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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Natural Remedies / How to Make and Use Yarrow Tincture as Herbal Bug Repellent (stronger than DEET)

How to Make and Use Yarrow Tincture as Herbal Bug Repellent (stronger than DEET)

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Yarrow Herb
  • How to Make Yarrow Tincture
  • DIY Method Using Dried Herbs
  • Prefer to Buy?
  • How to Use

How to properly make and use yarrow as a broad spectrum insect repelling herbal tincture (including ticks) which has a reputation for being stronger than DEET.

bottle of yarrow tincture on table with white flowers background

My family recently spent the day at a local beach on a large lake. The horseflies proved to be very annoying and painful, which was surprising given the strong, direct sunshine in the middle of the day.

I really wished I’d brought along a small spray bottle of homemade yarrow tincture as protection.

Yarrow Herb

Note that crushing yarrow leaves and stems and rubbing them on yourself does not really work very well (neither does citronella, by the way). The yarrow potency needs to be concentrated via tincture.

Herbalist extraordinaire Susun Weed of the Wise Woman Herbal series of books says that the United States Army studied yarrow and found a tincture of this herb outperforms DEET in repelling ticks and mosquitoes.

One thing is for sure. Avoiding DEET insect repellents no matter what is a wise parenting decision.

This stuff is so highly toxic – possibly worse than even spraying neighborhoods for mosquitoes. It isn’t worth it to ever use, in my opinion.

It has been known to cause seizures in young children even at low potency. In addition, a review of the scientific literature turns up 17 cases of DEET-induced toxic encephalopathy in children (1).

The one drawback is that yarrow tincture does not remain effective as long as DEET. So, it needs to be reapplied often. I was unable to find a source for this study, so you will have to try it and see if you agree.

Ms. Weed suggests spraying yourself with yarrow tincture every 20-30 minutes if the insects are heavy. If not, every couple of hours should be sufficient.

Yarrow works for repelling horseflies and other insects that are bothering your horse when you are riding too.

How to Make Yarrow Tincture

The best tinctures are made yourself at home with freshly picked plants.

Buying a commercially prepared tincture from the store made with dried plants is not as potent.

Fortunately, finding fresh yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is not that hard as it is a common plant that grows wild all around the world in temperate regions.  

It has lovely, long-lasting flowers that may be white, yellow, red, or pink. Susun Weed suggests the white or pink yarrow varieties as the best ones to tincture. She recommends picking the flowers, flower buds, seeds, stalk and leaves from the top third of the plant.

Preparing the yarrow tincture is performed as follows:

  1. Discard any damaged yarrow plant material
  2. Do not wash any of the yarrow with the exception of the roots and only with water and if necessary.
  3. Coarsely chop the yarrow plant parts except for the flower and buds.
  4. Fill a jar to the top with the chopped yarrow. You don’t leave an inch like when you are fermenting food and drinks.
  5. Pour in 100-proof vodka or vinegar. I would suggest vodka as a better choice because a tincture made with a vinegar base will make you pretty smelly if you spray yourself with it. Tip: use potato vodka if there is a gluten sensitivity in your home.
  6. Cap the jar.
  7. Label the jar with the date and type of plant used (yarrow).
  8. The next day, top up the liquid. The level will go down slightly as the plant material absorbs the liquid.
  9. Leave in the home medicine cabinet or on the counter for a minimum of 6 weeks.
  10. Strain the tincture into a spray bottle. It is now ready to use.

DIY Method Using Dried Herbs

If you absolutely cannot source fresh yarrow to make this insect repellent tincture, you can use dried yarrow. Just know that it will not be as potent and you will most likely have to respray yourself more often to achieve satisfactory results.

Note that powdered yarrow is not suitable for tinctures. You can only use the dried yarrow root, as the dried flowers, buds, stems, and leaves will not retain enough potency after drying.

Place two ounces of the dried yarrow root in a pint jar.  Add 10 ounces of 100-proof vodka.

Cap and label as described above.

Top up with more vodka over the next week as necessary.

Leave for 6 weeks and then strain it for use.

Prefer to Buy?

If you are planning outdoor activities soon and don’t have enough time to brew your own yarrow tincture, there are places to buy it that are reputable.

This yarrow tincture is local to my area and a good one to consider.

