Catnip (Nepeta cataria) ** Was: Hello & Request for Info

[Guest guest]

Howdy Dee,

 

Great to see you in writing again. :-)

 

> I am a new member to this group and was a past member of IDMA so

> some of the names are familiar to me. I have been following your

> posts with interest and particularly happy to hear from Butch

> again - I always welcome your input and insights Butch!!

 

Thank you ma'am. Big difference twixt the mood on this group and on

IDMA - huh? IDMA was like downtown Baghdad whilst O & H is more like

uptown NYC. ;-)

 

> I sort of dropped out of aromatherapy from a business perspective a

> few years back due to finances - but have continued use in my

> everyday life.

 

Good for you. As I have written often .. AT is not my area at all but

use of Essential Oils for the purposes AT Practitioners use them is.

I have no time for AT .. barely have time to deal with sale of EO and

more and more I'm finding that there are other things I like more

than that but I will continue to use EO regardless of the direction I

go. Except for one case I have not used a prescription drug since

1995 and except for aspirin and antacids I've not used an OTC drug

since then. My wife has a similar record and had a natural birth

using Rose Otto and Lavandula angustifolia .. and to date our 28

month old son has not used a prescription medication.

 

> I have a question regarding catnip oil. I have been making an

> insect repellent using catnip oil which works very well. I

> recently took some to an outdoor event and many people who used it

> were impressed by it's effectiveness and wanted to buy some (which

> I am happy to supply!)

 

Good for you .. it certainly works. There are some other things that

work too but I prefer Catnip .. and there was one lady back on IDMA

whose brother did an Amazon trip thing .. used Catnip and had great

results. The season is upon us and its again a best seller. The

facts on Catnip are here .. http://www.av-at.com/catnip.html

 

> I have a question regarding use on small children. I use it on my

> granddaughter (who is 7) but am unsure about use on very small

> children. I am looking to see how low can I go on the catnip to

> still be effective and safe for younger babes.

 

Unfortunately, I know of NO studies showing the safe level of use for

dermal application. That is not surprising because its not used in

cosmetics and such so there is no reason to test it .. but in time we

will see commercial preparations using Catnip .. whether or not we

will be able to learn the percentage of their formula is unknown but

I would guess that we will NOT be able to learn that.

 

Aside from this .. I have not heard of any cases of irritation or

sensitization using Catnip .. that doesn't mean it can not happen ..

I just have no personal knowledge of it happening.

 

I use it on my son at an 7% dilution and it works .. no problems to

date. But I use the Canadian Catnip EO .. it has a much higher

percentage of nepetalactone than the American Origin Catnip.

 

Here in Paris, TN we have had double the rain we normally have by

this date .. lots more skeeters this year. Lots of Copperheads too

and that is something that is not common here .. they are coming into

yards evenings to scarf up frogs .. lots of toads. I killed one

last Saturday and hope to not see another here this year.

 

But .. keep this in mind. I am not convinced that we always have to

put the blend directly on the skin for it to be effective .. putting

it on the clothing works .. sometimes. I say sometimes because I

have tested it that way and it generally works .. but not always.

Maybe some skeeters are like some cats .. all cats are not affected

by Catnip .. my black cat is not .. so maybe some skeeters can be

repelled easier than others. And as far as I know the reasons why

Catnip works on skeeters might not even be a case of repelling .. it

might be a case of it masking our odor. Whatever the reason .. it

works!

 

> I would love to have input on this.

 

Check the Archive of this list .. type in Catnip and/or Skeeters ..

there are a LOT of old posts on this subject.

 

And Starr .. your post was interesting .. I intend to try that blend

you posted. One thing is for sure .. most folks do NOT like the odor

of Catnip EO .. there are other EO added that make it more acceptable

to most folks .. those EO are discussed in the archive. But as is

the case with all EO .. olfactory appreciation takes over because I

have two customers who like the odor. They are normal folks best as

I have been able to ascertain. ;-)

 

> Thanks in advance for any info!

> Dee Hart

> hartscent

 

Welcome fer'shur .. y'all have a good one .. and keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch .. http://www.AV-AT.com