck :) Hope it goes well for you.
 
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Hi gerbera,

Could I ask what area of the country you are in please? The reason being that up here in God's Country, we have these delightful creatures called MIDGIES and only the strongest of strong fly sprays have any effect on them whatsoever. Does your recipe work on them too? (If so, I'll take 10!) You might need to market your product as an area specific remedy, so that you don't get angry Northeners/Scots saying that it doesn't work for them! Just a thought...

Great idea though, good luck with it xx
 
gerbera said:
Hi all, I would like to put the feelers out for an idea I have with regards to selling the ingredients to make up a fly spray package with free postage.

The package would include the following

1 bottle of Avon skin so soft
10ml Citronella oil
10ml Tea tree oil
10ml Lavender oil

Once water is added this will make up a 2.5 litre refill bottle, which will refill a 500ml spray bottles x 5. This is what I have used all summer to great affect and it gave my horses a lovely coat and tangle free mane.

The package would cost £15, which includes postage costs. This means one 500ml bottle will cost £3.00 to make.



It's just an idea as fly spray can get costly through the summer, especially when like me you own more than 1 horse!

I also know it's a bit late in the day, but the idea only popped into my head this morning! lol
Click to expand...

Be aware that some horses are very allergic to T tree - especially those with sweet itch who may be the biggest potential market.
Also, not sure if there are any legal implications of using another branded product (Avon)?
 
DappleDown said:
It's worth a try. Nothing ventured...

Personally, I have my own recipe, not the same as yours, which works a treat. I also buy my oils in much larger quantities.

I don't use So Soft in my recipe, but it was in one of my experimental batches (that got rejected in favour of the mixture we all now use).

I had a few bottles of So Soft left over which I had to throw out this year as the contents, bizarrely, went rock solid. Don't know if that has happened for anyone else? (Mine were probably just too many years old).

Good Luck :) Hope it goes well for you.
Click to expand...

That Skin So Soft must have been ancient! lol
 
HeyMich said:
Hi gerbera,

Could I ask what area of the country you are in please? The reason being that up here in God's Country, we have these delightful creatures called MIDGIES and only the strongest of strong fly sprays have any effect on them whatsoever. Does your recipe work on them too? (If so, I'll take 10!) You might need to market your product as an area specific remedy, so that you don't get angry Northeners/Scots saying that it doesn't work for them! Just a thought...

Great idea though, good luck with it xx
Click to expand...

Thank you :-) I live in Essex but have a battle with midges myself although I would obviously expect the North to struggle more than me with it!

Citronella is good for midges but it's actually the Avon Skin So Soft that has appeared in various articles especially with regard to Scotland. Apparently The Marines (based in Scotland) swear by it and use it daily to repel midges :-) hope that info helps you! I have been using Skin so Soft all summer and because of it decided to become an Avon rep this week! lol
 
gerbera said:
Thank you :-) I live in Essex but have a battle with midges myself although I would obviously expect the North to struggle more than me with it!

Citronella is good for midges but it's actually the Avon Skin So Soft that has appeared in various articles especially with regard to Scotland. Apparently The Marines (based in Scotland) swear by it and use it daily to repel midges :-) hope that info helps you! I have been using Skin so Soft all summer and because of it decided to become an Avon rep this week! lol
Click to expand...

Yes, Avon SSS is a common sight around here (I have many, many bottles!), and has been for years, but I've never heard it used on horses - the way (that I understand) it works is by forming an oily layer on your skin so that the midgies can't get through, so it doesn't repel them, as such. Great for people, but not furry creatures. I'm happy to be told otherwise!

Good luck with the new business ventures- Avon rep and fly spray ingredients! Exciting times :-)
 
oldjumper said:
Be aware that some horses are very allergic to T tree - especially those with sweet itch who may be the biggest potential market.
Also, not sure if there are any legal implications of using another branded product (Avon)?
Click to expand...

We had a pony that suffered with sweet itch, although sadly she died from colic in July. So as an owner that has had experience with sweet itch, it's a battle regardless of what you use. Treatment for sweet itch has to start before the midges arrive and for me that was feeding brewers yeasts and using a fly rug daily for the field (she lived out) I would also use soothing lotions for problem areas. I used to spray my fly spray onto her actual fly rug though to help deter the flies and midges, which was fine for her.

Avon Skin So Soft has been around for years and is a main ingredient for many homemade recipes. I do not feel there is any legal implication, however as an Avon Rep I'm happy to sell it but I really don't think it matters.

You have a good point regarding Tea Tree, but it is a main ingredient... I could offer to replace with Mint, which is another good natural ingredient for flies and midges. As with all sprays though, a patch test should be done first.
 
HeyMich said:
Yes, Avon SSS is a common sight around here (I have many, many bottles!), and has been for years, but I've never heard it used on horses - the way (that I understand) it works is by forming an oily layer on your skin so that the midgies can't get through, so it doesn't repel them, as such. Great for people, but not furry creatures. I'm happy to be told otherwise!

Good luck with the new business ventures- Avon rep and fly spray ingredients! Exciting times :-)
Click to expand...

Putting the Avon Rep bit aside, Avon SSS has been used for years in equine homemade fly sprays :-) Give it a try, put a spare bottle to use...myself and friends have always used it, but this was the first summer that I actually used my own recipe throughout without using anything else :-)
 
I live in Scotland, I have not found that Avon SSS works whatsoever other than giving a slight barrier effect against midges. the only things (and I have tried many) that really work somewhat is a mix of neem and coconut (in something like Ruggle It) or DEET. The Redhorse super zone is also reasonably effective against other types of fly-bog myrtle is a useful ingredient I've found.
 
Thank you for your response. It works for me but obviously no one is ever going to agree on the same homemade fly recipe, what works for one may not work for another. The amount of flies on my horses this year was absolutely ridiculous, I had never seen so many on their bodies and over their fly masks. I put my own ingredients together and the flies disappeared and my horse didn't rub her tail this summer. When I didn't use the spray for a day they were covered again. The people that make up their own recipes have their oils that they swear by but putting together a list of ingredients (that I found worked me) is more for convenience, which some owners like rather than trying to find their own ingredients at a decent price. Personally I was fed up of buying the ones from the shops that I would spray and then watch a fly land 2 seconds later, it was driving me mad and with 3 horses it was so expensive.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
I live in Scotland, I have not found that Avon SSS works whatsoever other than giving a slight barrier effect against midges. the only things (and I have tried many) that really work somewhat is a mix of neem and coconut (in something like Ruggle It) or DEET. The Redhorse super zone is also reasonably effective against other types of fly-bog myrtle is a useful ingredient I've found.
Click to expand...

Yep, MoC, I agree. Power Phaser is the only thing that works for us here on the horses. I use Smidge or Avon SSS on me and the kids, and obviously I end up with a little Phaser too. Bloomin expensive, both products!
 
HeyMich said:
Yep, MoC, I agree. Power Phaser is the only thing that works for us here on the horses. I use Smidge or Avon SSS on me and the kids, and obviously I end up with a little Phaser too. Bloomin expensive, both products!
Click to expand...

Phaser is good I just can't bear the smell and its expensive! I only use DEET when they're especially bad and in one particular field. The Ruggle It works if you follow the instructions but its hella messy and stinky.
 
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