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Health Tip of the Day
Vanilla extract isn’t only good for baking and cooking, it can keep mosquitoes at bay. As much as people love the smell of vanilla, mosquitoes hate it.
Studies show that vanilla has the ability to interfere with a mosquito’s capability to find food sources.
The easiest way to use vanilla as a mosquito repellent is to add one to two teaspoons of vanilla extract to one cup of water. Pour into a spray bottle and spray onto skin.
A cotton ball dipped into a half and half mixture of vanilla extract and water and dabbed onto the skin will keep mosquitoes away for 30 minutes to an hour. Reapply as needed.
Vanilla extract can also be mixed into baby oil and applied to the skin.
Pure vanilla extract needs to used. Do not use imitation vanilla extracts because they contain syrups, sugar, or other sweeteners that will attract, rather than repel mosquitoes.
Author Marilyn Pokorney
Copyright Marilyn Pokorney 2022
