Pest Control

The Essential Oil or Tick Debate: Natural Repellant?

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Essential oils for repelling ticks

Ticks are highly annoying and disease-spreading members of the arachnid or spider families. There are many tick types, and one cannot stop them, especially at beaches and parks. Moreover, during intense attacks, they can bite your pet’s fur in a week, causing the puppy to be restless and irritated, and most importantly, scratching.

Many tick repellents are available in the market, but they contain chemicals. These chemicals may be harmful to pets and children and cause adverse effects. If left untreated, ticks and chemicals can be allergic and deadly.

Why Use It?

Medicated topical measures or oral preventive medicines often cause contrasting neurological reactions along the spine, especially in pets. Though the effects might not be long-term, short-term effects like skin problems, vomiting, or respiratory syndromes might persist. If you keep on using the medications, ticks will eventually develop immunity against them and, the medicines would be useless. 

Alternatively, all-natural essential oils are great plants that repel ticks and can be mixed right in the comfort of your house. You know there is no room for adulteration, and this feels relaxing. In balanced proportions, they are even suitable to repel ticks from pets, providing added antiseptic benefits to humans too. 

Most of the fragrant essential oils that humans find enchanting repel ticks naturally. Hence, buying soaps and washes with essential oils of lavender, peppermints, rose geraniums and cedar, might do the trick. Moreover, you can buy your essential oils and carve out your tick repellents. Just fuse about 12-13 drops of essential oil in almond or olive base oil and rub it on your skin. Essential oils might create a burning sensation for some people and, you may consider diluting them.

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  • DILUTING ESSENTIAL OILS requires a carrier oil for essential oils mixing. Since essential oils are...
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Troubles

Dilution of the essential oil to repel ticks

However, some essential oils like cinnamon, citrus, clove, thyme, and anise cannot be brought in direct contact, both with sensitive-skinned people and pets, as they may irritate. Thus, dilute them with skin-safe oil like Coconut, Avocado, or Castor, and using a sprayer, spray it on your clothes and furniture. 

Efficiency

Essential oils and products

Multiple live and research case studies hint at the use of essential oils to repel ticks. The name that pops out much often in these studies is the Oregano oil that contains Cedrol. Moreover, even Cedar wood oil contains Cedrol and, this constituent repels ticks faster than anything else. Carvacrol in essential oils wards off the Borrelia burgdorferi, a tick bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Additionally, essential oils of thyme and citronellas are effective when combined and diluted with water.

You can repel ticks by using the clove bud oil with a carrier of coconut oil and rub it onto your moist skin or drench it on a cotton pad for easy application. For repelling ticks from clothes, you can use a red thyme oil that is a strong one but is highly efficient to remove ticks. However, this oil might be too harsh for the skin and hence, never apply it directly. But, take a halt! There is a wonder that can remove ticks from the skin and, it is neem seed oil. Mix it in a carrier oil and apply it to the skin.

Some mixtures are available in the market as tick repellents. These include lemongrass, peppermint, and thyme. When sprayed on clothes, it repels two species of ticks, even after a week. Nootkatone is another marvel constituent of essential oil that repels ticks and is not available in commercial repellers of the market. It single-handedly repels ticks for at least a week, as against its chemical alternatives.

How Can You Use Essential Oils?

  1. Shampooing: Mix essential oils with regular shampoo during the bath. About 5-10 drops would be sufficient to repel ticks away. Lavender, neem, and rosemary oils work great with shampoos.
  2.  You can replace your diffusing agent with essential oils like lemongrass, cedar, and lavender that kill and repel ticks naturally.
  3. Spraying: Spray about 5-10 drops of undiluted essential oil with 8 Oz water, 3-4 times a week. Spraying will keep ticks away.

Conclusion

Essential oils repel ticks naturally. Many oils offer protection from ticks, such as clove, citronella, thyme, and oregano oils. However, they need to be diluted and mixed in the correct proportions before use. Unlike chemical repellers, they won’t hurt the skin and soothe it.

Sandy Jensen
Sandy Jensen is the founder of OrganizeWithSandy and Works with Champalimaud Design where she curates and creates fresh ideas for designing and styling your life.

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