Natural "Stay Away" Sprays for Home, Body, Picnics, & More

These “Stay Away” sprays won’t get rid of the pesky humans in your life (still perfecting that recipe), but these will tell those unwanted outside guests to keep out of your home or off of your body.

Some little buggers are ready to get inside just as humans are itching to get outside in certain seasons. The ones that don’t get in can be just as bothersome while we’re out enjoying the fresh air. This brings me great dismay! So I reach in my natural cabinet of wonders, and pull out certain essential oils. By just adding water, these three spray bottles are made easily and become very versatile tools in my family’s life all year long.

Many herbs have natural repellent properties. You can find my big chart of examples here (publishing soon). Essential oils harvested properly out of plants contain powerful constituents with great benefits, in addition to being simply scents. Combining with water creates non-toxic sprays that are perfect for picnic pests.

One of the many reasons I only use Young Living Essential Oils is because they grow their own crops on eleven different farms around the world as they protect complete quality, from Seed to Seal. You can visit these farms anytime and even see weeds there from time to time (a good thing!). This is because they pull weeds by HAND, and actually utilize their own essential oils during cultivation. “All our fields are sprayed with a natural herbicide made of essential oils, neem oil, and castile soap.”, writes Young Living owner/farmer Gary Young in his blog post about treating one of the basil fields for white flies. There are no harmful chemicals in their soil, plants, or process, from start to finish – the same qualities I look for in my meats, eggs, foods, and all home and beauty products.

1. So you’ll need your Young Living Lavender, Peppermint, and Purification essential oils and three glass spray bottles. Amber or cobalt blue are best to protect the oils from light – I think these 2 ounce blue ones are perfect or I usually find them in my local natural health store.

2. I add a pinch of Epsom salts, or regular salt to the empty glass bottle, and then drop 20 drops of, say, Lavender on top of that pile. (I usually do 10 drops per 1 ounce, 20 drops per 2 ounces, 30 drops for 3 ounces, etc.) Salts will help it to disperse better into the water we’ll add next – oils and water alone just longer to settle together. This is optional though, so no need to pinch salt if you’re in a pinch yourself.

3. Then carefully top off with distilled water. It can be tough to see how full the bottle is in some lights, so be careful not to overflow. Just screw your cap back on, give it a little shake, and you’ve got yourself a handy, homemade spray. Repeat with Peppermint in another bottle, and Purification in another. You can shake before use and spray these babies around windowsills, baseboards, picnic tables, anywhere. I do find that I need to re-spray often (as compared to the big toxic spray cans), but prefer this non-toxic technique around my toddler – and hey, it smells great every time I use it!

You can also combine these same three oils as the main ingredients in my favorite bug spray recipe, but there is much to be said about having them spray-able separately as well. By having the Lavender by itself, you’ve created what I call “Boo Boo Spray”. Here are 14 ways I use this simple lavender spray in my life – including relaxing linen spray, soothing our skin or itches, or cleaning my yoga mat.

Your Peppermint spray will also be excellent to have on hand to spritz tummies when the digestive system needs some support, or when it’s that time of the month. Keep it with you to spray around your car and makeshift-diffuse yourself a little pick-me-up. Look here for an upcoming post for tons of uses for Peppermint spray.

And the Purification spray is wonderful to cleanse stinky air and objects. I spray it all over our smelly shoe area, gym bags, around pet areas or accidents, on carpets, or just as a room spray after my family eats beans or eggs…Also great to spray on our feet for a little immune support. If you happened to be outside without your bug spray (What were you thinking?!), spray Purification or Lavender on the area to soothe it right away!

So we no longer worry about that chemical spray can sitting dangerously under the sink, but I still keep these precious glass mixtures away from little hands, of course. I would, indeed, cry over spilt essential oils.

You can order all three of these essential oils separately, or as part of the most popular Premium Starter Kit (11 essential oils total plus a home diffuser), which is the best way to have everything you need to get started with oils. With so many wonderful uses, I like to help my friends, family, and customers know how to safely utilize their oils with my free 100+ usage e-book, access to private resources, and tons of support. I also mail a reference guide to all who use this referral link to purchase the best bundle I mentioned above as my thank you gift – it really helped me learn about which oils to reach and when/how.

What do you use as natural repellent in your home and life? I’d love to hear from you below!

This is my necessary disclaimer that this blog is not meant to diagnose, treat, or cure. I am only a mom with an education background. I must let you know that any essential oils statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. I simply approve for myself and family of such things that I deem safe, effective, and positively life-transformative. I encourage you all to be informed and empowered with your health. Also, some of my posts may contain affiliate links. When you click them, you help me to cover a small portion of the cost of this blog. I appreciate your support so that I can continue to do what I love. Please note that I only ever endorse products that are in alignment with Odds & Evans’ ideals, my personal use, and those I believe would be of value to my readers.