What Keeps Mosquitoes Away? A Few Tips That Actually Work

At their best, mosquitoes are a nuisance; at their worst, they are carriers of life-threatening diseases. Thankfully, there are many ways of getting rid of mosquitoes. Here we will go over several natural and synthetic methods of mosquito repelling and exterminating them from your home and surroundings.

Preventing Mosquitoes From Breeding

Mosquitoes can lay hundreds of eggs at a time, so the best thing you can do is throw out any stagnant water you can find. Check your roof and your rain gutters for any blockages that might prevent them from draining cleanly. 

If you have potted plants, make sure there isn’t any stagnant water in the pots or in the plants. Like Bromeliads, many plants hold reservoirs of water in natural bowls made of leaves and petals or rely on stagnant water to thrive like water lilies. It can be difficult draining or impossible to eliminate these risks, so consider removing the plant, or, if you have a lily pond, consider keeping fish.

There are honestly so many things about breeding mosquitoes that you’d never think about, like not leaving the kiddie pool out for too long. For a complete list of ways to deal with mosquitoes before they become a serious health hazard, check out this infographic by the World Health Organization on eliminating mosquito breeding grounds. 

Keeping Mosquitoes Out Of The Home

You usually encounter mosquitoes outdoors far more frequently than indoors. Suppose mosquitoes have infested your home to the point where you need to sleep inside a mosquito net. In that case, you will need to either wear mosquito repellant all the time or invest in professional extermination services. 

Poison sprays aren’t ideal for the home invasion as you’d make yourself sick from home much you’d need to spray around your home. You could opt for a mosquito trap, but that won’t get all of them to stop biting you. The ideal solution is an ultrasonic repeller.

How do ultrasonic pest repellers work? They create a bubble of ultrasound vibrations that repels certain pests. Pests are highly susceptible to ultrasound, but each creature is sensitive to a specific frequency. You should speak to a pest control professional for advice on which devices are suitable for repelling mosquitoes.

Read on for our list of indoor mosquito solutions:

Fix Gaps In Doors And Windows

Look for the obvious holes in any screen doors or windows, but also check the sides of any framed doors and windows; if you can see the light through the sides of your door, it isn’t sealed properly on those sides. Usually, you will find the bottom side of your door unsealed.

Mosquito Netting

Despite our best efforts to keep mosquitoes out, sometimes it’s nice just to leave the windows open, which gives mosquitoes the perfect opportunity to infiltrate our living spaces. If you hate being disturbed by stray mosquitoes at night, mosquito netting is an option.

Mosquito-Repelling Outdoor Soap

If you don’t know what outdoor soap is, it’s the kind of soap you use before you intend to leave or enter your home. You can usually find outdoor soap in sports shops. Go for a soap made with natural ingredients and make sure you’re buying an outdoor soap that’s mosquito-repellant.

Garlic And Essential Oils Sprays

Mix well a few drops of garlic oil or your chosen essential oil with 330ml (10oz) of water in a spray bottle. You can spray it on your bare skin and around your home, but be careful not to spray it on any delicate fabrics. Garlic is a highly effective mosquito repellent but not something you’d normally want to spray on your skin or clothes, so you can try mixing garlic with other essential oils for more effectiveness and a more pleasant aroma.

Basil

Just keeping a basil plant around on your windowsill helps to repel mosquitoes. You can even extract its essential oils to use in a spray and apply to your skin.

Keeping Mosquitoes Away Outdoors

Here are some solutions to keep mosquitoes away from you and your property: 

DEET Repellent

This repellent is applied to your skin. Products with 30% to 50% DEET are safe to use on human skin when properly used. It’s often your best option for long hikes.

Mosquito Traps

There are plenty of commercially available mosquito traps online, at hardware stores, and even in grocery stores. Here’s a video tutorial for you to build one yourself.

Burning 

Camphor, sage, rosemary, and even coffee grounds can all be burnt to repel mosquitoes. Camphor is the only one that’s toxic and only in confined spaces, the rest are only potential fire hazards, but you can usually find sage and rosemary incense sticks.

Switch To LED lighting

According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, warm yellow LED lights are less appealing to mosquitoes than incandescent lighting.