Cheapest option for effective insect repellent

[seanspotatobusiness]

I was recently looking for the cheapest effective option for insect repellent in the UK and wanted to share my final choice since it took a bit of messing around to find it. Maybe someone can beat it but even if they can't you might appreciate the tip.

DEET is effective, at least as a midge repellent, which is great but dissolves certain polymers which is a liability.

Avon Skin So Soft is better than nothing but I still attracted ~40 bites on me over the course of a few hours in the Scottish countryside but it can be cheapish (I got 150 ml on eBay for £3 inc delivery but I saw it once on offer from Avon at £1.50 for 150 ml with free delivery from your local rep). (bonus source says that it doesn't repel midges but traps them on the layer of oil).

Icaridin is the active ingredient of a number of repellents including Smidge and performs at least as well as DEET. The cheapest source I found is these guys who seem to be a small operation making it themselves. Smidge is a waterproof/sweat resistant formulation which this isn't (but I think rain suppresses midges anyway) so that's worth considering for some people but depending on how much you use/buy this stuff is about a fifth of the price for the same amount of icaridin.

I cannot myself test their product because I have an uncommon allergy to one of the components (liquid paraffin) but they did sell me 100% icaridin which I intend to mix with isopropanol to thin it out for application.

 

[Tim_B]

I've found bug oil to work for me. A week in India resulted in zero bites. Haven't tested against midges yet. Total confidence in it.

thanks
Tim

 

[Stevie777]

40 bites over the course of a few hours from the highland midge is a good result depending on where you were..skin so soft does work but only up until a certain point. I prefer just to limit my outdoor activities until the hatch dies down. There are ways to avoid them and not being out and about in the middle of the hatch is one.

 

[nephilim]

I'm allergic to deet but found a recipe on a TV show called grow your own drugs, and this worked when I was in Vietnam.


10 lemongrass sticks
4 tsp scented pelargonium 'Citronella' leaves (about 15 leaves)
4 tsp whole cloves
400ml sunflower oil, to cover

1. Wash and chop the lemongrass sticks and pelargonium leaves, and place both in a blender with the cloves. Add the oil, then whizz until pulped.

2. Place the pulp in a glass heat-proof bowl and cover. Put the bowl over a pan of boiling water on a low heat, making sure there are no gaps around the bowl, and leave for 1 hour. Keep checking that the pan does not boil dry.

3. Leave to cool, then strain the citrus-and spice-scented oil through muslin to remove all the fibrous bits, and store in a pump spray bottle.

USE: Shake the bottle well, then spray liberally onto skin up to 4 times a day, paying particular attention to exposed areas like ankles, wrists and neck, and avoiding the eyes. Re-apply after washing or bathing, and before bed.

CAUTION: If any irritation occurs, wash off immediately.

STORAGE: Will keep for up to 1 year in a cool dark place.

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk

 

[rik_uk3]

Your best bet is still DEET, just be careful how you apply it near 'plastic' clothing.

 

[Goatboy]

Like Rik says effective but it probably caused more failures in GTX clothing than any other single thing I've seen up here in Scotland. Can also kaput things like lenses in glasses/sunglasses.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[nephilim]

Your best bet is still DEET, just be careful how you apply it near 'plastic' clothing.

If like me you're allergic to deet, then you're stuck with home remedies. Granted there are other products on the market but they're more expensive than the deet products most times.

Plus the recipe I found works quite well in my experience.



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[Robson Valley]

Apparently, a grass native to North America, "Sweet-grass" = Hierochloe odorata, has also mosquito repellent properties.
Reported this week at the annual meetings of the American Chemical Society.
Aside from the millennia of utility in Native Indian society rituals, the seed is rather difficult to come by.
I will persist.

 

[awarner]

Herb Robert seems to work for me among it's many other health benefits.

 

[Braidsta]

Not sure if you could find cheaper than I did, but this weekend just gone I had excellent results with lavandin oil. For the first time of my camping career I came away with only two or three bites, normally I'm covered in them.

Lavandin is a strain of lavender containing around 12% camphor. I paid 3.50 for 10ml, it's going to last 5-10 trips I reckon. You may find it cheaper as I got it from a lavendar farm so it was probably at a premium price.

 

[Toddy]

If you take a kitchen towel (the better quality ones work best for this) and cut it in half right across through all the layers to the core, and put on of the short rolls into something like an old baby wipes tub (or a jam or coffee jar if you prefer). Try to pull the cardboard core out if you can.
Then take a good double handful of lemon balm, one of mugwort and one of sweet gale ….all native, all growing wild or in gardens and hedgerows…..and brew them up into a tea in a covered pot with a litre of water. Let it steep, covered, until cold. Then strain the liquid off and pour over the kitchen towel roll. It'll absorb a heck of a lot, but this mix will do both halves of the roll, and the result will be anti insect wipes

Not 100%, but pretty good. You can boost the effectiveness by adding either essential oils or herbs that you know you can tolerate without side effects.

Still, there's not much cheaper than a roll of kitchen towels

M