Mesquito Repellant Questions

[Scott Peterson]

1. Can anyone speak to Permathrin, whether wash-in or spray on, and adverse reactions with fabrics? I would like to treat some socks and a shirt, but do not want to ruin wool or nylon/polyester.

2. Has anyone come up with a unique way to apply Deet? I have used dropper bottles and spray. The downside being either too localized of an application or overspray on fabrics like a shirt collar or sleeve with the potential for fabric degredation. I was thinking about trying to use an applicator bottle used by diabetics to apply alcohol prior to injections. It is kind of like a swab with a bottle attached.

Any info. suggestions is greatly appreciated!

PS: I noticed my MaxDeet brand claims that applying to clothes is effective (as long as it is not certain types of fabric) but this seems to go against my original understanding that Deet was effective on skin primarily not as a barrier or something that the bugs did not like, but rather as a kind of temporary "invisibility sheild" that prevents the bugs from sensing your flesh. Rather confusing!

[Thomas Travis]

I have used permethrin purchased at Home Depot to treat nylon clothing with no problems . I diluted it and used a spray bottle to apply it.

Tom

[EndoftheTrail]

I have found spraying Permethrin on gear to be effective. Insects may land on my clothing, hat, boots… but they don't stay for long. No need to constantly brush off pesky insects! For me, I would rather just buy Permethrin made for spraying clothing — and NOT the ones for agricultural use.

I dislike lathering myself with lotion all over. Sun screen is enough of a hassle/discomfort. But alas, one has to do what one has to do. I lather on sun screen about 30 minutes prior to a hike. And right at the beginning of a hike, I will apply about 6 drops of 100% DEET. To me, it's just much easier than lathering yet another layer of lotion all over. Six tiny drops of DEET can actually cover quite a wide area of skin; but in any case, I've found that you NEED NOT cover every square inch of skin for DEET to provide full protection. A little truly goes a long way.

[Tom Clark]

Very timely thread since I just purchased some permethrin for the first time. I noticed that the instructions say to not treat hats. Any reason for that? A hat seems like one of the most strategic pieces of clothing to treat?

Here are some previous threads with useful info and opinion (not sure how to make a live link, so you'll have to cut & paste).

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/6480/index.html?skip_to_post=47392#47392

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/5463/index.html?skip_to_post=39038#39038

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/2386/index.html?skip_to_post=17797#17797
Tom

[EndoftheTrail]

I just re-read the instructions / warnings on my can of Repel Permanone permethrin spray:

The writings are completely silent regarding the treatment of hats per se. I treat my hat the same as the rest of my clothing — spraying on the outside — but obviously not on the inside. I don't see how treating a hat can be so different from treating a shirt… Maybe somebody else knows???

[Karl Keating]

REI offers permethrin both in spray for and in a kit.

The kit includes a large plastic bag, a string, and a bottle of permethrin. You take several items of clothing, roll them up, tie them with the string, and put them in the bag along with the contents of the bottle plus two bottles' worth of water. Then you slosh the contents around and let the bag sit for two or three hours, at which point you take out the clothes and hang them up to dry (using plastic gloves that also are in the kit).

I tried this yesterday, and the clothes became uniformly saturated with the solution (something that's hard to do with the spray bottle).

[Siegmund Beimfohr]

I have been getting ready to treat some clothes (socks, nylon hiking pants, REI Sahara LS shirt, etc.) and was thinking about just mixing the liquid permethrin (yard treatment version from Lowe's for example) with enough water to reach a concentration of 1.5% (which is what I remember the spray version to have; I would double-check this first), dip and soak the clothes, wring out the excess liquid, and hang up to dry. All this done outside with rubber gloves, of course. Seems that it would thoroughly impregnate the fibers, be the cheapest approach, and be much easier than trying to spray a garment completely. Any reason why this wouldn't work?

[Ken Thompson]

Permethrin mixed with sweat running into your eyes will burn like there is no tomorrow. Found this out first hand, ouch! So that's why we still need headnets.

[Richard Nisley]

The normal concentration for Permethrin on clothing is .05%. Permethrin is mixed with different inert carriers for different applications. The water carrier used in the yard version results in the Permethrin easily rinsing out in the rain.

[Jason Brinkman]

I've been using Sawyer Permethrin Spray for about a year now with no adverse reactions on nylon or wool. And the stuff works great – haven't picked off a tick all spring.

Our pediatrician told us to apply DEET to our son's clothing rather than on his skin. I believe the volatiles that evaporate from your skin (or clothing) are what confuse the bugs. That's why higher concentrations last longer (more volatiles), and why all concentrations eventually lose their affect (fully evaporate).

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