looking for a mosquito repellent that can be used for the outdoor verandah about 30m2.
I know there's the thermacell portable ones
tried the bug zappers which are useless against mosquitos and only gets small moths and bugs
Best Mosquito Area Repellent?
Fat Horny Ghost on 21/02/2019 - 23:56
Comments
If there are many mosquitoes I've never found relying on any kind of area repellent to make enough of a difference. Personal repellent with lots of DEET is the way to go.
I'm in two minds about DEET. It's terrible but it's the only thing that works. Personally (and yes even when it's hot), the most effective is to cover up!
What's so terrible about it? The taste is awful, granted, but that can easily be avoided by washing hands thoroughly between applying repellent and touching food.
Well for one, it melts plastic so imagine what it's doing to your skin.
And I've used 90% DEET and accidentally tasted a bit. Can confirm taste is less than average.
@dust: Whether it melts plastic has no bearing on what it does to your skin; Hydrofluoric acid sits in plastic all day, no worries, but it can penetrate your skin and start breaking down your bones, without using itself up in the reaction - so it just keeps going.
"Imagining" what "chemicals" are doing rather than knowing, leads to anti-vaxer mindsets.
@Tunblor: It's strange, I read many scientific papers in my uni days and among them I definitely remember there was a link to cancer and DEET on a study of Vietnam soldiers. It was a US government sponsored study too. But somehow top results from google today suggests DEET is not carcinogenic according to the US government…
Bug zappers do not attract mosquitos because they use light to attract - mosquitos require carbon dioxide
I prefer Mosquito coils. I even like the smell… it always reminds me of summer.
The chemical smell proven harm to body but outdoor use should be fine
How much do you want to spend?
I use a ULV fogger and Pyrethrum solution. Costs me approximately $3/1000m2.
This does not just repel mossies, it kills them. Dead.
And it's actually just chrysanthemum. Fog it into areas of wind cover where mossies take shelter, and area of still water where mossies gather to spawn.
This. You can also get timed sprayers too (I use Pestrol's sprayers and refills, and just wait until they do their 20% sale to stock up, as it's a bit cheaper then Mortein/Raid). Added benefit is that it gets flies too. And a bunch of of bugs.
Would there be any health impacts?
Less likely than most other options.
It's apparently one of the lower toxicity insecticides on the market as it is super potent to insects, so low doses are needed. However, in all cases, it depends:
- The fogging/sprays use much lower doses than liquids (e.g. dog shampoo). So the main thing to watch out for is when in it's a liquid product that will result in direct skin contact, particularly with kids. (E.g. don't let kids wash dogs if it's in the dog shampoo).
- The compounds are UV sensitive, so again the fogging/sprays break down much faster than liquids, again resulting in the sprays being less toxic than direct skin contact forms.
- The pyrethrum chrysanthemum extract includes a number of the potent compounds in chrysanthemums, but it means if someone is exposed to large doses of it, there's more compounds for the body to break down. And some people are still sensitive (e.g. asthma, hayfever) to pyrethrum even with the typical chrysanthemum allergens removed.
- There's also synthetic pyrethrin, which is one of the compound in pyrethrum. As it's a singular compound, when someone is exposed to large doses of it, it's faster to breakdown so it's a bit lower in toxicity again. And even less people are sensitive to it than pyrethrum due to this nature.
Pretty much it's the same with everything people are exposed to; dose, form, and individual intolerances/allergies all need to be considered. But when compared to DEET, it's definitely less toxic.
If it helps, the sprays we use is pyrethrin based as I have quite severe asthma, hayfever, and eczema, and it hasn't triggered that. (Neither for my mother or sister, who also get the same). I personally find though there's a bit of a very slight unpleasant odour compared with pyrethrum though as every 'nice' floral part has been removed, so only the compound is left. (Most people don't notice it though). But it's not enough to bother me, and it's actually helpful to work out if the spray ran out.
Try Lemon Eucalyptus Oil. It's very effective. It's a product from our very own backyard and nothing to do with those nasty chemicals like DEET.
How do you use it? Where to buy?
Citronella oil. Bunnings sells 4L for about $20. You put it in tiki torches, etc. and light up.