my skin doesn't like DEET (and i don't like that DEET melts/softens certain plastics...i ruined some nice sunglasses thanks to that crap)...so a couple of years ago i switched to undecanone (brand name "bite blocker," developed by an NCSU professor, actually)...it's natural, it smells okay, it doesn't leave a residue, i can use it on my dogs, and, most importantly, it works

i picked up BioUD (undecanone product made by HOMS) last year, but i can't find it anywhere this year, so i thought i'd try something different...any of y'all ever used lemon eucalyptus repellent ("repel" brand)? what about picaridin ("cutter advanced" and "sawyer")?

6/20/2011 6:37:01 PM

koala piss?



Try skin so soft (not the lube, the bugspray and the lube later if you really want to)

6/20/2011 6:37:49 PM

i solve this by not going outside after dusk

6/20/2011 6:38:02 PM

unfortunately, i enjoy outdoor activities and i do not like the mosquitoes (though they seem to like me over everyone else, the bastards)

6/20/2011 6:38:57 PM

skin so soft works ok

6/20/2011 6:40:37 PM

i switched to picaridin and never looked back.

6/20/2011 6:42:16 PM

at the campground where i keep my boat they have fucking pterodactyl skeeters and the motherfuckers come out anytime the wind isn't blowing. 40% deet is all i've found that works.

[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 6:44 PM. Reason : they come up out of the marsh grass by the millions it seems]

6/20/2011 6:43:52 PM

Quote :

"TIKI TORCH BALLCAP"

6/20/2011 6:44:11 PM

the burt's bees kind works pretty well for me (i mean compared to other natural kinds)

is it burts or berts? i don't fucking know but you know what i mean

try whole foods they prob have like 10 diff kinds you can try. some work better than others i have found

[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 7:13 PM. Reason : .]

6/20/2011 7:09:41 PM

picaridin

plus DEET

plus citronella

plus flamethrower

6/20/2011 7:10:44 PM

^ ^ ^ lol

[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 7:11 PM. Reason : ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^6]

6/20/2011 7:11:13 PM

my gf uses a neem repellent from this place in cary http://justneem.com/

[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 7:18 PM. Reason : ]

6/20/2011 7:17:55 PM

Quote :

"y'all ever used lemon eucalyptus repellent ("repel" brand)?"

this kind doesn't work for me. i missed this at first but i've used that kind and it didn't seem to work at all

6/20/2011 7:18:19 PM

25% DEET. All bugs must die.

6/20/2011 7:29:29 PM

100% DEET.

I ain't scared.

6/20/2011 7:31:56 PM

Apparently grapefruit oil does the trick.

6/20/2011 7:52:34 PM

[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 8:05 PM. Reason : .]

6/20/2011 8:04:35 PM

mosquito truck blowing up DDT
barefoot heathens running wild and free
air raid buzzer at a noon-day scream

6/20/2011 8:34:31 PM

mud

6/20/2011 9:27:05 PM

Quote :

"Apparently grapefruit oil does the trick."

nootkatone...but i don't think you can buy it, yet

6/20/2011 9:37:11 PM

I like pic, but it does not work as well, nor last as long, as deet. It does smell much less and dissolve far fewer things.

I also like my Mosquito Magnet. Kills 'em while I sleep!

6/21/2011 2:41:03 AM

Wash your feet before you go out? Mosquitoes are supposed to be attracted to folks with stinky feet.

Also I've had some success with products that have oil of eucalyptus in it.

6/21/2011 8:07:56 AM

when I was hiking in Maine the mosquitoes were so bad, I had to fan myself while taking a leak or else my butt would be all bitten up!

I used lemon-eucalyptus at first and I could almost hear the mosquitoes mocking laughter as they feasted on me. At the first store I got to I bought dat 90% DEET and they left me alone after that. It's really the only thing that works.

PS ... skin so soft doesn't work!!!

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

6/21/2011 8:37:21 AM

don't put DEET on skin if it bothers you, its supposed to go on clothes. i do DEET on clothes (permethrin if i'm in tick or chigger country) and bite blocker everywhere else

6/21/2011 8:51:50 AM

well, it's actually wrong to say that DEET is the "only thing that works," because it's not really true...my experience (which is all that i care about) proves beyond doubt (to me) that undecanone, at least, works just as well as DEET (for me) and has the added advantages of being non-toxic, doesn't smell awful, and doesn't melt plastic

and nootkatone works EXTREMELY well:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jan11/ticks0111.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11441443
http://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2011/04/28/nootkatone-so-a-peeling-in-grapefruit-is-repellent-to-mosquitoes-and-ticks/

picaridin also works...i'll concede that the lemon eucalyptus stuff may not be especially effective, though (which is why i decided to come here to ask)

amazon reviews, at least, support picaridin and undecanone...allylix will make the nootkatone repellent, which is why the CDC is reviewing it now

6/21/2011 8:57:26 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/smelly-socks-tested-in-tanzania-as-way-to-prevent-malaria/2011/07/12/gIQAshifBI_story.html

7/13/2011 9:07:04 AM

THIS....this is amazing

http://www.thermacell.com/mosquito-repellent

7/13/2011 9:24:35 AM

instead of a spray, I use a soap called "skeeter beater" - it's an all-natural alternative that I got at the farmers' market and actually smells good

7/13/2011 10:18:03 AM