bug deterant

[pahillbillybear]

I got this e-mail from a friend. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing.
Mosquito Spray...Worth a try
> I was at a deck party awhile back, and the bugs were having a
> ball biting everyone. A man at the party sprayed the lawn and deck floor
> with Listerine, and the little demons disappeared.. The next year I
> filled a 4-ounce spray bottle and used it around my seat whenever I saw
> mosquitoes. And voila! That worked as well.. It worked at a picnic where
> we sprayed the area around the food table, the children's swing area,
> and the standing water nearby. During the summer, I don't leave home
> without it.....Pass it on.
>
> OUR FRIEND'S COMMENTS: I tried this on my deck and around all of
> my doors. It works - in fact, it killed them instantly. I bought my
> bottle from Target and it cost me $1.89. It really doesn't take much,
> and it is a big bottle, too; so it is not as expensive to use as the can
> of Bug-spray you buy that doesn't last 30 minutes. So, try this, please.
> It will last a couple of days. Don't spray directly on a wood door (like
> your front door), but spray around the frame. Spray around the window
> frames, and even inside the dog house.
>

[garlic08]

And check this out: http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/dishsoap.asp

[MintakaCat]

Snopes says its false:

http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/dishsoap.asp

[Summit]

DEET time-release dosage for 'skeeters and Permethrin for all the rest. Anything else and you're begging to be an involuntary blood donor! :eek:

[Snowleopard]

http://www.rei.com/product/730349 contains 17.5% DEET and R-326 for flies and MGK 264. One of these, R-326 I think, is supposed to work better on black flies. I haven't given it a good test yet.

As Summit says, DEET time release (eg Ultrathon) and permethrin on your clothes is the conventional wisdom. Plus head net and net bug suit is conditions are really bad.

[OldStormcrow]

I once saw something at an outfitter's called "Bugaway" or something like that. It was about 5-6 pills in a blister pack and when I read the ingredients it turned out to be just a normal dose of B vitamins.....for about $5.95! I checked the mg doseage on the package and went out to the grocery store and bought a whole bottle for that same price. The theory is that you sweat the B vitamins through your pores and the skeeters don't like to bite someone that smells like a vet's office. My friends and I tried these out on a trip but I'm not sure if they actually worked....it was kind of hard to tell if it was the vitamins or the cigar smoke that kept the little critters at bay.

[Tinker]

Anything that deters is a deterrant (double r). I doubt that Listerine deters anything more than me. I dated a girl that used the original stuff - nasty. Scope is what I used (no, not on bugs). It's likely that alcohol may deter bugs for a short time (most small-brained beings are smarter than people in this regard :p), but once it has evaporated the effect probably has also.

[Sleeps_With_Skunks]

I used to work in black fly central in Old Forge, NY. I used to use Avon deep woods off. The company I worked for bought it by the case and everyone carried spray bottles of it around.

[Sleeps_With_Skunks]

I used to work in black fly central in Old Forge, NY. I used to use Avon deep woods off. The company I worked for bought it by the case and everyone carried spray bottles of it around.


OOPS....not deep woods off..Avon Deep woods scented oil. Anything with DEET just made the flied bite us more.

[Tinker]

OOPS....not deep woods off..Avon Deep woods scented oil. Anything with DEET just made the flied bite us more.

Was that citronella scented?

[rootball]

I got some of that 'natural' bug spray at Walmart - the one in the Purple/blue Bottle. A soon as I put some on, the black flies disappeared. They stayed gone for 6 hours of hiking. Good enough.

[Lilred]

I read a consumer's report that said Off's Sportsman's with Deet worked the best out of the ones they tested.

[Dr O]

I wonder if the increasing CO2 in the atmosphere makes it harder for mosquitoes to home in on us?

[ToeJam]

Hmmm, I hadn't looked into this enough apparently. We do a weeklong section hike each year picking up where we last left off and are headed down south to Hughes Gap TN tonight to start in the a.m.. Normally we hike in early April but got sick of all the snow and cold last few years. Anyway I got some of the Off Deep Woods Sportmen, but I hadn't thought that maybe the same stuff won't work on both mosquitoes AND black flies?? Forget what the bottle says, I believe what real hikers write more any day!

[medicjimr]

I use ThermaCell Hunting and fishing works great if I am stationary never tyed it moving.