G (Sydney, Nsw Australia) on 12/23/2011

Recipe:

Crush 4 large cloves of garlic & macerate with mineral oil(baby oil) or bath oil(bath oil is a soluble mineral oil, & for this application, worth the cost)

Let the mix steep for several hours, then crush through a fine sieve.

For mineral oil, add a little liquid soap or bath wash, to emulsify with water.

Add enough water to make the mix liquid, especially if you want to spray it on. Add some lemon juice to reduce the smell ( it does smell! The active part is apparently the smelly part, so no luck there). It may burn, so add as much water as you need.

Rub the mix wherever the mites are. They hate it & it kills them. They seem not to come back. Any further bites just rub with the oil, or hold them down with a garlicky finger. Mine would attach to the skin so I needed to scrape them back with a fingernail.

My infestation is probably bird mites & is highly resistant to permethrin products (applied in concentrations both absurdly high & totally irresponsible) & slightly deterred by tea tree oil but the garlic mix gets a whopping 9 dead bugs out of 10 for stopping power & revenge value.

Keep away from eyes!

The is adapted from a Depression era insecticide recipe which works really well.

Garlic stores it's winter food just above the ground, where all the bugs & bacteria live, so it's chemical protection needs to be good. The mite family has 50 000 species & pre-dates insects, so they know a thing or two about adapting to local conditions.

Hope this helps you murder those suckers.

Replied By Lou (Tyler, TX) on 02/04/2024

For bird mites—spray floors and baseboards with cedar and sage cleaner. Tr___r J__s is the brand, available at Amazon. Good luck!