Please please please don’t make your own insect repellent (2019 version)

Every year I beg you not to make your own sunscreen, but this year and last, it seems it’s all about making bug repellants, which is pretty scary. We don’t make sunscreen at home as it’s considered a drug for which you must go through extensive testing to make sure it works. And we don’t make bug repellants at home because it’s a pesticide that must go through extensive testing to make sure it works.

Click here to see the longer post from last year…

I know, I know, there are loads of companies showing you how to make it along with so many recipes floating around out there, but we don’t know how any of those work.

Insect repellents are serious business! Please check out this page from Health Canada for all kinds of good information on this topic, such as ingredients you might want to look for and how to find a registration number. (Thanks, Liz and Barbara for this!)

Yeah, I know I’m a buzzkill – pun intended ? – but I’m trying to keep you safe. As someone who reacts pretty violently to mosquito bites, using ineffective products can not only be itchy and annoying, ruining a lovely holiday or summer day, along with causing pain from swelling. (As a kid, I had to have my sleeves cut because my arms had swollen so much.)

If you want to see the dangers of making ineffective insect repellent, click through to my blog Facebook page to see comments from those who have suffered, then ask yourself if you really want to take those risks or impose them on others who might buy your products.