How to Make Homemade Insect Repellent from Citrus Fruits

Petya and Lena often went for walks during the summer at their dacha. But as soon as evening came, they became victims of mosquitoes that kept them from enjoying their time outdoors. Their mom said there were ways to protect themselves from insects using natural remedies, and one day, Lena decided to try making her own mosquito repellent.

— I know we can make a mosquito repellent from citrus fruits and essential oils! — Lena said, opening a book on natural cosmetics. — We’ll need an orange and a lemon, as well as lavender and mint essential oils. What do you think, Petya, are you ready to help?

Petya eagerly agreed, as he loved experiments, and if it could help get rid of mosquitoes, even better!

— Oh, this should be really interesting! Let’s do it! — Petya said.

Lena gathered all the necessary ingredients from the kitchen. They started by cutting the orange and lemon into pieces to make it easier to extract the juice and oils.

— We need to crush the citrus fruits so all their beneficial juice gets into our mixture, — Lena explained.

Once the citrus fruits were ready, Lena showed Petya how to make the repellent:

— We’ll mix the citrus juice with the essential oils. Lavender and mint essential oils are great at repelling mosquitoes, and the citrus fruits will give the repellent a fresh and pleasant scent. Once we mix it all, we’ll have a natural insect repellent!

Petya watched with interest as Lena carefully squeezed the juice from the citrus fruits and added the essential oils. He noticed how the scent became more intense and fresh.

— It smells amazing! — Petya said. — And how will we use this repellent? Can we rub it on our hands or elsewhere?

Lena replied:

— We can pour it into a spray bottle and spray it in the air. This repellent will drive away mosquitoes and other insects. We can also spray it around to create a protective cloud.

Lena and Petya poured the mixture into the spray bottle. As soon as they sprayed it in the air, the scent of lavender and citrus filled the room, creating a pleasant atmosphere. The local mosquitoes seemed to decide to stay away.

— Hey, this works! I don’t see any mosquitoes around, — Petya said, happily inhaling the fresh scent.

— Yes, exactly! Now we know we can use natural remedies to protect ourselves from insects. It’s much safer than chemical repellents, — Lena said, smiling.

Petya was happy with the result and promised to use the repellent every time he went out on a summer evening.

— Great, Lena! You’re a wizard! Do you think we can make something else natural to protect against other insects, like ants or flies?

Lena thought for a moment:

— Maybe next time we’ll try making an ant repellent using vinegar or cinnamon. Those are also natural ingredients that can help in the fight against insects!

The kids decided they’d definitely do many more experiments like this. But today, they were proud of having created their first repellent, which not only effectively kept mosquitoes away but also didn’t harm their health or the environment.

Now that they knew how to create a simple and safe mosquito repellent, they didn’t have to worry about insects during the warm season. They happily used it every time they went outside, glad that they had made it themselves from natural ingredients that were always at hand.