DEET has been around since the '40s. The stuff works well enough certainly, but I'm not exactly comfortable slathering myself up with chemicals these days.

I'm curious what was the preferred method of repellings skeeters way back when.

Anybody old enough to remember?

Cyanide and morphine


Sorry, wait. That's my shopping list.

I love me some DEET, but when I'm looking for something less harsh, I use this:

https://www.amazon.com/EcoSMAR...-Ounce/dp/B001B67IHK

All natural ingredients, etc and it smells nice too.

I'd imagine way back they may have used these ingredients...Rosemary oil ...0.5%Cinnamon Leaf Oil ...0.5%Lemongrass Oil ...0.5%Geranoil...

Might have to give that a try Ramius, thanks. Looks like decent reviews.

Our annual hatch came off yesterday and the little bastards are just voracious. There's so many of them you worry about being picked up and carried off. I can't even get into my garden area without being swarmed.

I'm going to try to get the weed whacker out, trim everything down to the ground then hose it down with malathion (not the actual garden). That'll help.

Thankfully, our season only lasts a couple of weeks around here. Once everything dries out they die off, but we've got near record run-off and flooding this year so it's going to be a bad one.

When I was a kid my folks used oil of camphor. It was a brown oily liquid that came in little brown bottles. Smelled OK, we’d put a little here and there. You didn’t need to cover up in it.

I don't remember what we used in the old days but it didn't work very well.

Avon Skin So Soft cream works well for repelling skeeter's. We've used for years and no harsh chemicals.

Jim

Supposedly if you take garlic capsules regularly it is supposed to keep them from biting?

I am sure there is something natural, I just cannot think of it right now.

Apparently, really bad body odor naturally repels skeeters.

There are various plant oils that repel bugs too, like citronella, lemongrass, eucalyptus, peppermint, and cedar.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
Avon Skin So Soft cream works well for repelling skeeter's. We've used for years and no harsh chemicals.

Jim

Yeah, this works too. Always used it while crabbing to combat skeeters.

I've tried the Avon SSS in the past without much luck. There must be something with my particular body chemistry as those little bastards go after me like there's no tomorrow.

Tried going down to the garden this morning while it was still cool (thinking they wouldn't be active yet) and it was a bloodbath.

The next few weeks are going to suck. I'll have to get my beekeeping gear on to do anything outdoors.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Apparently, really bad body odor naturally repels skeeters.

Funny you should mention that. A guy I used to work with always bragged that skeeters never bothered him at all. Of course, he was not what you'd call a clean person either. The stink he left behind was awful.

6-12! The insect repellent for REAL outdoor people!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fctS-9Q7LA





"Ethylhexanediol, also known as Rutgers 612 or "6-12 repellent," discontinued in the US in 1991 due to evidence of causing developmental defects in animals[2]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_repellent

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RichardC, May 22, 2018 04:22 PM

Hang a Thermacell off your belt. They work great when stationary but I have never used them while moving around.

https://www.thermacell.com

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
I've tried the Avon SSS in the past without much luck. There must be something with my particular body chemistry as those little bastards go after me like there's no tomorrow.

Tried going down to the garden this morning while it was still cool (thinking they wouldn't be active yet) and it was a bloodbath.

The next few weeks are going to suck. I'll have to get my beekeeping gear on to do anything outdoors.

I don't use the regular skin so soft, but instead use Avon's Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus IR3535® Expedition™ SPF 30. They added Merck's IR3535 mosquito repellent to Skin so Soft and they've added sun screen. I use it when golfing, gardening, etc. Unlike DEET, it doesn't stink, doesn't yellow clothing, and doesn't dissolve plastics. It doesn't apply to either one of us, but it's also safe for use even on infants, pregnant and breastfeeding women.

I found this stuff after moving to the northern burbs of Houston in '16. I added this disclaimer because I didn't know about it when I lived in Alaska where there were clouds of mosquitoes.

Avon also makes another Bug Guard version called Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus Picaridin where they've used Bayer's Picaridin instead of Merck's IR3535 and omitted the sunscreen. I have not tried this one. The IR3535 isn't effective as long as Picaridin, but I'm not outside more than IR3535's limits plus I'm more likely to be outside when I need sunscreen.

DDT

I’m guessing just hanging around with someone the skeeters like better. I’m so attractive to mosquitoes my wife never gets bit.

When Mrs.BurtonRW and I head for the jungles of Costa Rica for vacation, we swear by picaridin (and permethrin for our clothes).

It works flawlessly.

-Rob

I have found that big nasty cigars keep the skeeters away.