• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • DIY Projects
    • Homemade Bath and Body
    • Sewing
    • Flower Crafts/Decor
    • Thrift Store/Vintage
  • Gardening
    • Flower Gardens
    • Container Gardening
    • Houseplants
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Landscaping
    • DIY Garden Art
  • Decorate
    • Room Makeovers
    • Spring Decor
    • Summer Decor
    • Fall Decor
    • Winter Decor
    • Home Decor Projects
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast Recipes
    • Lunch Recipes
    • Dinner Recipes
    • Dessert
    • Salad Recipes
    • Soups and Stews
    • Side Dish Recipes
    • Appetizers and Snacks
    • Healthy Recipes
  • Holidays
    • Valentine's Day
    • Easter
    • Mother's Day
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
Hearth and Vine
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About Hearth and Vine
  • DIY Projects
    • ...Flower/Gardening Crafts
    • ... Bath and Body
    • ...Sewing/Fabric Crafts
    • ...Thrift Store/Upcycle
  • Gardening
    • ...Flower Gardens
    • ...Container Gardening
    • ...Indoor Gardening
    • ...DIY Garden Art
  • Decorate
    • ...Home Decor Projects
    • ...Spring Decor
    • ...Summer Decor
    • ...Fall Decor
    • ...Winter Decor
    • ...Room Makeovers
  • Recipes
    • ...Appetizers and Snacks
    • ...Dinner Recipes
    • ...Side Dish Recipes
    • ...Salad Recipes
    • ...Dessert
    • ...Drinks
  • Holidays
    • ...Valentine's Day
    • ...Easter
    • ...Mother's Day
    • ...Halloween
    • ...Thanksgiving
    • ...Christmas
  • Subscribe
  • Instagram
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » DIY Projects

    Simple Homemade Insect Repellent Oil

    July 29, 2020 by Patti Estep Leave a Comment

    Cobalt blue roller bottles. Two with bug off labels.
    Bug off roller oil bottles next to a vase of garden flowers

    Perfect for the summer, try this easy recipe for a homemade insect repellent oil made with essential oils and jojoba oil.

    Two small roller bottles with bug off label.

    This summer is one of the hottest yet and I think the buggiest. I decided to put together some essential oils and jojoba oil in a roller bottle to help deter the bugs, especially mosquitoes from bugging me.

    Years ago my older sister swore by perfumed lotion as a good way to keep bugs away. I believed her then, and I do now, but I rarely buy perfume anymore. I have made my own perfumed oil with essential oils and I thought the same idea would work well to keep the bugs away.

    Newsletter Signup
    Join Our Newsletter List!

    Be the first to receive new posts and get access to our Subscribers Only Page.

    Essential oils poured into colbalt blue roller bottle

    Homemade Insect Repellent Oil

    Supplies

    • 10 ml roll-on bottles
    • jojoba oil
    • 10 drops lemongrass essential oil
    • 10 drops lemon eucalyptus essential oil
    • 5 drops rosemary essential oil
    • 5 drops lavender essential oil
    • 5 drops geranium essential oil

    Directions:

    Remove the ball and stopper from the bottle.
    Place all the essential oils into the roll-on bottle.
    Fill the remaining space with jojoba or other carrier oil.
    Snap the ball and stopper back into place and cover tightly with the cap.

    Note: I searched for a leak-proof bottle but it seems like they are not to be found. Just be careful if you pack these in a bag on a trip. Perhaps wrap them in plastic first just to be safe.

    The perfume oil blends are probably fine for this however, I tried doing a little research to see if some essential oils are better for deterring bugs.

    It turns out that there is no great evidence that essential oils deter bugs. Especially when you stack them up to commercial products like DEET.

    However, for my occasional need at a picnic or out in the garden I really don't want to put those chemicals on my skin. So, I came up with the above recipe that I like, and hopefully, it's strong enough to keep the bugs at bay.

    Jojoba oil poured into a funnel in a cobalt roller bottle

    You do need a carrier oil for your base. I used jojoba oil because it's actually a wax and will take a long time to go bad. Other oils like sunflower oil and grapeseed oil are good too because they don't have a strong scent of their own and are very light. However, they will not last as long.

    Two blue bottles with bug off labels, flowers and more plain blue bottles and essential oils in background.

    The cobalt blue roller bottles are pretty and the dark color will help shield the product from exposure to light. You can also buy them in an amber color.

    Feel free to use my little label shown above for your own bottles. Just click on the label and it should open up a pdf of labels for you to print.

    Vase with flowers behind a line of homemade insect repellent oil in cobalt blue bottles behind two bottles with a bug off label.

    If you already love using essential oils then this is a no-brainer. And it would make a nice gift for someone too.

    Two homemade insect repellent oil in roller ball bottles with label, bug off

    More DIY Projects

    • Pressed Flower Glass Coasters Simple Tutorial
    • Make Your Own Corn Heating Bags
    • How to Make Your Own Birdseed Cakes
    • Make an Emergency Candle Kit for Power Outages

    About Patti Estep

    Patti is the creator of Hearth and Vine, a home and garden blog filled with projects to inspire your creative side. She loves crafting, gardening, decorating and entertaining at her home in Pennsylvania. When she is not working on a project at home or searching for treasures at nurseries and thrift stores with her girlfriends, you’ll probably find her with family and friends, at a restaurant, or home party enjoying new and different food adventures.

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Follow Me

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Patti profile pic

    Hi! I'm Patti

    Join me to create lots of fun DIY projects including crafts, gardening, home decor and tasty recipes.

    more about me

    Popular Posts

    Blue jean crossover bag

    DIY Crossbody Bag from Jeans

    tabletop water gardens

    How to Make an Indoor Water Garden

    Echievera planter

    What to do With a Stretched Succulent

    Fabric bowl covers in 3 prints

    How to Make Fabric Bowl Covers

    Collage of flowers including russian sage, pink hydrangeas, coneflower and yarrow.

    10+ Long Blooming Plants

    Chicken black bean tortilla casserole

    Chicken Black Bean Casserole Recipe

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    About
    Privacy Policy
    Disclosure Policy

    Sign Up Here!
    for our
    newsletter &
    special offers

    • Shop
    • Web Stories

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. i.e. as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2021 Hearth and Vine