How to Make Bug Repellent From Dish Washing Detergent
Repelling insects in your home or garden doesn't necessarily mean spraying with insecticides made from harmful chemicals. Natural pest control is safer for you and your pets. You can make repellents from household ingredients and regular dish washing liquid is often part of the mixture. While dish soap is designed to be kind to your hands, it can be deadly to pests. Adding dish detergent to other components you probably already have on hand provides an all-purpose, nontoxic way to control insects. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Dish detergent
- Cooking oil
- Widemouthed canning jar
- Spray bottle
- Garlic cloves
- Mineral oil
- Food processor or blender
- Colander or cheesecloth
- Bowl
- 3 hot peppers
- 3 onions
- Plastic storage container
- Bucket
- Rubber gloves
Instructions
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Cooking Oil
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1
Mix 1/2 cup of liquid dish washing detergent with 2 cups of regular cooking oil.
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2
Combine the detergent and cooking oil mixture in a widemouthed jar to store it. Add 1 tablespoon of the mixture and a quart of water in a large spray bottle. Shake the bottle to combine.
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3
Spray the mixture on your plants to rid them of pests.
Garlic
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4
Place 10 cloves of garlic in a food processor or blender. Process until the garlic is minced but not liquefied.
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5
Soak the minced garlic in 2 teaspoons of mineral oil for 24 hours.
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6
Strain the garlic and mineral oil mixture into a bowl through layers of cheesecloth or a colander with fine mesh to remove the garlic.
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7
Add 2-1/2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of dish detergent to the garlic and mineral oil mixture.
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8
Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and shake it. Spray the mixture on plants to get rid of pests.
Hot Peppers
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9
Grind three medium-size hot peppers, like jalapeños, three onions and one clove of garlic together in a food processor or blender.
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10
Place the mixture in a plastic container. Add water to cover the mixture and place the lid on the container. Let stand overnight.
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11
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh colander or layers of cheesecloth into a bucket.
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12
Add enough water to produce a gallon of repellent.
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1
Tips & Warnings
For the best results, be sure to spray dish detergent mixture on both the top and bottom of the leaves of an infected plant.
Be sure to wear rubber gloves when you are handling hot peppers.
Never spray bug repellent on a person or your pets.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images
