Mosquitos

[chickabonita]

So I just came back from a quick trip to the mid west and I have come home with 11 bites! Any good ways to keep them off aside from spraying myself head to toe in DEET??

[Biciclista]

move really fast?
cover up completely?
I hate mosquitoes too. I have been known to avoid entire states because of them.

[Aggie_Ama]

I use OFF, with friends having caught West Nile in Texas I will take the chemical blocking. According to reports I have read under 30% DEET is considered safe both for humans and by the EPA.

I use OFF Active:
9 oz. aerosol (15% DEET, mosquito protection for up to 6 hours)

There is the Family Care that has a DEET alternative:
OFF!® FamilyCare Insect Repellent II Clean Feel

Contains Picaridin (an alternative to DEET) to provide repellent protection without the greasy feel. It is virtually odorless, so it's perfect for social gatherings.

* Pump-spray (5% Picaridin)

This is what I found on Picardin at greenerchoices.com:
Picaridin is a chemical repellent that’s considered as effective as deet at the same concentration by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). When used properly, it’s also considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Our tests found that Cutter Advanced Sport with 15 percent picaridin scored better than two repellents with 7 percent deet. It protected against both mosquito species for an average of almost 3 hours and against ticks for 11 to 12 hours.

The Greener Choices website has suggestions if you don't want to use bug spray.

[OakLeaf]

Bite Blocker.

As effective as 7% DEET (note that higher concentrations don't repel any better, they just last longer), completely non-toxic and won't dissolve your clothes and sunglasses.

If there are 200 people in a room and one mosquito, I'll be the one who gets bitten... but not if I have that stuff on. It doesn't smell bad either IMO, although it has a definite scent.

[indysteel]

Thanks for that link, Oakleaf. The little buggers LOVE me. I got attacked once in D.C. after a hurricane went up the Potomac (making the swamp that is D.C. even swampier) and I had, I kid you not, 50 bites per leg. I was miserable for days. The other people I was with had just a few bites. My bites swell really badly too. I'm sort of phobic about them now.

[tzvia]

I hate those things; I'm always getting bit. Worst was at Lake Havasu AZ, right on the Colorado river. I was camping on the shore, and had my Deet on. Didn't see any mosquitoes. Ok, time to take a late afternoon dip in the cool water... Didn't want to put deet back on and have it on my skin all night.

So I hop into the back of the pickup (has a shell) as I am too lazy to open the tent for a one-nighter. I turned on the lamp and (queue the horror movie music) there were at least 30 of those things on the inside windows! I was stuck in the back of my pickup with a hord of hungry mosquitoes! So I grabbed the paper towels and smashed as many as I could see; walls, windows, everywhere. By the time I think I got most of them, there were little red spats everywhere! It was the most sick place I have ever slept. And by mid next day, my legs and arms were covered with welts. They itched so bad. I haven't been back to Havasu since and I am in no hurry to go. And repellent goes with, everywhere. Always have some in the glovebox and some, yes in the back of the pickup.

[malaholic]

Ugh, I *hate* mosquitos. Even with mosquite repellant I'll still end up with bites, and often in the most inconvenient places - forehead, back of knees, tops of toes, etc. Indysteel, mine often swell up too. Not all of them, just some, and they sometimes develop red swollen halos up to 3-4 inches in diameter around the bite. I'm not sure why that happens - if it's just an allergic reaction, why don't all of them do that? It always freaks me out. Doesn't seem to leave any lasting ill effects though.

[OakLeaf]

Yeah, I get great big welts too, that last a couple of weeks. Right now the flies are worse than the mosquitoes here (and they're out during the daytime).

When I'm working in the garden I'll wear a lightweight spun polypro painter's coverall. Looks like a hazmat suit but keeps the bugs off completely, without having to put anything at all on my skin. It can get a little bit warm, but not too bad since it's so light and breathable. It wouldn't work for anything like mountain biking, though, it would just get ripped to pieces. I put them in a lingerie bag for washing, even in my front-loader, since they're so fragile, but they'll last quite a while, and when they rip it's usually along the seams. It can be roughly repaired to work as well as ever, and not look any dorkier than it did to begin with.


ETA: Heat destroys the mosquito's ... I don't want to call it venom since that's not why the mosquito uses it, but I don't know what the right word is ... Anyway, if I get a heating pad, or a rag soaked in water from my tea thermos - either way, as hot as I can stand without burning the skin - if I get it on the bite within 5-10 minutes before the venom has a chance to spread and before I really start reacting, it will just disappear. I don't often have access to anything so hot when I get bitten, but when I do, this works like a charm.

[zoom-zoom]

Ooh, great, timely thread! I'm running a trail relay in 10 days in an area swarming with mosquitos and deer ticks. Once the sun came up the mosquitos weren't bad, but for the first couple of hours of the race we were really having to liberally spray ourselves to keep from being eaten alive. I'd love to try that stuff without DEET that doesn't stink or feel nasty on the skin.

[chickabonita]

That Bite Blocker stuff looks great, I am going to order some! I've tried the Burts Bee's stuff, and it works ok, but not great. Thanks everyone!

[OakLeaf]

I am going to order some!

Look in your natural food store, most of them have it.

[Aggie_Ama]

Look in your natural food store, most of them have it.

I will be on a quest tomorrow, I wonder if Whole Foods has it? I would much rather use something that works great and is environmentally and clothes friendly. When I mountain bike I get bit through my shorts. Seriously how awful is it to end up with an itchy butt from mosquitos? In our area they aren't only nocturnal at least not when you are hiding in the trees mountain biking.

[chickabonita]

So the bites turned into big welts that have now left scares on my beautiful fair skin

[Biciclista]

it looks like that bite blocker is just like smearing grease on your skin?

[OakLeaf]

it looks like that bite blocker is just like smearing grease on your skin?

Not at all. It's very light, lighter than most bug spray, especially including the DEET stuff I used years ago, which I find very greasy and uncomfortable. I don't know off the top of my head whether the base is water or alcohol or a combination, but it doesn't seem greasy to me at all.