Insect repellent

[fliptheswitch]

Can anyone recommend a really good insect repellent. I've tried most of the stuff on the shelves, but have yet to find one that actually works. I'm hoping there's something out there on the internet that I haven't discovered yet... something that works amazingly well!
It needs to be suitable for children, or two separate ones are fine. TIA.

[emmie]

what type of insects, and for outdoors, indoors, for inside I have found Raid is fairly good for flies, but very little else, cockroaches for example will outlive us all, words from the pest controller who came to our home, he did get rid of them, but they can comeback.

[RATTER15]

Of course they can come back, if they can infest once they can infest twice. When I treated Cockroaches they never came back.

[emmie]

eh ours did, and believe me when you have them running all over the shop you want them killed, dead, finished, nuked if necessary. No more for a time, but we still think the little devils will one day make a reappearance. I can stand a lot of things, but they are not one of them

[RATTER15]

You can put down cockroach monitoring traps, they wont eradicate them but they will let you know if they are starting to re-infest before they become a problem. The biggest problem with eradicating Cockroaches is the cost!

[fliptheswitch]

Oh no! Not the dreaded Raid. I spray that in the rooms, about an hour before we go to bed. I absolutely hate it, gets right in my throat.
Need it for mozzies, when outdoors. Something to spray onto ourselves.

[Milvus]

I use Jungle Formula. Works really well for mosquitoes and midges. I spend a lot of time around rivers and lakes and don't get bitten at all now

[RATTER15]

I have heard Jungle Formula is the best.

[emmie]

Then Deet, i have used it, was a bit messy but it does the trick, for the body, and as someone that had a billion bites when travelling around a foreign country, i didn't know they had such a bad problem, can testify, that its hell. I looked like someone have shoved me in a nettle patch and just left me there.

[milly143]

hhmm, I should pay attention to this question. After what I've gone through the past few weeks following an insect bite I am now literally terrified of being bitten.

[fliptheswitch]

That's great. Thank-you very much. I will have a look at Jungle Formula and Deet now.
I don't get bitten myself, but my poor Dad gets mauled by the bloody things. Apparently it depends on what blood type you are?

[woofgang]

Try Avon skin so soft dry oil spray original fragrance....it works amazingly well....seriously.

[woofgang]

http://heritage.scots...calling-as.2654251.jp

I use it myself as I get bitten to ribbons most summers.

[emmie]

they like people full stop, just some are unluckly like me, my travelling companion did get bitten, but i came off the worse. I was told by the Pharmacist where i had to get special cream to ease the pain, that he hadn't seen anything as bad for 20 years. And if you have them in the hotel room as we did, then the incessant noise would put you into an asylum.

[RATTER15]

No its not the blood type. it just depends if you have an allergy to the chemical they inject you with, they need to inject an anticoagulant in to you, blood is far too thick to be sucked out with such tiny mouth parts without thinning it first..

[fliptheswitch]

That's like my Dad. He was bitten so badly, he had to see a doctor. Nasty stuff.
I have ordered some Jungle Formula and some Deet, so we'll see which is best.
Milly143, I have just read about what happened to your leg. Ouch!

[fliptheswitch]

RATTER15, That was very, very interesting. I never knew that was the case.

[harecaad]

Jungle Formula contains DEET too -and there is still a question mark over DEET safety (google it to see). Found some natural stuff whilst in South Africa which worked really wel for us all called OnGuard -just checked the bottle and they have a website www.onguard.me

If you use DEET please be careful to check the concentration as it is not normally recommended to use that high a concentration on children -always read the label too as it is often recommended to wash off as soon as indoors. Good Luck

[fliptheswitch]

Thank-you harecaad. I've had a look on Google, and it says that anything with more than 30% Deet should not be used on children, and should be used with extra care. It's even been linked to seizures and 4 deaths! Jungle Formula is 50% Deet, so I will definitely not be putting that on the children.
Thanks for the link, I will take a look. I would always prefer to use something natural, though I wasn't sure if it would be effect.
Thank-you :)

[MarkRae]

This is the only thing that seems to work in the Hebrides during midgie season...

http://www.amazon.co....qid=1308831574&sr=8-1

[fliptheswitch]

Thank-you MarkRae, that's great. I've already ordered the other stuff, but wish I hadn't bothered now that I've read about that Deet stuff.
I see this one doesn't contain it, which is great. Thanks :)