Homemade Bug Spray with Essential Oils

Eliminate bugs from your home & garden with this homemade bug spray with essential oils. It’s 100% natural & you only need 3 ingredients.

DIY Bug Spray with Essential Oils

If there is one thing I can absolutely not stand, it’s bugs. They creep me out and drive me crazy.

Summer is right around the corner and all the bugs are coming out of hiding and they are creeping and crawling all over the place.

As long as they don’t come near me or cause any problems I usually just let them be but lately, they’ve been completely destroying my garden as well infesting my house.

So that’s when its time for them to go.

(This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure statement here.)

I am not a doctor and the statements on this blog have not been evaluated by the FDA. Products mentioned here are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your doctor before using essential oils on children under 5 or while pregnant or breastfeeding. Please do not ask me for medical advice. Click here to read my full disclaimer.

Dangers of Store-bought Pesticide

But the last thing you’ll catch me using is a store-bought bug spray like Raid or Combat. Because not only can those types of products be harmful to the beneficial insects but they can also be harmful to you!

Ingredients in store-bought pesticide can cause headaches and dizziness, respiratory symptoms including upper respiratory tract pain and irritation and dyspnea, and gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea and vomiting.

Although you have to be exposed to a large amount of pesticide to experience theses symptoms and these symptoms are rare, I would prefer to not use a potentially harmful product around my family and pets.

How To Make Homemade Bug Spray with Essential Oils

So I make my own DIY bug spray and it works great. And, it’s 100% plant-based and chemical-free.

It’s completely safe to use around pets and kids.

Before I share the recipe keep in mind this is not a bug repellent that you apply to your skin. If that is what you’re looking for you can check out my DIY bug repellent spray.

This spray is to eliminate (ie: kill) bugs in and around your home and garden.

It works best on ants, gnats, and aphids. And surprisingly, it also works on earwigs.

We have a major earwig infestation on our property and I couldn’t believe this spray actually worked on them because they’re so much larger than ants or aphids. But it does.

And, I’m really happy about that!

This spray might work on other bugs as well. Those are just the only bugs I’ve had the opportunity to use it on.

To make this homemade bug spray you’ll need a 16oz glass spray bottle, peppermint essential oil, castle soap, and water.

DIY Bug Spray Recipe

Simply fill the bottle about 90% of the way full with water, add 2 tbsp of unscented castile soap, add 35 drops of peppermint essential oil, attach lid, and shake well.

How To Use Homemade Bug Spray

To use this spray shake well before each use and spray directly on the insect.

When using on plants you do not have to rinse off. It’s actually better to leave the spray on the plant because the peppermint essential oil will help to repel future insects.

But keep in mind the peppermint oil can actually repel beneficial insects as well. So the only instances where I don’t rinse it off when using it in the garden is when I use it on plants that don’t require pollinating to produce. Like spinach, lettuce, kale, or swiss chard.

Or when my plants are very young and aren’t producing flowers yet.

Last Spring I planted tomato plants and the next day they were completely covered in aphids.

In all my years of gardening, it was the worst aphid infestation I had ever seen. I sprayed this homemade bug spray all over tomato plants for three days in a row and eliminated all the aphids.

And I didn’t have any issues with aphids the rest of the gardening season!

When using in the house you don’t have to rinse or wipe off. Just like in the garden it’s best to let the spray dry naturally if you want to repel future critters.

But obviously, that’s not ideal for every area you may spray. So just wipe it up whenever it’s not convenient to let it naturally dry.

Need Essential Oils?

There are many essential oil companies that sell high-quality essential oils. I used to use Young Living oils exclusively but I just couldn’t afford to use them anymore.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover several brands that sell amazing, high-quality essential oils at very affordable prices.

I love Florihana essential oils and I use them quite often. If you’re not familiar with Florihana essential oils you can check out my full Florihana essential oils review.

I also regularly use Eden’s Garden, Plant Therapy, and Simply Earth essential oils. 

If you decide to buy from Simply Earth you can use the code HAPPYHEARTFREE to receive a $40 Simply Earth gift card with the purchase of your first recipe box.

If you are not familiar with Simply Earth or their recipe box you can check out last month’s box here.

If you order now with the code above you will receive the recipe box, the big bonus box plus a $40 Simply Earth gift card, all for $39.99!

So that is it. I hope this DIY helps you get one step closer to eliminating toxic chemicals (and bugs) from your home.

If you discover this bug spray works on bugs I didn’t mention above please let me know in the comment section 🙂