What kind of oil?

Question

what kind of oil is great insect repellant?why?

Answer 1

Hi Patricia E.,

The best type of oil to repel insects (sadly) is still DEET.  Some plants offer limited, if any, effectiveness in repelling insects (see sources, below).

DEET is a chemical that studies have shown effectively repel insects.  The studies also found that there was a direct correlation between the % concentration of DEET and the duration of its effectiveness (100% strength provided 12 hours of protection).

There are concerns with the use of DEET by pregnant women and small children (see bottom source).

Many people are concerned with the short- and long-term health affects of using DEET (see bottom source).  These people usually opt to dress so as to increase their protection against insects.  Such methods include any one or more of the following: wearing long-sleeve shirts with the collar pulled up and buttoned up to the neck; wearing long pants; tucking the pant legs into their socks; wearing a hat; wearing a head net (that covers the entire head); wearing a "mosquito" shirt; and wearing "mosquito" pants.

I hope this helps.

Hiking Tony

Answer 2

cooking oil..

my neighbor is using it..

Answer 3

Citronella Grass, Catnip, Rosemary, and Marigolds