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Ever since I discovered how to make my original lotion bars, I’ve been experimenting with different variations including sunscreen bars, Vapo-Rub bars, and others. Today’s favorite: bug repellent lotion bars!
They are as easy to make as the original bars, and they seem even more effective at keeping bugs away than regular homemade bug spray, probably because they actually coat the skin with a protective layer. They are easy to take along and the kids can apply it themselves.
Instead of being filled with chemicals and toxins like conventional bug sprays, this recipe actually nourishes and moisturizes the skin while protecting it.
Items Needed
- coconut oil
- shea butter, cocoa butter or mango butter (or a mix of all three)
- beeswax
- dried rosemary leaves
- dried whole cloves
- dried thyme
- cinnamon powder
- dried catnip leaf
- dried mint leaf
- Vitamin E oil
- Insect Shield Blend essential oils or lavender and lemon (10+ drops of each)
I also use silicone molds to set the bars. These are the molds I used but I also love these sunflower ones and these heart ones, which would both be great for gifts. There are also simple flower molds and actual bar shaped ones.
Bug Repellant Lotion Bar Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup rosemary leaves (fresh or dried)
- 2 TBSP thyme (dried or fresh)
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ cup dried catnip
- 1 TBSP mint leaf (optional, but adds great scent)
- ½ cup shea butter (or cocoa butter or mango butter)
- 10 TBSP beeswax pellets
- 1 tsp vitamin E oil (optional, preservative)
- 10 drops Insect Shield essential oil blend (optional, or 10 drops each lavender and/or lemon)
Instructions
To infuse the herbs into the coconut oil
- Using a double boiler or glass bowl on top of a small saucepan, heat about 1 inch of water (in bottom pan) until starting to boil.
- Place the coconut oil in the top part of the double boiler and add the dried rosemary, cloves, thyme, cinnamon, catnip, and mint.
- Cover the bowl or top part of the double boiler and keep the water at medium/high temperature for at least 30 minutes or until the oil has adopted a darker color and smells strongly of rosemary. Alternately, you can fill a crock pot about half full with water, put the coconut oil and herbs in a glass mason jar with a tight lid, cover and keep on lowest setting for several days to make an even stronger infused oil.
- Strain the dried herbs out of the oil using a small mesh strainer or cheesecloth and pour the oil back into the double boiler. The oil will probably be reduced by almost half and you should have about ½ cup of the infused oil. If you have more, save it for next time!
To make the lotion bars
- Add the butter(s) and beeswax to the double boiler with the infused coconut oil and stir until all have melted.
- Remove from the heat and add the Vitamin E oil and any other essential oils.
- Pour it into the molds.
- Leave in the molds until completely set (overnight is best). Or you can speed up the process by placing it in the fridge.
Notes
Don’t Want to Make Them?
If you want to use lotion bars but don’t have the time/ingredients to make them yourself, I found a great small business, Made On, that makes all kinds of lotion bars, soaps, natural baby products and hair products that are up to my standards. Their website is HardLotion.com and they have agreed to give Wellness Mama readers a 15% discount on all orders with the code “wellnessmama” at this link. (Note: Affiliate link… the price is discounted for you and I get a small commission to support my blog!)
How do you keep the bugs away? Share below!
Would it be ok to use fresh catnip and fresh rosemary on this?
Yes, just make sure they are completely covered in oil while infusing.
I put all my dried ingredients in a tea bag and place them in a jar of coconut oil and let set in my crockpot on low for a few days. I’ve always had great results.
I just love your site! I found you through a post someone put on fb and I have been surfing thorugh all you neat recipes. You have a new subscriber!
I have sheets of beeswax, typically used for crafts. Can I use those to make this or is there something different that I need?
They should work as long as they are pure beeswax…
Do you know if the bug off blend is safe to use on toddlers. Was going to use that to make these bars, but wasn’t sure if I could use it on my little guy.
I have used on my kids as early as 2 weeks.
This recipe is ok for infants as well??
I’ve used it on my babies without a problem.
Ive used it on both my babies and had no issues. Love it btw
can you turn this into a lip balm? If so, what do you add? Or perhaps you have a different lip balm recipe, I searched your site for one, but no results.
This recipe is actually great for lip balm: https://wellnessmama.com/4770/lotion-bars/ but a post on that coming soon with some natural color options as well 🙂
You said you can use another oil instead of coconut..I have sunflower oil at home, will that work? And if so how much additional beeswax do you reccomend adding? Thanks! I plan on making these tonight for a camping trip this weekend!
That will work, and add about 1/3 more beeswax or reduce the amount of oil by 1/2…
Would this work to keep fleas off of puppies?
It might… let me know if you try it.
I have made a very similar recipe before finding this post. I started using on my dog because he had a terrible reaction to commercial flea treatments. I now wash him with Dr. Bronner Baby Mild soap with my own add essential oils that are known flea repellants (clary sage, rosemary, citronella, etc). Then, I make a spray and a bug lotion bar, which I alternate. It helps A LOT!!!
Sharla, I found a natural bug repellant for my cat at Petco – it was nothing but essential oils and seems to work!
Jennifer, You should be extremely careful using essential oils on cats. cats don’t tolerate essential oils well and they can be very harmful to them. Cats lack an enzyme in their liver that break down the compounds in essential oils so essential oils can be very toxic for them and problems can occur very quickly after exposure.
About how many standard size bars does this recipe make?
It will make about six in the molds I used.
If you used the Bug off blend, would you still use all the herbs listed and infuse them with the coconut oil? If not, would you just melt the oils and wax then add the bug off?
If you just used the essential oil you wouldn’t need the others though the rosemary smells great if you do use it… If not, melt the oils and wax first, remove from heat and then add the essential oils
About how much would you need to add of the bug off blend if that is all you used instead of the herbs?
20-30 drops probably, but add a little at a time and see how it goes. You should be able to smell it but it shouldn’t be overwhelming.
I have heard good things about the essential oils but have also heard that they can be really bad for you. How do you know?
I share my opinions/likes/concerns here: https://wellnessmama.com/26519/essential-oils-risks/
Is this safe to use while breastfeeding and on young babies and toddlers?
Ok, I’m sorry I am really confused. Is the Bug off blend the Bug out repellent? And if I add the bug off then I don’t add the herbs correct? Sorry, this is my first time trying anything like this.
One last question, can you use the herbs that you buy at the store for food; like thyme, cinnamon, cloves etc?
Do you have beeswax free lotion recipes?
you can use soy wax!
If I infuse the herbs, and want to add the essential oils, do I use the lavender, lemon AND the insect blend or just one?
Hi – thanks for all your great recipes – I’ve been really enjoying making lotion bars for myself andy loved ones! For this recipe, if I use the “mason jar in water” infusion method, won’t I end up with one cup of coconut oil instead of the half cup it would reduce to, otherwise? Should I just use half of it for the recipe, in order to keep the proportions correct? Thanks!