Which bug spray is best

With whimsical packaging and a light scent, the Meow Meow Tweet repellent spray has an apple cider vinegar and essential oil base that is safe for humans and dogs alike.

The spray comes in multiple sizes for convenience, and it can be sprayed over skin, hair, and clothes. Lam uses picaridin-based products for his children another CDC-recommended ingredient. This Sawyer Products repellent protects against mosquitos and ticks for up to 12 hours. It also protects against chiggers, gnats, and flies for up to eight hours, ensuring adequate coverage regardless of the environment. For trips that require a flight: Repel insect repellent pump spray A bug spray is only useful when you actually use it—and that means finding travel-size options for certain trips.

For furry friends: Meow Meow Tweet insect repellent With whimsical packaging and a light scent, the Meow Meow Tweet repellent spray has an apple cider vinegar and essential oil base that is safe for humans and dogs alike. Deep Woods Insect Repellent on your hands and body will make your trip to the great outdoors a lot more enjoyable. With over 20, reviews and a 4. It keeps you safe from the nastiest of bug bites that can cause Zika, dengue, West Nile, and Lyme disease.

As one of the best bug sprays for camping, this fragrance-free formula comes in an easy-to-use pump bottle. It provides non-greasy protection against annoying insects, especially mosquitoes that may transmit Zika, West Nile, dengue and chikungunya viruses. Featuring a cool, breezy scent, Repel is formulated with picaridin, an odorless active ingredient that provides up to 6 hours of the safe and effective protection you expect from DEET.

Plus, lemon eucalyptus oil is the only plant-based active ingredient recommended by the CDC to repel mosquitoes and deer ticks for many hours at a time. This odorless, colorless bug spray offers up to 12 hours of protection against mosquitoes and ticks. It also repels black flies, gnats, chiggers, and no-see-ums for up to 8 hours. This EPA-approved, health conscious mosquito repellent features non-toxic ingredients that are both safe and effective so you can enjoy the great outdoors without constantly worrying about being bitten by a disease-carrying insect.

In the past, DEET has been link as a potential cause of cancer. However, that has since been debunked. Permethrin is not applied like a regular repellent. Each item needs to be fully treated, and that means it needs a thick coat of spray. Sawyer recommends taking each item outside and coating it until the moisture causes the fabric to darken. At that point, the permethrin needs to fully dry before something is worn.

According to the TickEncounter Resource Center permethrin fact sheet, a pound person would have no adverse health effects even if exposed to 32 grams of permethrin in a day, and a bottle of clothing treatment has less than 1 gram of permethrin. But it is important to know that permethrin is toxic to cats.

We tested both, and they do have advantages. Repellent lotions have two major downsides. There is no way to get them onto your shoes or boots for added tick protection.

The same goes for a backpack or a tent. Second, Conlon told us that after application, lotions take about 20 minutes to start repelling bugs. Sprays, like those we recommend, are more immediately effective. The upside of a lotion is that its effectiveness lasts longer than that of a spray. The lotion may also be easier to apply to difficult areas, like the back of the neck, or on a particularly squirmy child.

As with the spray bottles, Sawyer has the widest selection of sizes, ranging from single-use packets to a 1-gallon container. Proven is available in 2-ounce and 6-ounce versions. So there are advantages to take note of, but we think most people would be better served by a spray repellent. Deep Woods Dry is the better of the two, but the spray is thick, and it puddled on our arms. The regular Deep Woods is oily and smells pretty bad. We made the mistake of giving it a single squirt in a closed room, and we could still smell it an hour later.

We found it to be even more unpleasant when it was on our arms. At the other side of the concentration spectrum are products like Off!

Doug Mahoney is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter covering home improvement. He spent 10 years in high-end construction as a carpenter, foreman, and supervisor. He lives in a very demanding year-old farmhouse and spent four years gutting and rebuilding his previous home.

He also raises sheep and has a dairy cow that he milks every morning. Our pick. Also great. Buy from Target May be out of stock. Buy from REI pack of one May be out of stock. Natrapel Tick and Insect Repellent aerosol spray Another aerosol picaridin option This picaridin spray also works.

Everything we recommend. Why you should trust us Who this is for Can mosquitoes transmit the coronavirus? Why you should trust us.

Who this is for. Can mosquitoes transmit the coronavirus? How we picked and tested. The pump spray is meant to protect against mosquitoes. It has earned an average 4. The term might seem broad — there are a lot of insects in the wild — but insect repellents , also commonly called bug sprays, usually cover mosquitoes, ticks or both, experts told us.

I know bug is a catch-all term for things that bite, but entomologists get a little squirmy about calling everything a bug. It might be even better to think of an insect repellent as targeting arthropods — broadly covering ticks, spiders and beetles, among others — Machtinger mentioned.

While it might seem surprising, insect repellents are considered pesticides — even though these sprays are meant to repel, rather than impair, insects. As such, most skin-applied insect repellents — yes, repellents can also include lanterns, candles and torches — have to be registered by the Environmental Protection Agency before being marketed to the public.

The agency reviews each repellent independently to confirm its efficacy before registration, the spokesperson added. Registration means that a product has passed safety standards, is approved for use as the directions on the label says and can be sold and distributed in the U. Mosquitoes are more attracted to some people compared to others for reasons that we mostly cannot control.

Eva Buckner, medical entomology extension specialist, University of Florida. This scent is informed by our genetics, immune system and diet, Machtinger added. A few experts mentioned that an increase in carbon dioxide production can play a role in mosquito attraction, as well. Heat also can be a factor. And darker clothing can absorb heat, possibly making the chances of getting bitten greater, Machtinger told us.

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