Insect Shield Proprietary Treatment

[Andrew S]

hello, does anyone have info on how the Insect Shield treatment in NC gets done?  i noticed that they need the fabrics to be not water-resistant and able to stand high heat tumbling dryers.  when i spoke to a rep on the phone he said he couldn’t share the details but that the post-purchase treatment uses a different process than the pre-purchase treatment but still ensures the 70 wash durability against ticks, etc.

i had read that the treatment was created by a government agency, but it seems to be proprietary now, so was curious if it’s widely known or not.  will probably be sending some clothes in soon, but would like to have a sense of what they do with the permethrin.

[Ryan Smith]

From what I remember, high heat and dye fixatives (or similar).

Ryan

[Matthew / BPL]

The explanation I got was they soak it and then set the chemical using a high-heat dryer. My clothing came back without any noticeable shrinkage but it had been washed and dried a dozen times already. I had sent them a Patagonia Sun Stretch shirt, Railriders pants and a boonie hat.

[Brad Rogers]

No idea how they do it exactly, but I have sent some clothes off and I have been happy with the results.

[Andrew S]

“The explanation I got was they soak it and then set the chemical using a high-heat dryer.”

that was my guess, thanks for the replies.

[James Marco]

Permethrin is a chemical. Adding a dye fixative (like a light acid, eg vinegar) will help it set into clothing. Not all clothing needs a slight acid bath. Cotton, nylon, and wool do not. While varying degrees of permethrin will attach to the fabric, they all exceed the amount necessary to kill bugs.

Normally, permethrin is applied cold. But it can be done with water up to about 190F. This will increase the amount of permethrin that attaches and/or decrease the time it takes. (Just use hot tap water in your mixes and add a tablespoon of vinegar.) As a commercial product, this is better done in less time. At home, it doesn’t really matter. Taking an extra hour or two letting it set and dry is not going to degrade the process at all. Once things are dried, I recommend rinsing in another bucket of clean water to remove any excess. Then pouring on your driveway to let UV get at the chemical and break it down. DO NOT pour, ANY permethrin into your drain or sewer! It will go through sewage treatment into the water killing fish/amphibians. If you live in an older house, treating the foundation is also a good option.

I am guessing, because the process is proprietary, they simply use dedicated dryers and simply set these to rather high heats (usually something less than a zipper melting into the fabric.) They just throw your garment in wet/treated to set it, then wash it before sending it back to you, again, using some form of treatment on waste water/waste air.

In either case (commercial saves time, home uses less involved techniques) you will end up with clothing good for about 50 wash cycles. Many consider this the lifetime of a garment. Neither is superior to the other. All simply lets permethrin “dye” into your cloths. The trick is handling waste water, speed of treatment, NOT the number bonds available for the “dye” bonding to occur. Clothing will get treated to the same percentage, regardless.

[James Marco]

BTW, Cats, amphibians, fish are all sensitive to permethrin in this process. But, NOT after the clothing has been washed.

[Jerry Adams]

What if you just spray it on your clothing and let it dry?

Is that effective?  Will it last as long?

That’s easier.  No waste water.

[James Marco]

Jerry, yes. Sprays are effective too. The trouble is an even coating of all surfaces. Sprays do not achieve this. (Well, unless you use twice as much.) They only rate this for about a month and a half, because of this…not for 50 washings or “permanent.” Again, all clothing treated this way needs to be rinsed clean of any remaining permethrin. The rinse water needs to be dumped in bright sunlight to degrade permethrin. A 1/2 gallon of .05% permethrin will treat a full set of summer hiking cloths. At the end of wringing you end up with a solution of about .02%-.03% permethrin. The permethrin will bond, leaving the water behind. You CAN dilute the spray and use it to for dipping. It will work fine. This provides a more even coating, but at the expense of the convenience of the spray.

I would suggest an experiment with just spraying on a black dye onto some old light pants. You will quickly see which areas you missed or which areas you need less coverage. The result will usually be quite blotchy and uneven.

Usually the sprays (I am thinking Sawyers) are of lower percentage solutions. .05% is really not enough to cover completely and thoroughly in those areas not directly sprayed. This IS enough for a dipped bath, though. I believe this is why they only recommend it for 5 washings, ie the uneven coating.

[Jerry Adams]

thanks James

The Sawyer instructions say to spray and let dry, no need to rinse.  I try not to wash treated items – boots, gaiters.  Pants? – maybe I won’t wash after just one trip?

Sawyer – 0.5% – 12 ounces – good for treating my pants maybe 8 times? – I’m pretty liberal with it – so 1.5 ounces of the 0.5% solution to treat pants

https://sectionhiker.com/permethrin-soak-method-guide/ says to mix 128 ounces of 0.5% solution for some number not specified of garments.  I think you’ll use a lot more of the solution than with the spray on so there will be a lot more waste.  Most of it will go down the drain.

If I was in heavy tick area I’d probably use soak method for maximum effectiveness.  Since I only occasionally see ticks spray on seems reasonable.

I don’t really want to handle the 10% concentrate.  The 0.5% premix is convenient.  One 12 ounce bottle good for a year.  Chemicals degrade with time so probably just as well to not have more than a year supply.

