--- title: Keeping Mosquitoes Away With Catnip-Based Repellent description: Researchers at Cardiff University found that a 6% lotion made from catnip essential oil (Nepeta cataria) can be as effective as DEET at repelling mosquitoes.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/keeping-mosquitoes-away-with-catnip-based-repellent-amh1ewm2l twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Keeping Mosquitoes Away With Catnip-Based Repellent | daily.dev og:description: Researchers at Cardiff University found that a 6% lotion made from catnip essential oil (Nepeta cataria) can be as effective as DEET at repelling mosquitoes.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/keeping-mosquitoes-away-with-catnip-based-repellent-amh1ewm2l og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/AMh1eWM2l.png og:image:alt: Keeping Mosquitoes Away With Catnip-Based Repellent og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Keeping Mosquitoes Away With Catnip-Based Repellent **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Researchers at Cardiff University found that a 6% lotion made from catnip essential oil (Nepeta cataria) can be as effective as DEET at repelling mosquitoes. The oil, extracted via steam distillation and processed with hexane, is also effective against ticks and mites. The resulting lotion uses standard cosmetic ingredients. One humorous caveat: the active compound nepetalactone is known to attract cats, so users may want to apply it just before leaving home. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Researchers Develops Carbon Quantum Dots From Organic Waste for Pest Repellent Research](https://daily.dev/posts/researchers-develops-carbon-quantum-dots-from-organic-waste-for-pest-repellent-research-speuoiso2) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [This $1000 gadget takes out mosquitoes with lasers like a tiny air defense system](https://daily.dev/posts/this-1000-gadget-takes-out-mosquitoes-with-lasers-like-a-tiny-air-defense-system-hxrornqoc) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [New model predicts how mosquitoes will fly](https://daily.dev/posts/new-model-predicts-how-mosquitoes-will-fly-0di8ltgwa) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Burning Wood To Brew Wood To Preserve Wood : Pine Tar](https://daily.dev/posts/burning-wood-to-brew-wood-to-preserve-wood-pine-tar-b86tmm13h) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/keeping-mosquitoes-away-with-catnip-based-repellent-amh1ewm2l) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Keeping Mosquitoes Away With Catnip-Based Repellent","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/keeping-mosquitoes-away-with-catnip-based-repellent-amh1ewm2l","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/keeping-mosquitoes-away-with-catnip-based-repellent-amh1ewm2l"},"datePublished":"2026-07-24T15:50:40.294Z","dateModified":"2026-07-24T18:09:23.761Z","description":"Researchers at Cardiff University found that a 6% lotion made from catnip essential oil (Nepeta cataria) can be as effective as DEET at repelling mosquitoes....","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/61eda36428cd874547e3d71e67838579?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/61eda36428cd874547e3d71e67838579?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hackaday","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hackaday","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--JhDfhy70--/f_auto,q_auto/v1767541814/logos/hackaday","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/keeping-mosquitoes-away-with-catnip-based-repellent-amh1ewm2l","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hackaday","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Keeping Mosquitoes Away With Catnip-Based Repellent"}]} ```