The warm weather is finally upon us once again, offering up endless possibilities for summer barbecues, days at the lake, garden parties and camping trips. Of course, along with the warm weather also comes insects, which can be an especially big problem in certain parts of the country home to large populations of ticks. Not only is finding a tick already embedded in your skin a frightening, quite disgusting prospect, but these blood-sucking insects can also potentially infect you with Lyme Disease and various other ailments. Still there’s no need to fear or spend all of your time indoors this summer, as this one simple tip should allow you to remain tick free throughout the year.
Making sure no ticks can lodge themselves in your skin is something that requires a bit of diligence, but it’s more than worth the effort. That is, unless you’re cool with the idea of contracting Lyme Disease.
No? We didn’t think so. Therefore, you’ll need to run out and pick up some essential oils and a lint roller in order to follow our advice.
The process for eliminating ticks is actually two-fold, as it involves using the essential oils to deter the pests, and then using the lint roller to catch any ticks that might be crawling on your clothing. Before heading out of the house, you’ll want to rub or spray some of the essential oil on your clothing and skin, which should also be effective at helping to keep away other pests luke mosquitoes and biting flies.
Still, it’s important to bring along your lint roller with you, as you can then run this all over your clothing every hour or two. This way you should be able to effectively capture any particularly insistent ticks that make it past your first line of defense.
As anyone who owns a dog or cat surely already knows, these lint rollers can be incredibly effective at picking up any stray items from your clothing, and this effect isn’t just limited to pet hair. This means that if there do happen to be any ticks on your person, they should easily br trapped by the adhesive paper.
There is really no reason to use a chemical insect repellent, as Mother Nature offers up several different essential oils that work just as well. Plus, by using these natural essential oils, you can limit your exposure to potentially harmful synthetic ingredients. While there are many all-natural insect repellents available in health shops and online, using any one of the following essential oils can work just as well and will cost you much less.
1. Lemongrass
A favorite in many Asian cuisines, lemongrass also makes an effective repellent against ticks and fleas. It is also entirely safe to spray on your skin, unlike many other essential oils that must be diluted, and it has a very pleasing citrus scent that most people thoroughly enjoy.
2. Eucalyptus
Used either on its own or in conjunction with citronella, eucalyptus essential oil has been proven to help reduce the instance of tick bites.
3. Lavender
Lavender has a very nice, floral scent that most humans are quite fond of. However, for insects it’s a completely different story, as most bugs usually can’t stand the smell. It’s usually considered more effective at deterring flies and mosquitoes, but it can also work for ticks.
4. Lemon
Similar to lemongrass, the smell of lemon can also work to repel insects. In this case, you can dilute either lemon essential oil or fresh lemon juice in water and then spray yourself down with the mixture. Still, the essential oil is usually more effective and won’t leave you with sticky skin like the juice can.
5. Pennyroyal
A member of the mint family, pennyroyal essential oil can be a bit hard to find at times. Nonetheless, it’s well worth using if you can find it, as the oil is toxic to most insects.