Permethrin tick repellent clothing

[hwc1954]

OK, I know it's spring. I spray treated a few pieces of hiking clothing (pants, shirt, socks, ballcap) with Permethrin this week.

If you've seen the crazy expensive Insect Shield clothing that Ex-Officio and LLBEAN and others sell, this is clothing that has been factory washed in a permethrin solution. Once dry, this stuff is harmless to people and pets, but kills bugs that land on it. This makes it ideal for tick prevention:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_XvX9Hyrhw

You can also treat your own clothing, using a spray product with 0.5% solution of permethrin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwBeZIZFwzc

The only catch is that the cost of this stuff adds up really quickly if you treat all your stuff. The Sawyer spray bottles (24 ounces) are $16 and you can go through one of these in no time if start spraying socks, pants, backpacks, tents.

http://www.rei.com/product/768970/sa...mp-spray-24-oz

So what I do is save the empty Sawyer bottle from the first time (so I've got a fully labelled bottle!) and then refill it with a concentrate. You can buy 13.3% concentration which would dilute 1 oz in 24 ounces of water for a 0.5% solution. Or, I just bought it in a 10% solution. I'll put 1 ounce in 20 ounces of water when I refill the spray bottle.

Here's a 16 ounce bottle from Amazon. Same price as the Sawyers and it'll refill the Sawyers bottle 14 times for the price of one bottle of Sawyers:

http://www.amazon.com/Martins-Permet.../dp/B001EVKCKM

Spray outdoors and let it dry before wearing! Do not let cats near the wet or liquid solution. It's safe after it dries. Unlike DEET, it won't destroy plastic or synthetic stuff on your clothing or tents. However, this stuff is NOT for application to your skin (it doesn't work). So this stuff for fabric/gear. DEET for skin.

It lasts for a month of outdoor exposure (UV) and/or 6 washings before it needs to be reapplied. Hiking one or twice a week, one application is probably enough to get through a season, but it's easy enough to respray.

I'll spritz down the tent inner and doors and mesh panels the first time I set it up, making sure to allow time for it to dry before I sleep in it.

I do find that there is a slight odor the day after you first apply the stuff, but it goes away as it completely dries. I put a mark on the inside label of treated shirts, so I can figure out which are bug repellent and which aren't. I treat all hiking socks, boots, pants, and shorts as these are the most likely tick magnets.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Permethrin tick repellent clothing

I used the Sawyer's spray bottle solution from REI last year and it was soooooooooo the bomb! Treated the tents and camp furniture whilst setting the site up and already discussed a better way to do it this year to avoid that first untreated hour of bites we received. Only time the bugs got us but it was memorable. This year we will pre spray in our building's interior courtyard 2 days before we go tenting. This will allow the disgusting initial smell to dissipate plus ensure all surfaces are dry before we pack the car. I'm sure anyone with a garage or backyard would be fine spraying the night before but I don't have that amenity.
You've given me an additional thunk: spray our sit around the camp fire clothes.
Hate bugs and this product makes em powerless.

Eventually, I'll buy the concentrate and stop being an over suckered water added product consumer.

[gmann]

Re: Permethrin tick repellent clothing

Never heard of it.

So......If I sprayed my tent with it there is a chance it will repel Mosquitos for a bit?

[Mike]

Re: Permethrin tick repellent clothing

Just a thought, but many of these concentrate solutions are adversely affected by chlorine and fluoride that is in typical city water.

It might be worth spending an additional $1.76 to get a gallon of distilled water to mix with the spray concentrate rather than using tap water

[hwc1954]

Re: Permethrin tick repellent clothing

So......If I sprayed my tent with it there is a chance it will repel Mosquitos for a bit?

Not just a chance. It definitely will kill flying critters that land on the treated fabric - ticks, flies, skeeters, etc. I spray the outside of the entire inner tent. I spray the underside of my rain tarp. I spray my camp chair. And, I spray backpacks. Really, the only downside is that there is a smell for the first day or two.

You can't spray DEET on any of that stuff because it tends to dissolve plastic bits, including synthetic fabrics.

I've got a new backpacking tent that I've got to set up outside on a sunny day and give it a good spritz with this stuff. For car camping tents, I just do it when I set it up the first time, but I don't want to carry a 24 ounce spray bottle backpacking!

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Permethrin tick repellent clothing

Not just a chance. It definitely will kill flying critters that land on the treated fabric - ticks, flies, skeeters, etc. I spray the outside of the entire inner tent. I spray the underside of my rain tarp. I spray my camp chair. And, I spray backpacks. Really, the only downside is that there is a smell for the first day or two.

You can't spray DEET on any of that stuff because it tends to dissolve plastic bits, including synthetic fabrics.

I've got a new backpacking tent that I've got to set up outside on a sunny day and give it a good spritz with this stuff. For car camping tents, I just do it when I set it up the first time, but I don't want to carry a 24 ounce spray bottle backpacking!

Here's a link to it:

http://www.rei.com/product/768970/sa...-oz#reviewsTab

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Permethrin tick repellent clothing

Just a thought, but many of these concentrate solutions are adversely affected by chlorine and fluoride that is in typical city water.

It might be worth spending an additional $1.76 to get a gallon of distilled water to mix with the spray concentrate rather than using tap water

Didn't know that so thanks for the heads up! I'll look into this for sure but not until I finish using up the 4 pak I bought at cabela's- gotta use up those points yanno.