From Mary Collins, Insect Repellent
Avoiding tick bites is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself from the many diseases that ticks carry. Using permethrin and clothing treated with permethrin is the easiest and most effective way to prevent ticks.
Clothing treated with permethrin has been available in the US since 2003 and do-it-yourself permethrin sprays have been on the market since 1977. They are EPA registered and have excellent safety records.
However, some people are wary of wearing insect repellent clothing.
A typical comment we hear is, “Eww, why should I wear bug repellent gear? Bug repellent is sticky and stinks.” We agree! The beauty of permethrin-treated clothing is that it’s not sticky, it’s not smelly, and you don’t even know it’s there, but the bugs do.
It stays on clothing, not skin
An easy way to think of permethrin-treated clothing is the dye in your favorite red t-shirt. Worried about the dye getting on your skin or hurting you in any way? Most likely not, and you don’t have to. It’s the same with insect repellent clothing – the repellent is bound to the fibers of the fabric so it stays on the clothing and not your skin.
Repeat application is not required for clothing treated with permethrin. Other advantages are that the product cannot be swallowed, irritated or abused.
For people wanting to use the do-it-yourself spray, their concern is based on the labeling: “I bought a can of permethrin spray to use on my shoes and it says don’t put it on bare skin.” use.” So it must be dangerous if it can’t even touch my skin?”
That sounds scary indeed, but the rationale for this caution isn’t because of danger, it’s because of effectiveness.
Permethrin for insect repellent needs something to hold on to (like cloth) in order to work and survive multiple wears. Human skin is too porous to hold the permethrin on the surface so there will not be a long lasting repellent effect.
Liquid repellents meant to be applied to the skin usually have some type of petroleum base that keeps them from being absorbed for at least a couple of hours. That is why you have to keep applying again and again.
Still worried about permethrin on skin? In some cases, permethrin is actually used specifically on the skin in applications like lice shampoo and scabies lotion.
Very effective
Permethrin is by far the best tick repellent. dr Thomas Mather of the University of Rhode Island’s Tick Encounter Resource Center recommends, “Clothing-only repellents containing permethrin are very effective and provide long-lasting protection. The best protection you can get is using a repellent containing permethrin on your clothing and one containing DEET on your skin.”
It’s also important to know where ticks are so you can best avoid them – ticks start low and crawl up. Ticks don’t jump, fall from trees, or fly – ticks are on the ground and/or tall grass.
Since ticks are few, it is important to protect the lower part of the body. Spraying your shoes with permethrin and wearing pre-treated permethrin socks are the two most important things you can do to keep ticks away.
Don’t forget your backpack
If you’re carrying a backpack, it’s important to treat that as well. People forget that if a bag falls on the floor and ticks are around, they might just jump on and look for a ride to the next person. As soon as that bag goes on your back, so do the ticks.
Insect repellent clothing is a game changer in tick prevention. It is registered for family use. That means infants, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and even your pets can use permethrin-treated products.
Insect Shield offers many pre-treated products and has over 80 brand partners worldwide selling a variety of products – including shirts, pants, socks, hats, tents, blankets and dog products. We also have our Insect Shield Your Own Clothes service where you can send in your favorite clothes and we’ll add the repellent for you – a super easy solution.
Insect Shield is a proud partner of LymeDisease.org. We support their efforts to help the many people affected by this devastating and often life-changing disease.
Our goal is to keep ticks away so people can enjoy the great outdoors without worrying about the many potential dangers ticks can bring. Insect Shield donates 10% of all purchases made through it shortcut to LymeDisease.org.
Use coupon code LYMEDISEAEORG on Insect Protection.com to get 15% off your first purchase.
Mary Collins is International Business Development Manager for Insect Shield.
