Bug Spray

Hi Cheryl, Have you tried Avon’s Skin so Soft? Some of the fisherman swear by it . Called my girlfriend-she couldn’t remember the name but she buys a cream with euculptus and lemon at the health food store. A couple of ideas. Buys some bats and a bat house; they love quarter size skeeters.:) Emma

Cheryl,
I agree with Emma’s advice of using Avon’s product. Foods rich in thiamine repel insects. Or you could take a B complex capsule and an extra thiamine capsule….or eat fish, brown rice, black strap molasses, wheat germ. I think the capsules are easier. Avoid all refined sugar because that will cause your skin to give off a sweet smell. Avoid bright colors and perfumes, hair spray, etc. Alcohol makes your blood vessels dilate and your skin to flush which attracts mosquitoes, horse flies. Insects hate the smell of chlorine so swimming in a pool with chlorine helps…They say that you could add a cup of chlorine beach to a tub of water – but I probably wouldn’t do this. You can also rub your skin with garlic or brewer’s yeast. I also heard that rubbing your skin and clothes with that famous brand of dryer sheet. I tried it AND wore tights and the little devils still bit me in Tampa as I sat outside at night. And last but not least, there is a vacuum pump called Lil Sucker from Terra Tech that extracts the poison from the bites of insects. A study said that over 90 per cent of the people who tried it had either no reaction or very little to the bite.

Hi Cheryl,
There are also wrist bands (coils) that have insect repellant in them. They work pretty good.
Dawn

Carolyn-I have tried lots of things too and still get bit. And sorry, as I am a very visual person, as you told Cheryl what to take, rub, swim in,to do and not do list, I had to laugh out loud, caus I finally could see Cheryl coming out in a bee keeper’s suit with a BIG fly swatter:D I will check with my friends and see what they come up with too Cheryl. An interesting thread-I hope a lot of people respond.
Emma

I guess I need some bats as the skeeters have been big here too.

I commented to someone recently that I had been drinking apple cider vinegar for my high blood pressure and they said that is supposed to help with bug bites. BUT, I also put honey in with it to make it somewhat palatable. Oops, the honey must be why they are going after me like crazy.

And with my hands and feet, whenever I get bit, since I am mostly numb, I scratch until the skin is broken and bleeds, then I have a bad scar to see forever. My feet are getting uglier by the day…

I still use product with DEET….it works and I don’t douse myself in it. I use skin-so-soft on the kids, when they’re outside (ALL THE TIME!!!).

I’ve never had a problem with residuals acting up afterwards, that I noticed. I’ll pay close attention next time.

My folks bought a product that uses a propane tank and somehow neutralizes them???? I’m not sure how it works, but they like it.

I’ve seen skeeters in all parts of the Country….and one thing is for sure, they all bite 😡 !!!!

Chrissy,

We posted at the same time, WOW!!!

I totally agree about the scarring. I have been A T T A C K E D by chiggers (microscopic bugs like ticks that burrow into your skin) this year. I don’t feel them like other people do, but when they get to itching, it drives me crazy. Then I scratch and scratch and scratch and I get open sores that start to look REAL bad.

I’ve had to soak my ankles in water (chiggers are bad about places where clothing rubs against the skin; socks, waistbands, etc…) because of the sores.

You’ll have to be careful not to let them get infected. I’ve bought stock in triple antibiotic ointment. I use it for almost everything now.

Olivia comes to me the other day, “Daddy, I’ve got a splinter in my foot….”
I cringe while I start to grab a needle and the triple antibiotic ointment…….”I’ve got just the thing here, a little of this ointment….” I then realized I sounded just like my mother. 😮

I can’t use DEET either – makes me twitch like mad, fall down, drool etc. I’m not sure why but that all started with CIDP, never had that problem before. I discovered I can use the Skintastic stuff and Avon Skin So Soft and have no reactions – plus they smell so much better! My husband still uses DEET and I can’t even be next to him when he is spraying. If anyone figures out why I’d love to know as it doesn’t make sense to me… :confused:

About the propane tank, mosquito deleto, you have to start it in the spring, it attracts the mosquitos to it and they die, therefore no new generation, then they keep coming and eventually the population is depleted. The propane is costly and you have to start in the spring. My friend has it.
Dawn

