Pyrethrum Extract - Make it at Home! All Natural Flea Killer!

Making the All-Natural (more accurately All-Flower) Pyrethrum Extract at home is A LOT easier than one might think! At least for me, when I found out how to make it, I was shocked. Nature always comes through, even when it comes to preparing nature for medicinal use, Nature's process is simple and consistent.

Types of Crysthanthemum to choose from for making Pyrethrum:

• Persian Chrysanthemum     looks like a daisy and produces large white, pink and red flowers. Leaves resemble those of ferns. This type has slightly less Pyrethrum than that of the Dalmation type (listed below) however the Persian and Dalmation are the two most Pyrtherum potent Chrysanthemums.

• Dalmatian Chrysanthemum looks more like the common daisy. Its flowers, typically white with a yellow centre, grow from numerous fairly rigid stems and the leaves are blue-green in color.

Ideally, you want seeds (or full flower) originating from Kenya. These flowers are native to Central Africa.

Before we get started:
 When I was doing my research on how Pyrethrum were made, I encountered a lot of nonsense that was clearly presented in a complicated, hard-to-grasp, way in order to make the process appear, at first glance, difficult, time-consuming, and expensive; essentially scaring people away from trying to do it themselves. So after carefully sifting through the bullshit and waving the unnecessaries, the process is really quite simple, NOT at all time-consuming, and the cost is virtually $0.

 Grab a pen and paper (or open a new "notepad" on your computer) and take some notes! Let's get scientific!

 What you will need:

• Chrysanthemum plant - you can use any form of the plant: fully bloomed flowers  (stem, leaves and all), or just the bloomed flower, or just the seeds, or all of the above. 
• Mortar & Pestle - or any mechanism or method that you can use to crush, mash, or grind. This is how you will "extract" the Pyrethrum form the plant. The word "extract" is a partially misleading word. Extract is just a fancy word for breaking something down to a more concentrated state for use in holistic medicine, cooking, consumtion and other uses other than that of flower arrangements.

Let's Go!

1.  Mash, grind, crush the Chrysanthemum.
   The fineness of the crushed flowers influences the pyrethrum's efficiency as well as its longevity. The finer the powder the more efficient the pyrethrum will be against insects. I mash up the entire plan, stem, leaves, flower and I also add in the seeds to the mixture. 

Note: Pyrethrum is not harmful to humans and animals, but is to fish and other aquatic organisms.

Application methods:

 

Doggy Shampoo

This is the best way to use Pyrethrum to control fleas on your dog. Here's how to make a homemade flea shampoo that is both safe for your dog and effective in killing those little buggers hiding on Fido:

• Ground Pyrethrum (finer the better) 1 cup

• Original DAWN dish soap (blue) : 1/4 cup

• Pure & Natural Sea Salt : 1 cup

• Warm Water : 1/4 cup

  
  Mix these bad boys together and you have yourself the best flea shampoo on the free market! Depending on the size of your dog, gage amount accordingly. They measurements above are good for a medium size dog. Use less for a small dog or puppy (chihuahua, terrier etc.) or double the measurements for larger dogs (great dane, mastiff, etc.)

Dusting

To make a dusting powder that can be applied directly onto your dog's coat or for use on carpet flooring to vaccuum up later or in the garden, drying the flowers before crushing them works best. The pyrethrum can be mixed with talc, gypsum, lime or diatomaceous earth if you dont have a large amount of flowers to crush into enough powder.

Burning

You can burn uncrushed dried flowers to repel and kill mosquitos. You can also burn a mixture of sawdust and crushed flowers for the same purpose. This is the idea behind mosquito coils.

Spraying

Make a flea spray to apply directly onto you furry friend! Blending fresh flowers til they are similar consistency to that of puree then add warm water and blend again until the puree is as dossolved as possible. The solutions must be applied immediately following their preparation for maximum efficiency.


Some important things to remember:

Pyrethrins are highly unstable components. Pyrethrins are the most efficient when used as soon as you make them.  They are quickly altered by light and heat and decompose in warm air in a matter of days. It is important when making more than you need at the moment and thus proper and careful storage conservation is needed. Pyrethrin concentrations can be maintained for at least six months by keeping the crushed flowers in a freezer, at temperatures between -2^oC and -5^oC. At room temperature, freshly harvested flowers will keep for about 10 days in a hermetically sealed container. Dried flowers kept in hermetically sealed containers away from light will keep for several months. Submerging pyrethrum in mineral oil or sesame oil is another form of preservation.

So a good tip: make it when you need it, when you need to use it.

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be creative with natural ingredients. Seeing as how some people have allergies to different things and different solutions no matter what it may contain, always try small amounts where needed first a s a trial run and adjust accordingly. Be creative and customize solutions according to you!

Why make your own flea killer rather than buying from the store or prescribed by a vet or doctor?

Great question. And also a question that you wont hear the true answer from those who sell synthetic solutions. The truth is, living natural organisms are incredible things. When something unnatural comes into contact with the living organsim, be it our digestive systems, animals or humans, with our skin or any part of our bodies inside or out, our system recognizes the imposter and builds immunity to the effects of the synthetic foreign intruder over time, eventually causing the syntheticly made medicine/solution/chemicals to no longer have any effect on the body. Though some synthetic solutions may seem to effect change at first, they will never last as our body will never fully succomb to unnatural or synthetic processes. Our bodies react at highest efficiency to all natural processes.

References:

Home Production of Pyrethrum By Jean Duval, agr., M.Sc., May 1993