Essential Oil Bug Repellents: Repel Roaches, Ants, Gnats, Spiders, Etc.

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Essential oils are effective for repelling, even killing, many bugs and flying pests. In this guide, you’ll learn about the best essential oil bug repellents and how to use them.

Guide to Essential Oil Bug Repellents

Here are all the guides we’ve created so far. Have a suggestion or experience to share? Please post it in the comment section below.

Some of the following guides focus just on essential oils. Others include essential oils as part of an effective strategy to get rid of bugs.

How to Use: Each headline leads to a full article with research about using essential oils for specific bugs and insects.

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Science Behind Essential Oils for Bug Repellent

While essential oils have been claimed to do many (unproven) things, there is sound science in using essential oils to repel and kill bugs and other insects.

Here are a few references to scientific studies.

American and German cockroaches had knockdown (KT50) values of ≈7.4 and 9.2 h, respectively, when fumigated with 50 µl of 100% mint oil; 100% of both species were killed after 24 h.
Mint oil-based formulations could provide another integrated pest management tool for cockroach management, especially in situations in which conventional insecticides would be inappropriate.
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama (view study in pdf, via archive.org)

Here’s a 2018 study, Essential Oils as Repellents against Arthropods, published in the National Library of Medicine, that addresses how essential oils work to discourage arthropods from landing or biting.

Many essential oils are toxic to animals (and humans). They are so toxic, that you must use caution when using them around your pets, according to the Pet Poison Helpline.

Learn more about the specific application in each article.