Home made fly repellent...

jenbleep

jenbleep

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I know there must be hundreds of these posts but I need a recipe with ingredients that I can get from the supermarket....I am out of repellent, don't want to shell out another tenner and am going to the supermarket tonight!

I imagine anything with garlic, tea...etc??

Thanks - even if you post a link to a topic on here would be ok :) xxx
 
This is what I use

15ml citronella (yes, I still use it even though it's banned in bought fly sprays)
2tbsp metholated spirit
1tbsp washing up liquide
4tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 pint strong tea
Top up to make 1litre with cold water

To make the tea:
3 teabags
2pints of water
Allow to cool

Not sure if you can get the citronella from a supermaket though :confused:
I'm sure normal vinegar would work as well as cider vinegar.
 
I think citronella is banned in Fly Sprays because the EU says that all ingredients need to be tested and citronella hasn't been and the tests are so costly its not worth doing or something like that.

Its nothing to do with it harming horses or anything like that just rubbish
bureaucracy :mad:
 
Laura1812 said:
I think citronella is banned in Fly Sprays because the EU says that all ingredients need to be tested and citronella hasn't been and the tests are so costly its not worth doing or something like that.

Its nothing to do with it harming horses or anything like that just rubbish
bureaucracy :mad:
Click to expand...

Hmmm I just bought a spray with the citronella scent,so not sure if its got citronell in it.
You can try boiling 2 whole bukbs of garlic in a pint and half of water.When garlic is soft, drain thru sift and let cool,put in spray bottle.
 
Citronella and white spirit....neither available at the supermarket!
I've tried them all and non work longer than half an hour hacking or ten mins competing, so use home made!
Hyperdrug sell both at reasonable prices and no I am not on commision, wish I was!
 
Brain fuddled....don't mean white spirit...surgical spirit is what is the carrier that I mean. It evaporates on the coat and leaves the citronella behind! Sorry....blonde moment!!
 
With all the home made recipes I'm seeing being recommended I thought I'd paste this warning written by a friend who is a qualified aromatherapist so you can make an informed choice.

Personally I haven't used Citronella since seeing POISON written on the bottle. Someone pointed out that it is only poison when injested but if you are covering your horses in it and they bite themselves to get an itch they are injesting it!!

Anyway this is what my friend wrote.


Its dangers have been proven time and time again over years and years but as essential oils and their manufacture/use have not been subject to the same testing procedures as chemicals it hasn't been made official by anyone outside the aromatherapy governing body! YET!

OK - Citronella causes Hyperphotosensitivity - thats a mouthful!

It causes skin cancer basically!

The new ruling is so that it can only be used by a QUALIFIED aromatherapist (about BL**DY time!)

Its one of a few oils that must NEVER EVER be used in sun light, it causes changes to occur under the skin out of sight often leading to skin cancer. and changes in cells throughout the body!

For so many years I have been horrified when reading home made fly spray recipes - the recommended SAFE dilution of Citronella is one drop per litre of base product ie water/oil etc and MUST ALWAYS be used with an emulsifier for it to be safe!

There are many other oils which are just as effective and are SAFE for your beasties

I am a fully qualified Equine and Human Aromatherapist.

Secondly this did not start out as an EU thing - its something the aromatherapy councils have been campaigning about for years and at last someone is listening and doing something about it.

Next, skin cancer is not the only possible damage but one of 1000's including

Tumors

Eye sight problems including extreme sensitivity to the sun

Poor absorption of vitamins

Deformities to unborn foals

Extreme sensitivity to the sun resulting in sun burn that looks like you've poured a kettle of boiling water over them.

Liver damage similar to Ragwort

Extreme reactions to drug/medicines such as vaccinations and antibiotics.

Sweet-itch - especially nasty because its a bit like putting salt in an ulcer when citronella hits inflamed skin.

This is to name but a few.

BUT some people don't like to think that they have been doing something wrong so they refuse to accept it as true and will continue using it for as long as they can.
 
Whatever you do, please remember to do a skin test before using it! My horse had a bad reaction to it and ended up very swollen for a few days.
 
Happy Hunter said:
Vote for MonkeyBum's recipe - thats the one I use and it works a treat for mine.
However - some other horses it doesnt work on - funny!
Click to expand...
Second that, but for an extra kick add Neem oil (you can get it off ebay easily). It smells like rotton onions, so possibly the same type as garlic??
 
I got told by a judge over the weekend (horse show judge lol)
That vinegar and water work perfectly well along with feeding horse garlic.

Never tried it myself.
 
Very interesting about the citronella and that is now making me think twice about using it. However, it is still sold as an ingredient in many human insect repellants and I am just wondering why if it is so dangerous that this is the case and is not banned from human use?

I have been using it along with bog myrtle and neem oil in my fly spray mix along with tea tree, lavender, cedar wood and eucalyptus oils.

You can use neem oil neat for midge protection, but be aware that it leaves a yellow stain if used neat on white hair but it does seem to wash out. It stinks like garlic and onions and is effective also at killing mites, lice and ticks.

My essential oils are mixed with avon skin so soft bath oil and dettol and water as I can's use tea as my horses are coloureds and the white areas will stain.
 
Very interesting point about Citronella.I see that my fly spray has Citronella smell but not sure if its actually got citronella in it! Carr and Day.Only bought it the other day.

Flies also hate garlic.
 
Just read ingredients for the Carr day and martin Flyguard Equine repellent and it DOES contain Citronella oil.So it cant be banned.
I bought my spray last week.
 
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