 

[James Marco]

Some people are allergic to permethrin. While bonded stuff is fine, loose dust is not good for them or for cat, etc. Rinsing is good.

Since the permethrin is taken up by the fabric, it doesn’t really matter all that much about concentration. .02% in a gallon is the same as .04% in a half gallon. The fabric will only bond to so much, depending on the type. You might have to leave it in the bath overnight of you get it down to .01% in two gallons, though.

You should NEVER pour excess permethrin down a drain. I wash as needed not because of permethrin. Some pants nylon pants are about 15 years old and were only treated once.

Yeah, you can look at it that way. Here in the ADK’s we don’t have a lot of ticks. I have met several people that have been treated for Lyme disease and for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Nope, I don’t want these. I’ll dip, thank you.

Yeah, 10% is often diluted with petroleum products which can be bad for you. I just use ant dust at .05% and mix it with a gallon of water. Cost is about $4. The chalk helps it mix easy. It makes about 2 gallons. I Dip all my hiking cloths once for about 2 hours in a hot water bath, then hang them to dry overnight. After rinsing them, I wash them out and never have to do them again for about 8-10 years or longer.

Tics are only one problem. Mosquitoes, chiggers, bedbugs, spiders, blackflies, etc are all killed on contact with my clothing. It may take a few minutes, but they loose interest in biting fairly soon. Permethrin/DEET is my combination for the north woods in spring, often only getting 4-5 bites despite clouds of blackflies. It is also good for killing termites and other foundation insects. So, excess is also valuable for treating shelter foundations (lean-to’s, cabins, etc.)

[Arthur]

James.  I would appreciate if you would expound on Ant Dust as the clothes treatment vs permethrin.  Thanks

[James Marco]

Arthur, Permethrin is just a chemical. They sell various size bags of ant dust to kill off ant hills in your fields/driveway/sidewalk. It is often .005% to .05% mixtures of inert ingredients (chalk or similar) that is mixed with the small percentage of permethrin. It does NOT work without water, though. Water simply places the molecules in close proximity for bonding. Once in solution most of the solution simply contains permethrin with the chalk falling to the bottom since it is far less soluble than permethrin. It helps during mixing because it dissolves easily in warm water. I just dip my cloths for a couple hours, and hang them as above. I do a rinse and wring after they are dry, then wash them. Not a big deal. But, you do not need to spend lots of money on special products. Ant dust, sometimes plant or rose dust, etc are all permethrin mixed with some inert ingredient…chalk is common, talk (stone dust,) is also used…any inert mineral based powder I believe.

There are several insect poisons out there. Only permethrin is fairly safe to use. I have passed up some that could be simply renamed permethrin, but, I am not taking that chance and I am too lazy to look it up. CHECH THE INGREDIENTS! Be careful!

[Arthur]

James

The ant dust active ingredient is deltamethrin. it appears to be very similar to permethrin in structure and toxicity, more potent than permethrin but not approved for human use from what i could find. I guess my question is why, would i use that instead of the permethrin?  Thanks, this is more information than i have gotten anyplace else on this topic.

[James Marco]

Yeah, DON’T USE IT. Only permethrin is “approved” for human clothing.

Or, try it and let us know after 5-10 years. (No, I am NOT serious.)

[Erik G]

I took note of the “ant dust” as well, as I’d like to soak my clothes rather than spray them, but don’t want to deal with sending them to Insect Shield.

Seems like plenty use permethrin for the active ingredient. I just googled permethrin dust and got plenty of sources. Walmart has it. Don’t think I need 3lbs though…

@jamesdmarco, how much .05% dust do you add to your 1 gallon of water? I can do the math for liquid dilution, but not sure how it works out for adding dust to achieve a desired concentration.

[James Marco]

I use about 1 full cup per gallon. I know the permethrin will bond with the fabric (usually nylon for shirts and pants) reducing the concentration in the mix. What is important is enough bonding to the fabric to kill the ticks. This is not scientific at all. Use two cups if you are doing two sets of clothing, ie pants, shirt and socks. I don’t do underwear. It works fine. If after the first wearing, I don’t think it is effective enough, I can re-dip another coat. If you use too much, well, just so much will bond to the fabric. Again, UV will degrade excess, or, spray it on your buildings foundation to stop termites. Dry, rinse and launder normally. All permethrin water, (ie, original solution & rinse water) should be disposed of in bright sunlight or in other places that you have a use for it. DO NOT pour it down a drain or dump it down a sewer.

[Anonymous]

You can get one gallon of JT Eaton water based .5% permethrin liquid, which is pretty much the same as Sawyer, for about $24 at Home Depot.  You’ll probably have to order it online and have it delivered to your nearest store. I just treated 3 pairs of nylon  pants, 2 polyester and nylon long sleeved button down shirts, and 5 or 6 pairs of socks and I have 1/2  gallon left over. I thought about sending in the pants and shirts to Insect Shield but it would have cost $55 for them and much more for the socks.

[Andrew S]

thanks for the very specific tip – did you use any vinegar as james marco suggested for the nylons and polyesters?

[Anonymous]

No, I didn’t read that before I did it.

[Author]

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