An alternative to Off, homemade bug repellent

silenthunterstudios

silenthunterstudios

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The first week of August I'm going to OC MD, a resort town on the Atlantic in MD. I plan to explore as far north along the shore as Lewes, and as far south as the Chesapeake Tunnel. This involves the Eastern Shore marshlands/swamps. At Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Assateague National Seashore and Chincoteague National Seashore, they sell shirts that say "I gave blood at...". I've hiked parts of Chincoteague in the late fall, and luckily did not have to worry about mosquitoes etc, but the first week of August may prove problematic. For assateague and Chincoteague, the proximity to the horses and their excrement may have something to do with so many flies, when you're on a tiny strip of barrier island ;).

I am going to get a spray can of Off for my trips to the Delmarva (I think the flies get drunk in OC, no need to worry about them). What are some easy natural alternatives?

I'm going to be more worried about the heat and humidity a couple miles inland, but I don't want to need to go to the hospital because I was bitten by a million mosquitoes.

by the way I am diabetic, and the flies seem to go for fat people, we don't move as much I guess...
 
I use a mixture of pure alcohol, clove , tea tree oil and some citronella for the smell. (tea trea is also good for ticks... not 100% bomb proof, but it helps.)

Put 200g cloves in 0,5l alcohol for 4 days, remember to shake overy now and then, after the time, put the oli and the citr in the bottle... shake.

It works here where I live, but from what I saw it can depend on what kind of mosquitos you have.

The only bad thing is that you have to use it every 1-2hrs... depend on how much you sweat.
 
Drop the Off, buy Picaridin(synthetic "Made to resemble the natural compound piperine") and be done with it. As stated above, home concoctions don't 'Hold' well. Not sure if you'll just be in your swim shorts, but even then you might want to treat them with Permethrin(synthetic made to mimic chrysanthemums). It's generally safe for mammals including humans and dogs, but don't get it near your cat if you have one.
 
TerraShield from doTerra has worked for me in the past with surprisingly good results and it seemed to last long. Nothing but natural cedarwood and citronella oils. Homemade insect repellents are good for gardening, not so good for sweating it out at the beach.
 
Catnip leaves work wonder to repel mosquitos. Just crush a bunch of them up and rub them on your exposed skin and on your clothes. Peppermint oil also works.
 
I don't know about natural solutions, but we've been using Watkins bug repellant, seems to work great, even in the deep woods here in Ontario. You do sweat it off fairly quickly, so the key is to keep reapplying.
 
MaximIsayev said:
I don't know about natural solutions, but we've been using Watkins bug repellant, seems to work great, even in the deep woods here in Ontario. You do sweat it off fairly quickly, so the key is to keep reapplying.
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"Contains 28.5% DEET."
 
Please don't spray people ! Especially children . Spray clothing ,let dry, They usually last anumber of days .Take treated off when you get home and save them for another day . Permethren is the one for ticks !
 
Thomas Linton said:
"Contains 28.5% DEET."
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Yeah, as I said before it's not much of a natural solution, but the mosquitoes here are so vicious that most natural solutions don't work on them. I've been hearing good things about clove oil as a bug repellent, but haven't had much success myself with it.
 
Lemon Eucalyptus is as effective as DEET for 75% as long. Like DEET, it will not protect bare skin unless placed on the skin. It does not have the side effects of DEET. Again, certified effective by CDC.
 
Call me a pansy, but you wouldn't catch me playing with natural alternatives at Assateague/Chincoteague. Mosquitos are one thing. Biting flies are another, they take chunks of skin, and are at their worst mid-July through August.
 
in addition, chew peppermint gum while you're out and about. It makes your CO2 trail much less appealing to the skeeters.
 
Dryer sheets have DEET in them, they have worked for me in the past. Tie a couple to you belt loops and wear one around your neck.
 
DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) is a plastic solvent when not being used to chase off 'sketters. None in dryer sheets according to those who manufacture dryer sheets. However, some claim dryer sheets repel - no evidence of that however.
 
REPELLENTS FOR USE ON SKIN AND CLOTHING

CDC has evaluated information published in peer-reviewed scientific literature and data available from EPA to identify several types of EPA-registered products that provide repellent activity sufficient to help people reduce the bites of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Products containing the following active ingredients typically provide reasonably long-lasting protection:

DEET (chemical name: N,N-diethyl-m-tolua-mide or N,N-diethyl-3-methyl-benzamide). Products containing DEET include, but are not limited to, Off!, Cutter, Sawyer, and Ultrathon.
Picaridin (KBR 3023 [Bayrepel] and icaridin outside the United States; chemical name: 2-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperidinecarboxylic acid 1-methylpropyl ester). Products containing picaridin include, but are not limited to, Cutter Advanced, Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus, and Autan (outside the United States).
Oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) or PMD (chemical name: para-menthane-3,8-diol), the synthesized version of OLE. Products containing OLE and PMD include, but are not limited to, Repel and Off! Botanicals. This recommendation refers to EPA-registered repellent products containing the active ingredient OLE (or PMD). “Pure” oil of lemon eucalyptus (essential oil not formulated as a repellent) is not recommended; it has not undergone similar, validated testing for safety and efficacy, is not registered with EPA as an insect repellent, and is not covered by this recommendation.
IR3535 (chemical name: 3-[N-butyl-N-acetyl]-aminopropionic acid, ethyl ester). Products containing IR3535 include, but are not limited to, Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus Expedition and SkinSmart.
EPA characterizes the active ingredients DEET and picaridin as “conventional repellents” and OLE, PMD, and IR3535 as “biopesticide repellents,” which are either derived from or are synthetic versions of natural materials.
 
Thomas Linton said:
DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) is a plastic solvent when not being used to chase off 'sketters. None in dryer sheets according to those who manufacture dryer sheets. However, some claim dryer sheets repel - no evidence of that however.
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Well maybe its the other dozen toxic additives that repel skeeters, but rubbing then on your skin and having a few in your pockets does work, Not sure what evidence you need, I'm guessing there isn't a single science researcher here to prove the method.
 
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