Whatever source you buy from, be sure to get tincture made from the yarrow plant and not the flower itself.

How to Use

Note that a properly made yarrow tincture is appropriate as a broad-spectrum insect repellent, but especially for mosquitoes, ticks, horse flies, and deer flies (this deer fly trap is great for prevention too).

Apply liberally to areas of the body you wish to protect.

Application to clothing and hair is also effective. Take care to avoid the eyes.

bottle of yarrow tincture with yarrow herb on table

References

Wise Woman Herbal Series
Herbal Adventures with Susun Weed
Herbal Pharmacy: Making a Tincture

More Information

Nontoxic Pest Control Ideas that Work
Natural Fire Ant Killer that Works FAST
Fast and Effective Fly Repellent
Attracting and Using Ladybugs for Garden Pest Control
How to Resolve a Flea Infestation Naturally
Quick and Easy Homemade Fly Trap
Spider Repellent Guaranteed to Work
Fast Acting Mosquito Bite Remedy That’s Probably Already in Your Kitchen

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Category: DIY, Natural Remedies, Pest Control
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Reader Interactions

Comments (72)

  1. Ricki S

    Oct 26, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    Hi, Yarrow is a good additive, but best combined with some other natural products for best and lasting effect, tried to make up a few myself, without much success, and hubby loves vodka way too much ‘to dab on the outside’, so did some searching and came up with this great combination that works real good on the ids too: http://thesolidbarcompany.com/collections/bug-bars

    Don’t know about Florida but we sure have had a bad season, and it’s still ongoing with, all sorts of flying bugs over here on the NM/TX

    Best of luck y’all, R x

    Reply
  2. Russ W

    Jul 11, 2015 at 6:26 pm

    Hi – I’m giving this a try… I ran into a retired chemist that said Everclear (190 proof) is more effective and quicker at creating tinctures. He said the folks he knows creating various tinctures use that all the time with success.
    One question I have is it appears the color of my tincture after only 2 days is quite green. Will this color mellow out, or be an issue with clothing; or even temporarily stain the skin?
    Thanks!

    Reply
  3. Lisa

    Jul 2, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    I have just gathered a whole bunch of yarrow but I only have vodka that is 40% alcohol. 100 proof is 50%. Can I still use this vodka?
    Thanks!

    Reply
  4. Jocelan

    Jun 30, 2015 at 10:37 pm

    Is there any way to speed up the process for making the yarrow tinture seeing the summer is here or will I have to wait next spring so I have it ready for next summer.I love all your posts you share a lot of info
    Thank You
    Blessings Jocelan

    Reply
  5. Carri

    Jun 24, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    Can you use rubbing alcohol? If this is topical and not to be ingested.

    Reply
  6. Hollie

    Jun 17, 2015 at 9:51 pm

    Does this work for ticks as well? That’s my main concern these days!

    Reply
  7. allison

    Jun 9, 2015 at 12:44 pm

    Could you substitute witch hazel (purchased from the drug store) for the vodka?

    Reply
    • Sarah TheHealthyHomeEconomist

      Jun 9, 2015 at 2:18 pm

      That might work. I’ve never tried it to be sure though. If you make it this way, please check back and let us know how it goes.

  8. Chris

    Jun 9, 2015 at 10:12 am

    The Yarrow here is still budding. Should I wait for some flowers for more potency?

    Reply
    • Sarah TheHealthyHomeEconomist

      Jun 9, 2015 at 11:36 am

      No, would make it now as it takes a few weeks to achieve proper potency and summer is a-beckoning 😉

  9. Olga

    Jun 9, 2015 at 9:18 am

    Can I use a tincture brough in a pharmacy ?

    Reply
    • Sarah TheHealthyHomeEconomist

      Jun 9, 2015 at 11:37 am

      Probably not strong enough … but worth a shot to try it.

  10. Sagiia

    Jun 9, 2015 at 2:42 am

    I will try this, but i am going to use vinegar because I discovered many years ago by accident that there is nothing better for discouraging those nasty black beach flies than a spray of vinegar on your skin. It also needs to be reapplied frequently but works wonderfully.

    Reply
    • Sarah TheHealthyHomeEconomist

      Jun 9, 2015 at 11:39 am

      Vinegar will work great to tincture the yarrow .. you will just smell a little funny 🙂 If you’re camping, though, no worries.

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