Savvy Secrets – Getting Rid of Bugs & Critters

Bugs can be a problem anytime but they are often the most unwanted guests of summer.  We have some safe and natural ways to send them on their way or keep them from “visiting” in the first place!

1. Mice, opossums and raccoons are allergic to peppermint. Get some peppermint oil, put on cotton balls and place in area of infestation. Or, mix with water and pour into a spray bottle; spray infested areas with this peppermint oil and water.

2. Soap and water can kill wasps. Wasps breathe through their skin, so a mixture of liquid soap and water will essentially kill any wasp or a nest of wasps without harmful chemicals.

3. Baking Soda is a gem for getting rid of all sorts of bugs.  For ants, simply sprinkle baking soda on the trail of the ants. This will work both inside and outside of the house.

4. Cinnamon is a natural repellent of bugs. Sprinkle cinnamon on any doorway and they will not cross the line.

5. Fill a squirt bottle with plain old cheap white vinegar, and squirt it anyplace you’ve seen ants (kitchen counters, windowsills, etc) and let it dry. It’s non-toxic, won’t harm anything, and the smell will go away in just a couple of minutes. Vinegar changes the ants sense of smell and throws them off their mission. Ants won’t cross a line of vinegar.

6. You can also sprinkle baby powder on yourself or your kids and the scent seems to repel insects.

7. Use a powdered sugar shaker full of cornstarch to cover the leaves, the tomatoes, and the ground around your tomato plants. The tomatoes will be bug and worm free.

8. Spiders do not like the taste of citrus! Lemon, orange, lime, all repel spiders.  Fill a spray bottle with about a quart of water with a tablespoon of Lemon 100% Pure Essential Oil and then spray it around spider infested areas.

9. Pennyroyal is a very effective natural bug repellent. Planting pennyroyal around your house can discourage bugs from taking up residence in your backyard. Pennyroyal essential oil also works as a bug repellent to keep away ticks, mosquitoes and other biting and stinging pests.

10. Put a few small drops of tea tree oil into shampoo. Keeps the lice off of your child and out of their hair.  It keeps mosquitoes away too!

And be sure to try the homemade mosquito repellent we told you about last week on the 4th of July.

Here’s to a bug free summer filled with love, joy and oodles of abundant living!

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