DEET is a scary. It can destroy substances such as plastics and synthetic fabrics. Kids should not us a product that is more than 35% DEET. They advise to apply the DEET to clothing and if you have to put it on your skin, do so sparingly.
I read a book by Doug Boyd called Rolling Thunder. It was about an Indian medicine man. He told how insects bite us and we get angry and put out more chemicals that the insects can smell. I was reading this while I was covering a study hall. A student in the back of the huge cafeteria starting talking so I stood up to give him ” the look” that said “Don’t make me walk back there..” It got the message across without me disturbing the rest of the students. I always follow it with a smile to the offender to let them know I appreciate them helping me by staying quiet – there were alot of students there and only one teacher. But when I sat down a fly came over and buzzed around me – this was winter and there shouldn’t have been any flies. But it showed what the book was saying. My brief moment of being upset had cause me to give off a scent to insects. The key is to stay cool when the first one bites you!!! yeah right…

Not getting off the subject, you , Carolyn , are stilling making me laugh ( a good thing today ) but who mastered ” the look ” teachers or moms?

I agree with you though that Deet is bad stuff-if it is that bad to skin think what you are inhaling into your lungs? Julie-maybe that is at least part of the problem for you-the inhalation part.

We also have a ” bug zapper ” – not propane like what Dawn suggests, but on summer nights when you sit out ( in the dark right, so the millers and various critters don’t see you ), you can literally hear everyone’s zapper going off. Still not as effective as the manufacturer suggests, caus the critters still find you. Must be our aura’s…..

Emma

Emma,
I gotta pick teachers for mastering “the look” because the study hall I had contained over 60 middle school students. But mothers have a 24 hour job!
Glad I made you laugh – laughter is healing…..

Interesting about the anger part – I’ve always wondered why mosquitos prefer some people over others. They really don’t like me much at all but if I’m the only thing around they’ll chow down – last night, for example, we just sat down next to the pool to listen to some music, I turned to my husband who was a little upset about something at work and he already had two mosquitos on his forehead and three more looking for a place to land. I had none. I’m going to share this theory with him, maybe we can actually do some tests in the backyard a.k.a. The West Nile Venue. 😉

Boy, isn’t it amazing what a litttle bug can do here? Got us all telling mosquito stories. And here I thought Saskatchewan held the title of mosquito capital of the world! We haven’t had a lot of them this year as our spring was so very dry. However, we have had a lot of rain in the last couple weeks and there is lots of standing water so I am expecting there to be a new hatch very soon.

I heard rubbing your skin with an orange or lemon peel works. I also heard eating bananas can work but for the most part mosquitos don’t like me so I can’t say I have any personal experience with these. I think the best bet is wearing light clothes that cover the skin when the little biters are out.

my vote is for the avon skin so soft. It smells good instead of “bug spray” like. It works too.

I loathe mosquitoes. They didn’t use to bother me much when I was younger. Then, I went on a canoeing trip on the Colorado River with my Girl Scout troop when I was in middle school that just so happened to be in the middle of a huge mosquito infestation. I was bit over 200 times in one weekend, in spite of bug spray. Now, whenever I get bit, the bites welt up quite a bit.

I also love the Skin So Soft for mosquito repellent. I’m not fond of lots of chemicals. Most tend to trigger my allergies or asthma.

Carolyn, you’re right, teachers have the look mastered-if you can keep 60 kids under control, you got my vote.

Skin so soft seems to be what most of my friends are using. We also have very nasty flies that take a chunk out of you worse than a mosquito. And one other thing that some say is they take a garlic pill before they go out. So the garlic and lemon seem to be winning the war against the critters. Tried those citranella candles(I love candles anytime, anywhere, but they didn;t work for me either. Small planes used to spray alot for mosquitoes over the farms around me, and just smelling that stuff made me sick.

Chrissy and Brett-know what you mean about numb hands and feet and the scratching and scars, etc., it is just a wierd(scary too) sensation that I never feel cuts or anything until I notice blood.

Cheryl, I’ll keep trying to find that name of that cream with the euculuptus and lemon-as Brett said he puts the skin so soft on his girls, my girlfriend’s daughter puts this cream on her 3 boys.

Emma