Bugs love me . . . Help!
 

We're headed to the north shore of Kauai later this summer. I usually return from tropical vacation looking like I have chicken pox. I don't mind a few bites on my arms or legs -- but when they go for my face I really get annoyed. Surely there must be new things on the market that are less toxic than deet - but still effective. Please help!

Cutteres makes repellent with Picaradin insted of Deet.

Avon's Skin So Soft works really well as a bug repellant.

Sometimes it may not be YOU that they like as much as it is the scent of something you use.....perfume, deodorant, hair spray, etc.. The Avon Skin-so-soft seems to have an odor that they don't like.

Golfers in this area swear by the fabric softener dryer sheets. They just rub one on the face and bare arms. Seems to work. It's worth a try.

According to Consumers Reports (June 06), DEET is the best protection against insect bites.

Is DEET toxic? Check out http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/fac...s/0002fact.pdf

"...DEET generally is of low acute toxicity, and, based on the available toxicological data, the Agency believes that the normal use of DEET does not present a health concern to the general U.S. population."

You can rely either on hearsay or scientific info. ((*))

I am more of a naturalist as it' may not be DEET that poses a specifc risk, but the combination of all the toxins we put in and on our bodies and the affect over time. I use starfish oil's mosquito spray. It is a ctrus oil blend. You need to apply more often, but it works. I also use citrus essential oil body wash and scrubs in the summer to ward them off. There are many non toxic options out now. I feel safer using natural products.

I feel safer using natural products, too, which is why I really hate to say that DEET is the only thing that works for me--mosquitoes love me, the little devils. I try to limit use of it, wash it off ASAP, etc.

You may think I'm bananas but-- I'm usually tormented by itchy bites all summer, mostly from mosquitos. Somewhere I read that mosquitos go for people who eat bananas, so I decided to give up that fruit for this summer. It seems to be working. Nary a mosquito bite so far. So in addition to trying the repellents recommended here, if you're a banana eater you could try going cold turkey on bananas.

I was in Africa during the rainy season (= mosquito season) and never got bit once. Used Cutters Skinsations, only 7% Deet, has a very clean scent too.

http://www.rei.com/product/736758

Oh, I forgot that the other option is to eat lots of Garlic or rub it on your skin. They hate garlic although you may ward off everyone around you too. Another trick for anyone in a pinch is to just rub a lemon slice on your skin. It does help and most bars have lemon or lime slices. Anything citrus based will help.

Drink a shot of white vinegar. Your sweat will taste so bad they will leave you alone.

Or you can put the white vinegar into a spray bottle and spritz that on your skin. You can try it straight or maybe cut it with some water.

Sorry, step-saver, you're bananas! ;-) I never eat bananas, but the mosquitoes sure eat me.

I usually use bug-off on birding trips, and I could never-in-a-million-years inflict garlic or vinegar spray (or sweat) on my fellow travelers, with whom I spend hours riding in vans and hiking. No way!

NewbE, there is no smell from the vinegar - well at least that humans can detect.

How can that be, starrs? If I wear sunscreen, then spray myself with vinegar, albeit diluted, wouldn't that make me a gross sort of salad waiting to happen??

My suggestion was a shot of vinegar ingested - it makes one's sweat taste bad to bugs but doesn't make one smell like vinegar.

Someone else must have suggested the external application - which I agree would make one feel more like a salad dressing in search of greens than a human being :-)

Ahh, right--ingested wouldn't smell, I was thinking of the topical method. Bugs would stay away, but deer and rabbits...don't they love salad? ;-)

Also if you don't want to "rub garlic" on the outside of you -- you can just take a garlic pill. I'm going to try the bananas thing -- I get eaten alive everywhere I go and I love bananas.

I found Swayer Controlled Release a couple of years ago and really like it. It is a 20% deet solution, but you'd never know it as it is a lotion that doesn't have the "deety" feel to it or the "deety" smell.

cm318,

I did a little googling today. There are lots of herbal remedies out there that you can make on your own. Most seem to use vinegar as the delivery agent. Doesn't appear that it is the vinegar itself that does it, but it's the various herbs or essential oils mixed in the vinegar. Here is one.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nwgard...ovejoy10.shtml

Good luck...and have fun on Kaua'i.

All I know's is that my daddy would cut rows with a riding lawnmower through a blackberry field on that darn hill and spend evr'y afternoon picking blackberries after work and a chigger never took a chunk outta him.

Before he headed out, he took a shot of white vinegar while standing by the kitchen sink. It reminded me of a warrior preparing for battle. Sweatbands on forehead and arms. The vinegar shot. Off he goes to conquer the blackberry field.

He read it the hint from an organic type gardening magazine - and this was waaayyyy back in the late 60's - early 70's.

That's all I know. Decades of successful bug-deterring from a shot of white vinegar at the kitchen sink :-)

If I knew the topic would be controversial in any way, I would have asked him at lunch today on Father's Day. He's in his 80's now - and is still a big believer in his vinegar trick. And, I don't argue with Daddy.

Interesting Starrsville, my grandfather who was raised in Germany but came here as a young man would drink a shot of vinegar daily after his early morning breakfast. He was a man of the land..so even in his 80's he was planting and growing crops and driving his tractor. Perhaps that is why he drank the vinegar. I just thought it was because he liked it as he loved putting vinegar on all kinds of foods.

CM, Some people insist that taking B12 tablets keeps them from getting bitten. Now I don't know but I do know that I will be with others that get bitten up alive my mosquitoes and spiders and whatever and I never get even one bite. I have to have a B12 shot on a monthly basis..so perhaps B12 does keep the bugs away? You could try it (perhaps talk to your doctor first) and see if that helps.

Great suggestions - thanks. I'll make sure I have a full compliment of options with me to keep the bites to a minimum. I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea of drinking a shot of vinegar. I had visions of myself sipping pina coladas on vacation . . . so it is hard for me to imagine belting back a shot of vinegar. Somehow it doesn't fit my vacation fantasy -- but if all else fails I'll be happy to give it a try!

The vinegar might taste better if you put one of the little paper cocktail umbrellas in it. :-d