Invention of Turkeywoods Farm's Popular Tick me Off! Tick Repellent Soap

One warm spring day after returning home from our farm in Groton/Mystic, Connecticut, we found a tick on our young son even after a shower. The creepy-crawly thing had not yet bitten him, which was fortunate given the dangers of tick-transmitted Lyme disease. Anyone who's had a tick crawling across their skin knows what is meant by 'creepy-crawly.' The arachnids are flat, disc-shaped little creatures that seem attached to the skin like a tiny mole, even before they deliver a bite. Ticks will cling so stubbornly that one must scrape at them or pluck them off with fingernails or tweezers, and if harassed they seem to crouch even lower and grip even harder. Regular soap and water won't always do the trick on a tick.

At that time, which was around 2015, I had just started working on the formula for our mugwort botanical soap, designed to promote relaxation and induce lucid dreaming for those interested in boosting creativity during sleep. "Soaping" as it is called was a natural offshoot of my career as a medicinal chemist at a top pharmaceutical company, and I started the hobby with the aim of inventing soaps with healthful benefits beyond general cleansing and pleasing fragrances. This hobby has since morphed into a small business offering healthful botanical soaps under the Turkeywoods Farm label and the soon-to-be launched Mystic Belle brand of all natural soaps and creams. Mugwort is a natural insect repellent, which gave me the idea of combining mugwort with insect-repellent lemongrass (citronella). Laboratory research conducted elsewhere later proved that citronella in combination with thyme oil was particularly effective in repelling ticks, as reported in a peer reviewed journal article (1). The formula we settled on for Tick me Off! Tick Repellent Soap (TM) comprises organic mugwort extract with a blend of all-natural citronella, thyme, geranium, and lavender essential oils, with the latter being added to enhance the pleasant aroma of the other fragrances. Tick me Off! Tick Repellent Soap has a trademark pending as of 2024 with the US Patent and Trademark Office. 

Usage Instructions: Ticks will often hide on the skin beneath clothing or within the hair, saving their dangerous bite for later. The bite is commonly delivered while the victim is sleeping, and for this reason the USFDA recommends showering shortly after exposure to tick infested environments. Tick me Off! Tick Repellent Soap is thus intended for use in the shower after exposure to tick infested areas. Note that Tick me Off! soap is perfectly suitable for daily cleansing, and many customers use it this purpose because of its pleasing, uplifting scent. Tick me Off! Tick Repellent Soap can be purchased directly from www.turkeywoodsfarm.com, or from Amazon.

Thank you for reading!

-JMF Humphrey

Citations:

(1) Tick repellent efficacy of eleven essential oils against adult Dermacentor reticulatus ticks. Stefanidesova, K. et al. Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases 2017, 8, 780-786.

Thank you for Reading! JMF Humphrey is available for scientific and content writing. Email: humphreyjmf@gmail.com