I got chewed up pretty badly the other day by some skeeters while going on a hike in the woods. I loathe DEET-based sprays and creams, and was wondering if anyone has found some alternatives which did the trick.
Avon Skin-so-soft works well on big mozzies. (Full disclosure: lived in the jungle in Brazil, but I did get dengue fever.) Those tiny little buggers are the worst though, nothing in the world works on them. I swear they eat DEET. After a few months I gave up, let them eat me all they wanted and either I became less affected by the bites or I became less yummy, not sure which. But for a short-term solution to big mosquitos, definitely try Avon skin-so-soft: it smells nice and repels them fairly well.
I use Bio UD. It’s a tomato-based repellent, supposedly as effective as DEET products in the short-term, and more effective than DEET products for longer periods of time.
It doesn’t smell great, but it I’m happy with the performance. It was developed by a guy at NC State, which is local to me, so I can find it at local health food stores. You can also buy it online.
I recommend long sleeves and pants, pre-treated with permethrin (it’s odorless after it dries). And one of these for your head.
When I lived in the tropics, I never used insect repellent. The best way to become accustomed to mosquitoes, is to let them bite you until you stop reacting. The next best thing is to prevent them from getting access. Wear loose clothing, carry a bandanna to fan your face. If you can afford it, the Exofficio brand is very nice. I normally buy other shirts in the style seen in the link. They are loose enough to keep the mosquitoes away, but light enough that I don’t get hot.
I’ve also noticed that mosquitoes bite me less when I use lemon-scented soaps/shampoos and eat lots of garlic.
Basically the only three long term effective ingredients for insect repellent are DEET, Picaridin, and oil of lemon eucalyptus. All others are relatively short term effective or not effective at all.
BTW, when used properly there is little evidence that DEET is a problem, but I understand wanting to use something else.
I am a mosquito expert (PhD scientist) and came in here to say exactly this. The only thing that really works and lasts is DEET. The other listed alternatives above kind of work, but they don’t have much staying power - “long-term” is relative. They work longer than other things, but still not nearly as long as DEET.
I use 100% DEET, but I don’t put it on my skin. I put it on my clothes, and wear a DEET-impregnated bandana and hat. Works great for ticks as well.
Did you see the report I linked to on the comparison between DEET and Bio UD? I know it’s just one test and compares a 30% DEET product (which is what is most readily available at drugstores, etc.) to Bio UD, but I’m interested in your opinion of that.
I usually try to use a deet free alternative such as avon skinsosoft then if that fails go to deet, I figure it limits my exposure to deet. It also helps going hiking in groups as usually one person will be the bug attractor and though it sucks to be that person, the others in the group get protection.
But it increases your exposure to Skin So Soft, which contains things like butylated hydroxytoluene, isopropyl palmitate, dicapryl adipate, and dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate.
Oh, and it doesn’t appear to work to repel mosquitos, either.
That is an internal report from the company that makes the product. Not saying its false, but I prefer my data peer-reviewed.
Well, sure, if you want to get technical …
Repel makes a lemon-eucalyptus spray that seemed to work well for me.
A wacky guy I know is convinced that dryer sheets are fantastic insect repellents. He walks around with dryer sheets safety pinned to the back of his cap, the ends of his shirt sleeves, etc.
I don’t know about insects, but it sure works at repelling people.
Yeah, that’s a common old-timey repellent. Wanna know another one I’ve heard? Dipping the hem of your apron/dress in kerosene. Really. This is assuming one has access to both an apron, and to kerosene. Plenty of city slickers have never laid eyes on either.
I used artificial Vanilla (NOT the real stuff - artificial) when down in the swamps after Katrina. It worked great on the biting flies there, not sure about anything else.
This is merely a anecdote, and the plural of anecdote is NOT data!
I asked the same question here on the SDMB, some while ago. One product that was recommended was “Natrapel.” I’ve been using that since, and am happy with it.
mozchron, do you know anything about DEET and those tiny little mozzies? The ones you can hardly see but have really itchy bites. They’re pesky in North Wales and Brazil (really, that’s where I’ve noticed them the most!) and I swear they don’t give a fig you’ve covered yourself in DEET.
gracer, in the US those are generally known as black flies or gnats, and you are correct that DEET (or any of the other bug repellents) don’t work nearly as well against them.
Trinopus, Natrapel uses Picaridin as its active ingredient.