Have you ever heard of clothing that repels mosquitoes and other flying insects? If not, I am prepared to venture that there have been times when you have wished you could get some. Mosquitoes and midges can ruin a holiday or even make you have to get out of your own garden when it starts getting dark.
There are several ways that you can combat mosquitoes and the other terrors of the twilight, but they always seem to find a place where I am not fully protected. Often that place is on the shoulder blade, where they will stick their proboscis through the fabric of your shirt to suck your blood.
I enjoy my garden, but so do the mosquitoes as there is a lot of open water in the neighbouring area. My first technique of defense against mosquitoes is to plant flowers and trees that they are known to hate the smell of. I think that the odour that they dislike the most is that of lemons.
Therefore, we have a few small lemon saplings, which will soon be playing a vital part in our protection, a patch of lemon grass for my wife’s favourite Thai curries and some as yet straggly citronella plants. (I think that Thailand may be too hot for them, but I am hoping that they will acclimatize).
Then I have two mosquito lights. The type that entice the insects to an ultraviolet light and then zaps them with 25,000 volts. They are very efficient, but more so in the dark than at sunset, when they are probably less visible to the insects. I know that there are insect lamps that use smells or pheromones to lure mosquitoes, but I have not seen any for sale over here yet. I did once try a device that emits a sound on a high frequency that was supposed to drive them away, but it did not work on our mosquitoes.
In conclusion, if it was a bad night I used to put on some insect repellent ointment, often something that had DEET in it. This is very effective for a few hours, but it can damage some textiles and some plastics, which is why the makers suggest that you only put it on your exposed skin. If you do that, your shoulders and your legs become targets, even if you are wearing trousers and a shirt.
This is where it becomes a good idea to treat your clothing with insect repellent. It seems that the military has been using them for years. The active ingredient used is called permethrin and it should be used at a concentration of 0.5%. There are two ways of applying it: by drenching clothing in it, as the army does or by spraying it on. I assume that you will be spraying it on.
Do the spraying in the garden far removed from any fish pond as permethrin kills fish too. Spray the clothing and wait for the chemical to soak in and dry out. Clothing treated with insect repellent in this fashion will protect you for about six weeks and will still work after six washes. However, sunlight breaks permethrin down, so dry the items indoors and store in black plastic bags for longer efficacy.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on many topics, but is at present involved with indoor mosquito repellent. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Mosquito Repellent For Dogs.
