You could keep unwanted bugs away from your house and garden this summer with one grandma’s easy homemade spray – and you’ve probably got all the ingredients at home
Banish bugs from your home this summer with one easy hack.
As much as we love having our windows open during the summer months, it does come with one downside – insects. From flies to mosquitos and even wasps, trying to let in fresh air can turn into a real nightmare as the weather gets warmer.
But one cleaning enthusiast and grandma has come to the rescue with a simple way to keep bugs out of your home and away from your garden. All you have to do is make a spray mixture using items you probably already have in your kitchen cupboards.
In a video on TikTok, Babs – who posts under the username @brunchwithbabs – explained cinnamon is an excellent insect deterrent and can be used in multiple ways to keep creepy crawlies away from your home.
Not only can you sprinkle ground cinnamon in your wheelie bins to keep “maggots, flies, and critters” out of your rubbish, but you can also place a few cinnamon sticks in your fruit bowl to get rid of fruit flies.
But Babs’ ultimate hack is her homemade “cinnamon spray”, which only consists of a few ingredients and can be used all around the home to ensure an insect-free environment.
She shared: “Use my cinnamon spray to keep those mosquitos at bay. To make your spray just whisk in two teaspoons of cinnamon into four cups of warm water. Let it sit out and let it steep like you would tea. Strain your cinnamon mixture right into your spray bottle. Mix in half a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol and half a teaspoon of dish detergent – shake and spray!”
For those of us not accustomed to the cup measurement system, four cups of warm water is equivalent to about one litre.
Commenters on Babs’ video were eager to try out the spray for themselves – and many were already battling an onslaught of bugs. One person said: “Babs this better work because I’m desperate to keep those mosquitoes away.”
Another added: “No lies detected! Cinnamon is a serious bug repellent,” while someone else posted: “Thank you Babs, these mosquitos have been killing me.”
Others said they have used cinnamon for other insects too, with one mum declaring it worked wonders on keeping ants away from her children while they’re playing in the garden. She wrote: “I mixed cinnamon into the sand in my kids’ sandbox and not a single ant or anything in it for weeks now.”
