The recipes below are all based on basic melt and pour soap making. (Though you can easily use the same essential oil blends in a cold process soap recipe as well.) Since you're not bathing your dog every day, a few bars of dog soap will probably last a while, so it's often not practical to make an entire batch of cold process soap.
The recipes feature a blend of essential oils, many of which are mosquito repelling as well. The main ones I use in my dog soap blends are:
- Tea Tree - it is known for its mild antiseptic and antifungal qualities and for being good for the skin
- Lavender - lavender is great in just about everything - it's known for being good for the skin and for repelling fleas and mosquitoes
- Citronella - perhaps the most famous and widely-used mosquito repelling essential oil - works for fleas too
- Peppermint - fleas don't like it...and it makes your dog minty fresh smelling!
- Cedarwood - blends well with the other oils, helps anchor the scent blend (as a base note and repels fleas and mosquitoes
- Eucalyptus - known as a germicide and for its flea/mosquito repelling qualities - plus just plain smells good
Now remember, like I said above, none of these is going to repel fleas like a chemical pesticide - but they are a natural, safe, effective alternative - and actually do better than you might expect.
On the next page are some recipe blends that I've used, that I like a lot. (My dog Daisy is the freshest smelling pooch on the block!)
Note: Essential oils are very dangerous/toxic to cats and rabbits. Do not use this soap on cats!
