These Bracelets and Expensive Gadgets Don’t Stop Mosquitoes From Biting You.

Nobody likes mosquitoes, but they certainly love us . Spraying DEET, picaridin, or lemon eucalyptus oil on your skin will hold them back , but stores are full of bracelets, candles, clothing, and other products that claim to repel insects without these nasty “chemicals.” Some of them may help, but none of them are reliable.

If your only concern is itchy bites, a partially effective product may be right for you. But it is completely different if you are trying to prevent illness. The Culex mosquitoes found throughout the United States can transmit West Nile Virus . Complications are rare, but should still be avoided. More importantly, the Aedes mosquitoes in the southern United States and central and southern America can carry the Zika virus, as well as other dangerous diseases such as dengue , chikungunya, and yellow fever . If you live anywhere near Zika virus areas and you or your partner are pregnant or might become pregnant, bring insect spray already. Don’t wait until dark – Aedes mosquitoes bite during the day.

Ultrasonic devices are rubbish

Ultrasonic devices do not work, but they are still on the market in some places. The bugs don’t care if you play them high noises . The American Mosquito Control Association summarizes the scientific evidence: “At least 10 studies in the past 15 years have unanimously rejected ultrasound devices as having no repellency value.” This Cochrane Review provides details of these studies, but they summarize: “[Ultrasonic devices] are ineffective at repelling mosquitoes and should not be recommended or used.” Case is closed.

The bracelets only protect the wrists

Putting on a bracelet sounds so easy and bracelets are cheap, but it’s a waste of time if bracelets don’t actually work and they don’t. Viatek , the creator of the Bands Mosquito Shield , recently had to pay a fine to the FTC for claiming that their wristbands could protect you from mosquitoes when there is no evidence of what they are doing.

One peppermint oil bracelet in testing only reduced the number of mosquitoes landing on a person’s lower forearm. So, in essence, it can protect your wrist, but not your upper arm and definitely not your entire body.

Other types of bracelets are no better. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found DEET and citronella bracelets did not provide significant protection. Another study, published in Acta Tropica , tested bracelets with geraniol, lemongrass and citronella oils, which also gave terrible results. (One citronella bracelet received more bites compared to the unadorned hand.)

The clips only work if you are sitting still.

If you can count on stagnant air around you, an insect repellent can repel mosquitoes by surrounding you with a cloud of repellent. These devices, such as the Terminix Sidekick and Off Clip-On , feature a battery-powered fan to help spread the repellent.

If you are on the move or on a windy day, the repellant will not be able to surround you. But under the right conditions, both devices reduced mosquito landings by about 90 percent. It’s not perfect, so don’t rely on it to prevent diseases like Zika. But if you just want to avoid itchy bites, this is a smart, albeit expensive, way to do it. The cost of the device is about $ 8, and the refueling is $ 1-2 per unit.

Some plants produce natural insect repellents, but they are not sufficient for planting in the garden.

After all, citronella comes from a plant that is a species of lemongrass. Other plants believed to have mosquito-repellent properties include catnip, peppermint, lemon balm, and a geranium species called Citrosa . But one plant nearby is not enough . Crush a leaf and rub it on the skin, and then maybe – but even this is a dubious proposal, since many vegetable oils evaporate quickly. If you rub your skin with plant leaves in your backyard in the hope of repelling mosquitoes, you should probably stop what you are doing and go buy a lemon eucalyptus- based repellent.

Traps can attract more mosquitoes than they kill

According to the American Mosquito Control Association, mosquito traps do kill mosquitoes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are worth having in your yard. Traps have to attract mosquitoes somehow, and sometimes they do their job too well:

Depending on their placement, wind direction, and inherent trapping efficiency, traps can actually attract more mosquitoes to an area than they can catch. Thus, the homeowner should continue to use repellents and practice source reduction techniques (such as draining standing water) as an aid to achieving any relief measure.

Again, this won’t get rid of mosquitoes, but if you’re curious, try a trap in addition to repellents. Better yet, convince your neighbors to put one in your yard.

Candles provide partial protection (depending on where the wind is blowing)

Citronella candles are a popular natural insect repellent, but they don’t seem to work any better than regular candles .

Mosquito sticks, an incense-like product popular overseas, did work in this test published in the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association. Subjects saw that the number of mosquito landings decreased by 73%, but they were on the leeward side of the smoke. Sticks can make sense in small, confined spaces, but if you plan on moving around your backyard don’t expect stick effects to follow you.

Clothes soaked in repellent work, but not completely

Clothing treated with permethrin can kill or incapacitate mosquitoes that enter it. But as Consumer Reports recently found, clothing doesn’t provide perfect protection , and the repellent can wash off over time.

A more detailed test published recently in PLOS ONE showed that freshly treated garments provide pretty good protection if you opt for long sleeves and trousers. Short-sleeved shirts provide only partial protection to exposed skin. Clothing can also leave remnants of repellent on your skin to give you a little protection after you remove your clothing.

You can buy permethrin spray on your clothes if you like, but expect it to wash off even faster than factory-treated clothes. You can also spray your clothing with any repellent you apply to your skin. The Consumer Reports team found that clothes treated with 30% DEET performed as well as store-bought shirts.

So, repellent-treated clothing may not completely protect against mosquito bites, but if it’s new, it can definitely help. You can of course use it along with a skin spray, as we recommend for mites .

The real and reliable solution: insect spray

You’re reading this article because you’re hoping you don’t need to apply insect repellent spray, but this is the best way to actually repel mosquitoes.

Many of the methods mentioned above boast DEET-free, but DEET is safe when used correctly (pro tip: don’t drink it). There’s a good discussion of its safety in this article from the Canadian medical journal CMAJ , which concludes that DEET is great, even for pregnant women, and even children, when used as directed.

Cameron Webb , a mosquito researcher at the University of Sydney who helped us with this post, acknowledges that applying repellent is a hassle (and that people often don’t bother applying it all over their bodies), but repellents can be better. path. “In the future, there will be better ‘cosmetic’ formulations to make repellents containing DEET and other active ingredients more enjoyable to use,” he says. The best traps can also render repellents obsolete if researchers manage to design a good enough trap. However, for now, spray is the way to go.