Summer is here in the Southern Hemisphere, which makes me
both excited and worried because (i) warm weather and (ii) holidays, but (a)
hay fever and (b) mosquitoes. I am a magnet for mosquitoes. There have been
times when people who usually get bitten by mosquitoes thank me afterward
because I’ve been their sacrificial bait! Unfortunately, as well as getting
bitten I also develop big itchy welts that linger for weeks after the event.
Needless to say, I’ve been a mosquito repellent devotee my entire life.
The repellent I usually use is Aerogard Tropical Strength,
which contains a high concentration of DEET. DEET, short for
N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, is the most common active ingredient found in
mosquito repellents. You’ll find it in brands like OFF!, Repel and Coleman.
DEET is a synthetic ingredient that works by scrambling the
smell and taste signals of mosquitoes so humans smell less attractive to them.
It was developed in the 1950s and is still the best insect repellent
ingredient. However, DEET has a strong odour, can cause skin irritation, and
can damage plastics, rubber and some synthetic fabrics. It’s also washed off by
sweat and rain, and decreases in effectiveness at hotter temperatures.
Additionally, although some DEET formulations can repel insects for up to 12
hours, it’s recommended that you reapply with caution once it wears off due to
the risk of skin irritation. There are a few other effective synthetic
compounds such as icaridin (Picaridin), AI3-37220, AI3-35765, CIC-4 and IR3535,
but they have similar issues to DEET: unpleasant smell, oily feeling and
irritancy.
1 Natural Mosquito Repellents
2 Non-Spray Alternatives
3 Verdict
NATURAL MOSQUITO REPELLENTS
Repellents containing natural ingredients usually avoid most
of these problems, but on the flip side, most of these don’t work very well.
One of the suggested reasons why natural ingredients don’t work that well is
that they often contain a complex mixture of compounds, some of which attract
and some of which repel different insects (this can happen with blends of extracts
from different plants as well). Like for most natural products, the exact
proportions in the mixture will vary depending on lots of factors such as where
the plant was grown, how it was harvested, how long it’s been in storage etc.02
The most popular natural mosquito repellent is citronella
oil, but it isn’t all that effective. Some natural ingredients that fared better
in studies are celery seed extract and para-menthane-3, 8-diol (PMD, found in
lemon eucalyptus). Turmeric, lemongrass, soybean oil, neem and hairy basil also
work reasonably well. However, none of them beat DEET. Interestingly, while
vanillin (the main chemical in natural vanilla and vanilla essence) doesn’t
repel mosquitoes itself, it helps most synthetic and natural repellents
evaporate slower and therefore repel mosquitoes for longer.
I’ve been using Moogoo Skincare Tail Swat recently and have
been very impressed. It contains a fragrant oil blend along with soybean oil,
celery seed extract, lemongrass oil and hops extract, and has been doing a
pretty darn good job of keeping away mosquitoes so far! I was also surprised
that when I sprayed it onto an existing bite, the itch went away, so I’m sold.
I haven’t tested its lasting power yet since I’m paranoid and have been
spraying this endlessly, so I’ll update if I notice anything different. Since
it contains celery, unsurprisingly Tail Swat does smell a little like celery,
so if you hate it you may want to stay away. I didn’t mind the smell (it was
nowhere near as pungent as DEET!).
Other sprays containing effective natural ingredients that I
haven’t tried but have seen good reviews for (note that most natural repellents
seem to get mixed reviews, possibly due to variations in body chemistry or the
mosquito species in the area).
NON-SPRAY ALTERNATIVES
If you don’t want to spray repellent on your body,
unfortunately, there aren’t that many alternatives. The best solutions so far are
personal diffusers, and simply covering up or using mosquito nets (sadly
impractical in many circumstances). Two personal diffusers that worked well in
this study were OFF! Clip-On Mosquito Repellent (Metofluthrin 31.2%) and Terminix
ALLCLEAR Sidekick Mosquito Repeller (Cinnamon oil 10.5%; Eugenol 13%; Geranium
oil 21%; Peppermint 5.3%; Lemongrass oil 2.6%). These tend to work better if
you aren’t moving around too much.
Some people find that changing their diet has helped repel
mosquitoes, but vitamin B1 (thiamine) and B12 oral supplements and patches
don’t seem to work consistently in studies. Sonic devices and wristbands aren’t
very effective either.
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