Old bug repellent recipe

[ncmtns]

Found an old recipe for bug repellent from an old camping book that supposed to work..

3 parts Pine Tar
2 parts Castor Oil
1 part Pennyoil

mix and heat slowly to blend
will wash off with soap

Will report on its results at bug season..

[swjohnsey]

What is Pennyoil?

[squirrel bait]

It's the oil from the Penny Royal plant.

[swjohnsey]

Wow! Never heard of it but looked it up on Wiki. Very toxic.

[Hawkwind61]

A tiny bit of Penny Royal oil goes a long way. I got into a 'fix' years back when a friend of mine's kids kept giving me head lice while I was caring for them. I was getting to the point of considering shaving my head! I found some and put a couple drops in with a couple drops each of my lavender oil, tea tree oil, citronella oil, and neem oil...all added to my Dr Bronners. Finally got rid of the lice and by using that during each shampoo until her kids were 'clean' of the lice and nits I stopped getting re-infected.

A short time later, my daughter that had waist-length hair and worked at a dance studio, kept being put at risk from all the kids coming in with lice. So I made up a batch for her and she was able to evade the lice invasion at her place of work.

If you use Penny Royal I would suggest using it sparingly and read the warnings thoroughly. Definitely not something women that are pregnant or could be pregnant should be using.

[tiptoe]

I don't know about the bugs but this mix would certainly keep me away.

[Spokes]

You forgot the feathers!!!!!!

[Hikes in Rain]

Looks like something I read in Kephart or Nessmuck. Where'd you find it, ncmnts?

[Spokes]

According to the Packers Pine Tar Soap webpage, pine tar was the preferred insect repellent of the US Army Corp of Engineers prior to WW ll

http://packers-pine.com/

Another webpage lists the ingredients as:
Soap Base, Pine Tar, Pine Oil, Iron Oxide, PEG-75

My mom used to clean toilet bowls with PineSol. I'd hate to be reminded of that.....

[thia]

do you mean pennyroyal?

[lemon b]

Old School New England solution. Fern Juice.

[russb]

Looks like something I read in Kephart or Nessmuck. Where'd you find it, ncmnts?

I thought the same thing when i read it. I remembered Nessmuk had used pennyroyal in his recipe. Here is what he wrote in "Woodcraft":

"It was published in Forest and Stream in the summer of 1880 and again in '83. It has been pretty widely quoted and adopted and I have never known it to fail: Three ounces pine tar, two ounces castor oil, one ounce pennyroyal oil. Simmer all together over a slow fire and bottle for use. You will hardly need more than a two-ounce vial full in a season. One ounce has lasted me six weeks in the woods. Rub it in thoroughly and liberally at first, and after you have established a good glaze, a little replenishing from day to day will be sufficient. And don't fool with soap and towels where insects are plenty. A good safe coat of this varnish grows better the longer it is kept on—and it is cleanly and wholesome. If you get your face and hands crocky or smutty about the campfire, wet the corner of your handkerchief and rub it off, not forgetting to apply the varnish at once, wherever you have cleaned it off. Last summer I carried a cake of soap and a towel in my knapsack through the North Woods for a seven weeks' tour and never used either a single time. When I had established a good glaze on the skin, it was too valuable to be sacrificed for any weak whim connected with soap and water. When I struck a woodland hotel, I found soap and towels plenty enough. I found the mixture gave one's face the ruddy tanned look supposed to be indicative of health and hard muscle. A thorough ablution in the public wash basin reduced the color, but left the skin very soft and smooth; in fact, as a lotion for the skin it is excellent. It is a soothing and healing application for poisonous bites already received."

[Wise Old Owl]

Nice to hear about the old stuff - I have 14 oz of DDT... Just found it in the basement from the previous owner abt 1970 and purchased from Walgreens for 97cents...

Bet you would not want to use that too....

Stick With Deep Woods Off.

[shelterbuilder]

Anyone who grew up in or prior to the Great Depression would have been familiar with the use of pennyroyal. It was frequently used as both an insect repellent AND as a flea "dip" for the family dog! My own Grandmother (born in the early 1900's) was the one who first told me about this herb and its uses.

Coincidentally, when we were building the William Penn Shelter, we came across a rather large patch of the stuff, and during several early summer trips, when the bugs were biting and we were short on repellent, we went down and picked a bit of it, crushed it between our hands, and rubbed the juice directly on our skin...and it really worked!

I suspect that the pine tar was added to the recipe as a base, and the castor oil as an emulsifier. Pine tar is somewhat of a repellent in its own right, but also seems to act as a "varnish-solid" that makes it harder for the bugs to bite through.

[Surplusman]

This bug repellent is basically Old Time Woodsman's Fly Dope. I bought a bottle of it when I worked on a grounds crew some years ago. It did a good job of keeping everything away, including people. It has a very pungent scent to it, and despite being careful about sealing the bottle and putting it in a small container, the scent would find its way out. The nice thing about it is, when you're in the woods awhile and you use that concoction, instead of smelling like sewer gas you have the aroma of a refinery.

[Wise Old Owl]

Ok that 's sounds better - anything other than pitch and castor oil

Pennyroyal_MED.jpg Penny Royal

[JAK]

I got alot of black flies on the Dobson Trail last June. Not too bad when moving, or at night, but could NOT stop by day. Even tieing a shoelace would drive me half mad. Deet did not help much. Once the swarm was big enough they would seem to get even more agressive around the eyes. I will hike again in black fly season, but you definitely need to be prepared to keep moving constantly.

I just read in Wikipedia that DEET products might even attract more black flies. First I have heard of this. Anyone else heard of this ???

[Wise Old Owl]

Jak I understand what you are saying - but its 14 percent Deet - and there is a repellent component... 100 percent Deet did not work well in some of my tests. And for the ounces a Bug Shirt/ head gear is a winner too.

[4eyedbuzzard]

A lot of reports/tests I've read conclude that anything above 30% DEET doesn't repel bugs any better. Given that you need to distribute the stuff over the skin in a big area there would seem to be some sense in having a carrier liquid that could aid in getting the DEET spread around well. I've been using Sawyer's Broad Spectrum (formerly Sawyer's Gold) for several years now with good results keeping mosquitos, black flies and ticks off me. It's got a fly repellent (MGK something) and a "synergist" chemical as well as 25% DEET in it.

[Wise Old Owl]

We look at this the same way... I tried many brands while in Canada - and like DWO the best, later I saw reviews from fly infested places and that solidified my opinion.