Are you trying to find a natural way to repel insects? You might’ve heard that tea bags are a good option and want to learn more about whether they’re effective or not.
Tea bags can repel many insects. Spiders even hate the smell and will leave areas with tea present. Mosquitos also hate the smell of burned tea leaves, repelling them. Lastly, burning your used tea in your garden can keep away a variety of harmful pests.
If you need to drive away insects, tea bags would be cheap and easy to use. This article covers how you can use tea bags as an insect repellent, so read on to learn more.
How Do Tea Bags Repel Insects?
Many insects hate the smell of tea leaves. You can burn them or bury them in your garden to drive the bugs away. Many pests dislike the scent of tea, so using your old bags in the garden is always a great option. Plus, you’ll reduce a small amount of waste with every cup of tea.
Since bugs hate the smell of tea, it’s most effective as a repellent when you burn the leaves. If you decide to do this, you’ll need to do so safely and carefully. Many people burn them in an incense burner- the resulting smoke keeps away mosquitoes. It’s best that you only do this outside.
Insects hate the smell of tea, which becomes much stronger when you burn the tea leaves. Make sure you also remove the tea leaves from the bag before you try to burn them. Many tea bags contain plastic, and you don’t want to burn it!
Overall, tea already has a strong scent that bugs don’t like. You can use it in various ways, but burning the leaves is the most effective for outdoor insects.
Ways To Repel Insects With Tea Bags
You can repel insects using your tea bags in a few different ways. You’ll most likely want to use black tea for the more potent scent. Green and peppermint tea also work wonders at repelling bugs because it has a similar scent profile to lemons, which insects also hate.
Here are a few insect-repelling options that you can try at home!
Add Tea to the Garden
Tea bags can drive away many different pests. Start digging small rows near your plants, then add the tea leaves- you should remove them from the bags first. Then, cover the tea with dirt.
This simple process is usually enough to keep harmful insects away from your plants. Plus, the tea releases plenty of nutrients into the soil that the plants can use to grow.
Add Tea to the Cat Box
Cat boxes attract gnats and flies since they are damp and have a strong scent. If you want to repel these bugs, all you need to do is cut open a green tea bag and sprinkle it over the top of the cat litter.
Flies hate the smell, so they’ll start to avoid the cat box. Plus, green tea has plenty of other benefits when using it like this! It’s a natural deodorizer and has antioxidants that suppress bacteria.
Green tea also has a fresh scent, helping to keep the cat box smelling clean. It also won’t harm your pets if you only sprinkle a small amount on the cat litter.
Strategically Place Tea Around the House
If you have many mosquitoes outside, sitting out and enjoying the sun can be unpleasant. However, using tea bags can change the situation in your favor.
Earlier in this article, we discussed burning tea to repel mosquitoes- but that’s not the only way to scare them off using tea. Mosquitoes, and many other insects, hate peppermint tea. Plus, it even works on mice!
Take your used tea bags and let them dry for at least two days. You don’t want them to hold any moisture. Then, place them strategically around your home. You should leave them near doors and windows where bugs may try to come inside.
They’ll often smell the peppermint and leave instead of coming in. You can add a few drops of peppermint oil to the bags to enhance the effect. Unused peppermint tea bags also have a stronger smell, so that they may be more effective.
Put Tea Bags in Corners
If you have issues with spiders coming into the house, you can also use tea effectively. Spiders hate the strong smell of teas, especially peppermint, making it a great choice to get rid of them. Simply place the tea bags in the corners of your home, where spiders like to build their webs.
The spiders should leave on their own, so you won’t have to worry about dealing with them using this method.
How To Make a Tea Insect Repellent
If you drink one cup of tea a day, you’ll have plenty of used leaves to make an insect repellent. Save the bags and let them dry for at least a day. Once they’re dry, you can store them in an airtight container. Depending on how you want to use the tea, you may want to cut the bags open first.
Keep saving your leaves and replenishing your store of them. This process makes it much easier to scoop out the necessary tea and place it in your garden or burn it.
Adding dried lavender or peppermint to the mix can make the tea much more effective as a repellent. These plants also have strong smells that keep away many species of insects.
You can easily use your insect repellent whenever, as long as you make it in advance. If you have any oils, you can add a few drops too. Insects hate many oils, including tea tree, cedarwood, and lemongrass.
Final Thoughts
In short, tea bags do repel insects! You can use them to keep bugs and other pests away from your home, yard, and garden. If you plan on burying or burning the tea, make sure that you remove the leaves from the bag first.
Hi, I’m Jen Williams, chief editor and writer for ThirstPerk.com.
I’ve been drinking coffee and tea for most of my life, but it wasn’t until I started working at Thirstperk.com that I became an expert on the subject. I’m a total caffeine addict who has spent hours upon hours reading about and experimenting with the different types of coffees out there in my search to find the perfect cup of joe.
I’ve been a tea lover for as long as I can remember as well. I grew up in a house with a mom who loved to drink herbal tea, and I think that’s where my love for tea first began. These days, I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting teas to try, and I love experimenting with different brewing methods and flavoring combinations.