Fly Spray Recipes

This is an easy, do-it-yourself fly spray that is relatively inexpensive, and best of all,

 it really works! This spray attracts dust, so don't use it before a show.

Fly Control

white vinegar

2 T. dishwashing liquid

water for thinning (optional)

Fill a bottle with white vinegar and two tablespoons of dishwashing liquid. The vinegar may be diluted by adding water if you wish to dilute it a little. Shake and spray it on for a nice, very cheap fly spray.

Contributed by Debbi Delva

Fly Relief

If you have problems with flies in the barn, try filling a quart jar with this mixture.

3 cups water

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup white vinegar

Mix and punch holes in the lid.  Set it where needed. It works great.

Contributed by Toni Auen

Tip:  Next time you go riding, tie a Bounce Fabric Softener Sheet to your horse's headstall

and stick one in your back pocket. It works better than ANY fly spray I've ever tried. The flies won't even fly around you.

Green Dawn Fly Spray

15 oz water

5 oz commercial fly spray (any brand)

5 oz vinegar

2 oz vegetable oil

2 oz green Dawn dish soap

Mix and use. All natural and will not harm coat.

Contributed by the Hise family

Tip: Feed your horse garlic! The sulfur in garlic is excreted through the horse’s skin, keeping flies at bay. You can purchase "Bug Off" which is pure powdered garlic from Spring Time. The phone number is 800-521-3212.

Health Care Liniment

Mix equal parts:

alcohol (I use wintergreen)

witch hazel

Listerine

aloe juice (optional)

Horse Insect-Repellent Mix

1 oz. citronella oil

2 oz. Skin-So-Soft or Coat-So-Soft

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup water

Mix in a 20 oz. spray bottle and shake to blend.

Internal Fly Repellent

If your horse is allergic to fly bites, try 1/4 cup of apple cider

vinegar on their grain once a day. This raises the blood acid level

just enough to bother the flies, but it is completely healthy for the

horse. It takes about one week to start seeing the effects. Several

old-timers have told me they always put vinegar in their horse's

drinking water during the summer to repel flies and mosquitoes.

Lemon & Oil Fly Spray

500m. (2 cups) light mineral oil

125ml (1/2 cup) lemon juice

10ml (2 tsp.) citronella oil

10ml eucalyptus oil

10ml lemon dish detergent

optional 125ml glycerin

Mix in a spray bottle and spray away!

 Never-Fail Fly Spray

1 tablespoon eucalyptus oil

1 to 2 tablespoons citronella Oil

1 Tablespoon camphor oil

1/3 to 1/2 cup hair conditioner (the cheapest Suave will do)

1/3 to 1/2 cup baby oil

1 cup Pine Sol (original formula)

water enough to fill bottle

Mix first six (6) ingredients together in a 32 oz. bottle and fill to the top with water.  Shake gently to mix.

If you decide to experiment with this recipe,  remember that you must have an emulsifier to break down the oils, mix the ingredients into a solution, and enable you to spray as a fine mist. Pine Sol has a lot of emulsifier; the hair conditioner has some too (Suave has quite a bit- other brands not so much).

One-Ingredient Fly Spray

6 capfuls Skin-So-Soft

water

Pour six capfuls of Skin-So-Soft in a 20 ounce spray bottle, and continue filling with water.  Shake and spray.

Contributed by Sien Creytens

Too-Easy Fly Spray

water

citronella

Mix seven parts water with one part citronella as a fly spray. It won’t be oily.  Mix four parts water to one part citronella during the worst of the fly season.  You can order citronella from:

Triple J Incorporated

Citronella Oil

P.O. box 981

Valrico, FL 33595

813-643-2781

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