How to Make Insect Repellent Collars From Eucalyptus

While there are commercial flea collars available for dogs and cats, you might consider fashioning a collar, or embellishing a plain leather collar with eucalyptus buds from the tree and treat it with eucalyptus and cedarwood essential oils to ward off fleas.The trick is to use real eucalyptus and be certain that your dog or cat is not allergic to either essential oil. An easy way to test this is to dab a sizeable amount of each essential oil (distilled, concentrated plant oils are sold in health food stores and online) on a cloth and place it in an area where your dog or cat sleeps, either in their bed or a favorite rug. After several days of sitting and lying on the treated cloth, if there are no adverse reactions, you might create this collar.

Things You'll Need

  • 1 tape measure
  • 1 length of leather for collar
  • 1 buckle, 1 keeper to fasten collar
  • 1 medium punch tool
  • 1 smaller punch tool (size of diameter of head of tip of tool)
  • 1 hammer
  • 1 hammer
  • OR 1 Dog Collar to replace previous 5 items
  • 10 to 20 Eucalyptus Buds
  • Small bottle of Eucalyptus essential oil
  • Small bottle of Cedarwood essential oil
  • Glue gun OR heavy duty needle and heavy duty thread
  • 1 small wax candle
  • Matches or lighter
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Instructions

    • 1

      Making a leather collar from scratch is optional but it is not hard to do. If you would rather simply use a store-bought leather collar, skip to Step 4. Measure your dog’s or cat’s neck with a tape measure and add an additional 4 to 5 inches to the length.

    • 2

      Take the leather collar and punch holes at one-inch intervals (for a dog) or 1/2-inch intervals for a cat (or smaller dog) with a steel hole punch that is simply placed on the leather and pounded with a hammer to punch a hole through the leather.

    • 3

      Slide the buckle around one end of the collar (buckles are sold in handicraft stores). Sew or use a glue gun to secure that end of the collar. Bevel the other end of the collar by taking a sharp knife and cutting a diagonal of each end to create a pointed end. Sand rough edges with fine sandpaper or leave as a rough edge as desired.

    • 4

      Using a smaller hole punch, create smaller holes in between the existing holes in the collar. These holes will be smaller and be the sites where the eucalyptus buds will be inserted. Press individual buds into each of the smaller holes and imbed firmly into the collar. If you need to tighten the fit, melt a small amount of ordinary candle wax around each bud stem on the backside of the collar. Let the wax cool and harden.

    • 5

      Dab both the eucalyptus and cedarwood oils liberally on the front side of the collar. Allow to dry. Repeat 2 or 3 more times so that the leather is fully saturated. Allow to dry in an airy room.Fasten the collar around your pet's neck. Notice if there is any skin irritation during the next several days and if, remove. The collar can be cleaned with a soft cloth and hung in a tool shed as an air freshener instead or be given to another pet owner for their dog or cat.