Avon Skin-so-Soft for mosquitoes

[mark3d]

I read on one of the astronomy yahoo groups that this product has quite a reputation for being unofficially a good mosquito repellent. quite a few people said its effective even in swampy places like louisiana USA. some ex-soldiers said they used it when camping in the bush.

anyway i thought that many people cant be wrong so got my mum to get some. tried it on a night where i knew there would be a lot of mozzies.. just the right conditions. anyway i went out after applying skin so soft.. after about 3 minutes i knew i'd been bitten.. it turns out in 10 minutes i got 10 mozzie bites.

i was pretty disappointed !

oh well, back to RID...

[renormalised]

Maybe the mosquitoes need to order some for their skin...keep it so soft:P:D

[wavelandscott]

It does have a positive anectdotal reputation...I never had much luck myself but that could easily be a function of different species of Mosquito...some being repelled some not...

[jjjnettie]

Listerine is supposed to keep the mozzies at bay.
Something to do with the peppermint oil in it.
I've not tried it yet.
Any volunteers?

One recipe that does work (we've used it on the horses and ourselves) is mixing 1 part Dettol with one part baby oil. Shake well and wipe on.
Not cost effective though, ml for ml it costs the same as Rid.
But if you don't like applying chemicals on your skin all the time, it's an alternative that works.

[markcollier8]

I don't know about that but Put a couple of drops DD Eucaltyptus on your car rims & it will stop the cats & dogs peeing on them something to do with supreme smell senses!!:)

[MarkN]

Oh dear, what a pity!

The missus was so looking forward to me connecting with my feminine side.

[BerrieK]

Apparently mozzies are attracted to the skin of people who have recently eaten bananas! Something to do with the way our bodies process the oils in the bananas.

I have heard that vicks vapour rub is an effective repellant (and it clears you sinuses) but havent ventured to try it myself. My great aunt also uses it on mozzie bites - swears ny it. And if you had ever heard my geat Aunty swear....

[astroron]

:hi:Scott, you wouldn't be worried about Mossies over there at the moment:cold::cold::lol:

[gary]

Thanks for the "Myth-Busters' style report. :)

Mosquito repellents containing a chemical known as DEET (N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide)
are generally regarded by those who have conducted substantitive
research in this area as some of the most effective available.

Here in Australia, the brands "RID" and "Tropical Strength Aeroguard" both contain
DEET and routinely appear as the two leading recommended products.

There are as many oils, herbal lotions and other "urban legend" claimed repellents
as there probably are mosquitoes on the planet. Though some can provide
very short protection (e.g, in the order of 30 minutes or less), investigators
have found the DEET based products to provide the most effective multi-hour
protection and hence this is why they are recommended.

Fortunately, down there in Adelaide, being so far south of the tropics,
the mosquitoes are probably more of a painful annoyance than a potentially
life-threatening health risk. Further up along the Murray, one would
have to mindful of Ross RIver Disease.

When ever traveling in parts of the world where the dangers of contracting a
mosquito-borne disease are real, I use RID. Whilst in equatorial Africa, I
have seen first hand the effect malaria has on someone and on one occasion
in South East Asia, I assisted a traveling companion to hospital who had
contracted dengue fever.

These are really nasty things and as you are aware, can be fatal.
When you see how sick people get with them, it acts as a quick reminder
to avoid ever getting bitten!

The bad news for us in Australia is that dengue fever has already arrived and
authorities were issuing warnings only last week for those that live in areas
such as tropical Queensland to take precautions. Apparently the disease
is spreading south and there is no cure.

Anecdotally, taking a cold shower in the evening, then applying RID can
help further, particularly if the day has already been hot and sweaty.
A fresh change of clothes, preferably light rather than dark colors
and then a light, long sleeve shirt with collar along with trousers and shoes.

When I first started to travel, there was a suspicion that DEET may be
carcinogenic. However, testing through the 90's showed that it was very
unlikely to be a problem in this regard. Though not all the side-effects are
researched, for the short duration exposure to the material that people like
you and I are likely to get, the current belief is that it is not likely to be
a serious health issue. Obviously in areas where the risk of contracting
a serious mosquito-borne disease are finite, the risk of using DEET is
generally regarded as less dangerous than the risk of contracting a disease.

Be careful of not getting any of the DEET based repellents on some plastics
and rubber. For example, a DEET-smeared finger on a camera housing,
the keys on your laptop, etc. can result in the plastic being 'eaten-away'.
Many of us have damaged or destroyed our gear in this way.

Best regards

Gary Kopff
Sydney Australia

[wavelandscott]

No, at the moment there are no mosquitos to worry about here in CT!

[wavelandscott]

Lots of good advice and commentary here by Gary...

The company I work for has done and is doing lots of work with mosquito (vector control) particularly in Africa and SE Asia (larvicides, adulticides and treated nets) we sell a lot of product in Australia too (larvicides and adulticides)!...

With respect to DEET, it is hard to beat for personal protection...when used properly.

There is another active ingredient that appears to offer similar levels of repellency..The active ingredient is "picaridin"...I am not certain if it is available in Australia or not...repellency of about 3 hours from culex mosquitos was found in the consumer reports tests in the US (published in July 2008 I think)...

Dark mosquito fre viewing!

[gary]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the post and the heads-up on picaridin which is really appreciated.

When traveling in those parts of the world where there is a risk
of mosquito-borne disease, I try and adopt best practice with regards
preventing getting bitten in the first place, so it is of real interest to learn of
picaridin as a relatively new alternative and I have just done a quick Google.

The Australian consumer affairs publication, Choice Magazine, has a review
of repellents and mentions that a product containing it called AUTAN is
available here in Australia. Review here -
http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticleAsOnePage.aspx?id=105015

Great to hear of Sumito Chemical's vector control work and as is well
publicized, it is heartening to note in the end how many lives can be saved
from work such as this.

Hope they have been looking after you there in CT.

Thanks again for the post.

Best Regards

Gary

[mark3d]

well today i noticed where i set my scope up there is a decent sized ants nest, so that might be where the bites came from ... now that i think about it they were all on my feet and lower legs - so, umm this stuff might work after all :whistle: (there must be some truth in it with the number of people on the mailing list who knew about it).

but yes good point, it might be different species of mosquitoes, and also good point that its probably not as effective as RID. just looking at alternatives. there's probably a plant in a remote rainforest that will do it!

[GTB_an_Owl]

my wife has been an avon rep for over 30 years and say's she has customers that swear by it

geoff