Orange Peel DIY Bug Spray
I love being outside in the summertime, but here in North Carolina, the bugs can be absolutely irritating. Anyone else wish they could have stayed removed after the plagues in Egypt in Moses’ time?
So bug spray becomes a must, however I hate putting toxic chemicals on my kids to be able to play outside without getting bite 400 times. Did I mentioned we have a creek in our back yard? Yes the bugs are crazy! We have thought to add more bat boxes to help with the mosquitos, but still we need nontoxic bug spray.
This is where my orange peel bug spray comes in. After researching different things to do with orange peels because my kids LOVE them along with those cutie oranges, so I always have plenty of orange peels, and you can only make so much cleaner. That is when I stumbled upon upcycling them for bug spray.
I know it sounds completely crazy, and honestly I didn’t believe it would work at first, but I gave it a shot anyways.
Turns out, it actually does work!!
You do need to apply and then reapply about an hour or so later, but for it to be free and nontoxic… I will take it!
Here is the recipe so that you too can make this easy bug spray.
First you need to cut up your orange peels. ( It doesn’t matter how many you have, the more you have the more spray it will create)
Second, you need to cover up your orange peels with water in a saucepan.
Third, bring the water to a boil and cover/simmer for 5 minutes.
Finally, take the saucepan off the heat and let it sit for 24 hours (yes I know this seems long, but this is how the orange peel oils infuse in the water). Then put into a spray bottle. Here are my favorite ones I use.
Let me know if you try this bug spray this summer!