Bug Off! Soap Keeps Pests at Bay

....you must be joking... :[

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Goatmilk in soap is a natural deterent of bugs when used regularly. Anyone who has ever made soap knows this. However, studies have repeatedly shown that citronella is not a repellant to bugs. As for the question about the essential oils, yes they are natural -- essential oils are highly concentrated oils extracted from various flowers, plants and vegetables (such as eucalyptus or citrus fruits, i.e., citronella). There are no chemicals in the oils. Fragrance oils on the other hand can contain chemicals but they said this product uses essential oils (which are extremely expensive in case you are curious).

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Tom- they are not implying that the goat's milk contains the essential oil when it comes out of the goat, they obviously add the essential oils to the milk of the goat when they make the soap. Essential oils are volatile (i.e. they evaporate easily) and you can get these oils chemically (which is what I assume you are alluding to) or you can extract them using steam and without other chemicals. People have extracted the oils for hundreds or maybe thousands of years without the chemicals that we have now.

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Heck, at $14.75 I'll rub with a dryer sheet or live with a few bugs!

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Well, I haven't researched citronella yet, but I will after this. As to the oil, vegetable oil isn't full of chemicals. And I am pretty sure that they meant they add natural citronella after the milk is out of the goat, but since you later referenced editors, maybe you were just critiquing the language, which was admittedly a little off.

Me, I'm going to try the stuff. How can it hurt?

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I don't know about using citronella oil on the skin - maybe in the soap it's deluted enough? However, if you want a super simple way to dicourage the bugs, try adding several drops of peppermint essential oil (10 to 15) to a tablespoon of witchhazel, put that in a 2oz spritzer bottle, and fill with filtered water. Shake well, and spray around neck line, arms, and feet. Not only will it keep the bugs away, but will cool you off as well!

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30 years ago we were advised that lumberjacks had discovered Skin So Soft by Avon was a terrific bug repellant. We tried it - it works!

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I have found Skin So Soft from Avon is the best! I use the lotion when I go outside and not one bite,and the smell is much better them any of the bug sprays.

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An "essential" oil is the extract of oils from natural ingredients, made usually by soaking the herbs or plants in alcohol. Really, the chemicals in this soap aren't much more complex than that. Yes, the oil component can be volatile, but essential oils are mixed with water to make them less potent and since I doubt they're feeding the goats eucalyptus and citronella, I'd guess she means that they're using natural compounds mixed into the milk, which by your definition, is also a chemical. Calm down. The pitch may be poorly worded, but she's hardly being uninformed.

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citronella and eucalyptus both come from flowers it is not an oil made from an oil they are both scents that come from flowers and essential oils mostly are vit e, olive oil, cocoanut oil,and glycerin, my main thing is if you have never made soap dont make stupid comments and have others think you know what your talking about cause you dont i make all my own soaps it is a better soap then what you buy on the market, all soaps on the market are minus the essential oils cause they boil it away and use it for you tiki torches that is the fats that come naturally from the soaps base, essential oils puts the fats back in that is what makes it a better soap and helps the skin so please dont act like you know something if you have never made a bar of soap what is even worse is all the other people listening to the ones that dont know what they are talking about.

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To MARIEJULIUSGO-GO, Jo-ELLEN, and Angie8976:

I appreciate your replies to my comments, but I still stand by my original comment.
The article states that the product is made from goat's milk that is naturally scented with chemical compounds and is "chemical-free".
From where does the goats' milk get its natural scent?

At best, the article is extremely-poorly written, very unprofessional, and should have been heavily edited before it was published.
At worst, it was written by an unknowing moron who doesn't have an editor, or the editor is as clueless as the writer.

Everything on this earth contains chemicals. They may not be man-made chemicals, but they are chemicals, nonetheless.
Even pure water is a chemical.
In the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, it is defined as Hydrogen Oxide.

So...., any claims that this product contains no chemicals are totally incorrect. (May I say BS?)
And, I don't need to get into the "naturally scented" goats' milk discussion again.

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It seems most people are hper-critical about ANYTHING anyone else writes! I'd like to see anything worthy that anone can offer about sage/chemical free products to use to keeps bugs off humans. Wish everyone would stop being so negative & stop "jumping on" everyone else's suggestions! Let's live and let live!
Why is everyone so angry????

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I appreciate these suggestions. I do find the soap mentioned a little pricey so I'm more open to the home-made ideas. My particular complaint is about something...that bites me at night! I hate to think they might be bed bugs! Eeek! I don't see any bugs and I don't feel anything but in the am, recently, I've awakened to find bites on my skin. They look like mosquito bites but we don't have mosquitos here. They itch a little although baking soda calms them down.

I really don't want to smear some horrible smelling, toxic, stuff on my body at night...I don't care for the smell of citronella. I think I'll try the Avon producr of the peppermint oil in Witch Hazel. Any other suggestions, folks?

BTW I agree with the woman who cautioned against angry comments here...who needs them?

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