Bed Bug or Flea Natural Insect Spray

I thought I had bed bugs a few years ago. My mother had been to New York on vacation and ended up waking with bites all over her body one night. She came home with head to toe bites. She changed hotels after the first night but the bites irritated her for weeks.

I had been working with my mom on sorting some boxes my sister had in her garage that were my mothers. My mom put one of the boxes down on my luggage one night. I brought it home and for the next six months, I had the fight of my life. We had these little red biting mites most likely from mice nests in the boxes. I thought they were bed bugs having never seen one as I transported my mothers suicases from the airport.

I had an exterminator come down to our small town which cost over $500 for two sprays. In the end, I spent probably close to $2000 putting things in bins and spraying. I sprayed everything for days on end with one mixture or another I bought online. I tried outlawed bug sprays I found in the garage. I used diatomacious earth all over my house for weeks it looked like a haunted house. I put Boric Acid along every edge of my carpet and to this day have white in the corners. I bought "Cedarcide" and Peppermint sprays online. Nothing worked. The worst was when I bought flea powder and we walked in thick powder for days on end as I sprinkled it on the carpet and floor and left it.

Finally, I gave up. We moved out for two months after we caught a bug and sent it to the extension of the State university and found out that it was a biting mite closely linked to the tick family. It had a hard shell that kept it from dieing easily.

I did cut down our bites by placing whip cream containers under the bed legs and put double sided carpet tape all the way around the base and it would keep them from coming up at night. It was interesting right before I found them, I opened the door to my daughters room and there was a really bad oily smell. That is why I thought it was bed bugs as I read about a smell like that when they hatch. Then, on the same day, two of my girls saw tiny little lint like red bugs moving around on their beds.

Bed bugs are much larger than these little mites I had. Another way I kept them from biting us is that I placed slick thick plastic covers on the table and we would sit on the table sometimes knowing they couldn't get on the plastic. Instead of chairs, we used folding metal chairs and I placed sticky double sided tape on the bottoms of those as well. However, I learned later they can't climb slick metal. That is why in hotels they have those metal suitcase stands. Those were invented to keep the bed bugs out of luggage and keep it from transferring them from place to place.

I was grateful that moving out helped our problem but because of all the reading I did during that time on bed bugs etc. I learned about some essential oils that helped others keep themselves from getting bitten. I learned a few things that I have taught my girls and used myself when we travel to help us keep from bringing home bugs of any type.

Never place your purse on the bed or end tables etc. I always hang mine from a hanger in the closet. Sometimes bed bugs are on the end tables or head boards. Never put your suitcase on the table or unpack them into the drawers. Always use the metal suitcase stand and close the suitcase never leaving it open. Check the corners of the mattress for any little black or brownish dots. This is bug dung. It is usually in clusters. Check mattresses and sheets for brown or red dot stains. These are blood stains which happens when the bug bites someone.

In the morning, take your pajamas off and place them in a Ziploc bag which can then go into the luggage and when you arrive home it can go directly into the wash. Never leave any clothes lying on the bed. Hang them up or put them directly into your suitcase.

If you get bites, get into the shower, take off all your clothes and put them into a Ziploc bag, shower making sure to wash your hair and put on clean clothes from the suitcase and don't stay at that hotel. You can go to the wash area and wash your clothes at the hotel or a laundry mat so as not to take them home in any way. Wash and dry them in hot water if you can.

When we had the bugs, I didn't let any bedding touch the floor ever. I washed all our bedding daily and only used minimal bedding. I washed our pj's daily and we wore only clothes taken right out of the dryer. If we went anywhere, I put all our clothes in the dryer and packed them right out of the dryer so we wouldn't take the bugs with us when we traveled.

This spray helped us in the other countries where we traveled. I didn't want to take any chances of bringing anything home. At each hotel, I would take this oil spray mix I made and sprayed the beds all the way around the mattresses. I would make sure that the bed was pulled away from the wall and that the bedding didn't touch the floor. Luggage stayed zipped up and on racks.

When we went to a horrible and dirty house to do service, the first day, we sprayed ourselves with the bug spray listed and everyone else made fun of how we smelled. They all ended up with bites and we didn't. The next day, everyone asked to use our bug spray.

Bed bug spray is all the "thieves oils" mixed in a spray bottle along with thyme and citronella oil if you have it. (Thieves oil includes, cinnamon, clove, rosemary, lemon and eucalyptus.) I also added peppermint. Spray it on the edges of your bed after making it to keep bed bugs and fleas from biting or just rub it on your pj's at night before bed to keep them from biting. I will also lightly spray my hair from the back as to not get it into my eyes. The head is where most people get bitten at night and some found bugs in their hair even after leaving the hotel.

The oils will break down plastic and make it sticky so I usually mix all the oils in equal parts into glass jars. When I need it, I pour a small amount into a plastic spray bottle and spray it around the bed mattress sides. I avoid spraying much on the sheet top as it can smell strong and the cinnamon oil can burn a little to sensitive people. I use red Sharpie to label them so they don't confuse them with the singles oils. Once I spray them and the oil is gone out of the sprayer, I rinse the bottle and sprayer with hot water so that it doesn't break down and it is ready for the next use.

I hope some of the things I have shared will be helpful to you but pray that you never need the information.