Painting your porch ceiling in a blue tone could repel wasps, leading to fewer wasp-eating spiders around your home! Flies and mosquitoes, on the other hand, are attracted to blue tones and repelled by warm tones like yellow and orange.
Beyond the cultural beliefs, the practical aspect of painting porch ceilings blue also played a role. Blue paint was traditionally made by mixing lime, water, and indigo dye. The indigo dye acted as a natural insect repellent, helping to keep wasps and other flying insects away from the porch area.
Haint Blue Paint was suggested during the Dirt Doctor Radio Show today as a way to prevent wasps and spiders from building nests and webs on the porch and under eaves. In cities such as Savannah, GA, you will see the blue color painted on the door frames, porches and window sills of many homes.
Khaki, tan, and dark colors are less attractive to wasps.” Wasps have a wide range of colors they can see and because of that color influences their behavior. Yellow, blue, and orange can cause them to go on the offensive, as these colors can be associated with other aggressive insects.
Blue. Historically, light blue is the go-to porch ceiling paint color—and for good reason. It mimics the natural sky and makes a covered porch feel open and inviting. However, it's important to find a shade that speaks to you and your house's locale.
When blue paints were first used on ceilings, they often had lye (a known insect repellent) mixed into the composition, which would explain why insects would avoid nesting on a painted porch ceiling.
Haint blue is a collection of pale shades of blue-green that are traditionally used to paint porch ceilings in the Southern United States. Hex #D1EAEB is a popular shade of haint blue. The tradition originated with the Gullah in Georgia and South Carolina.
When in wasp-infested areas, avoid wearing sweet-smelling colognes, perfumes, and hair sprays and bright orange, yellow, and blue clothing, as they will attract flying wasps. Khaki, tan, and dark colors are less attractive to wasps.
Painters even use blue paint to repel bees and wasps. Painting your porch ceiling in a blue tone could repel wasps, leading to fewer wasp-eating spiders around your home! Flies and mosquitoes, on the other hand, are attracted to blue tones and repelled by warm tones like yellow and orange.
What scent or smell keeps wasps away? Wasps have a strong sense of smell and dislike certain plants like peppermint, spearmint, basil, eucalyptus, cloves, geranium, thyme, citronella, bay leaves, and lemongrass. They are also repelled by vinegar, cinnamon, coffee grounds, and sliced cucumber.
Lore claims the insects and birds see the blue as the sky and don't come beneath it. According to a history of blue paint on Sherwin-Williams.com, today's blue paint is probably not a true deterrent for insects and birds but it once was – back when blue paint was made with lye.
Citrus - Citrus fruits like lemons and oranges can help deter wasps around your yard. Peppermint oil - Peppermint oil is one of the most effective essential oils for keeping wasps away. Citronella - Citronella oil is also effective, as it has a strong citrus smell that wasps do not like.
Bees do like blue - as well as purple and violet.
The practice traces back to the Gullah Geechee, enslaved people living in the low country of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Gullah folklore explains that ghosts, also referred to as “haints,” were not able to cross water. In order to repel evil spirits from plantations, porch ceilings were painted a soft blue.
While there's no guarantee that a blue porch will keep bugs and ghosts at bay, you can be sure it will attract attention. "Simply put, many people choose to paint the porch ceiling blue because of the way it makes that space look and feel," Wadden says.
Grow Garden Variety Wasp Repelling Plants
There are specific herbs and wasp repellent plants, like lemongrass, peppermint, thyme, eucalyptus, wormwood, bay leaves, citronella, and cloves that wasps will avoid. There are flowers like marigolds, geraniums, and pennyroyals that wasps also tend to stay away from.
The other step I highly recommend is to paint eaves and porch and patio ceilings with the color called haint blue. It is a robin's-egg blue that, according to Southern tradition, discourages wasps from building nests on its surface.
Blue: A Neutral Color
Blue is thought to be a color that might reduce wasp activity due to their visual perception. Wasps may not distinguish blue as easily as other colors, which could make blue objects less interesting to them.
If you've ever lounged in the sun with a picnic, you'll know that wasps are mostly attracted to food sources like fruit and sweet drinks. Strong smells like perfume, standing water, and bright-coloured clothes are other non-food-related elements that attract wasps.
Joanna says she loves "lighter blues with gray undertones because you can use them as neutrals." Suggested Paints: Rainy Days by Magnolia Home or Clean and Crisp by Farrow & Ball.
Sherwin-Williams Niebla Azul Haint Blue Ceiling
SW Niebla Azul (Sample) is another gorgeous haint blue paint color that we love to pair with dark blue exterior color schemes. It is darker and bluer than SW Tradewind, with an LRV of 53.