Better Bug Control

While we were on vacation last week in the woods, we knew we were going to need some good bug prevention to keep from being an all-you-can-eat buffet for these little buggers.

When we went camping over Father's Day we had bought some Repel with 33% DEET. The stuff kept the insects away, that's for sure. However, I noticed that it had eaten the picture off of Little Britches' favorite mug when we got home. I thought, "Surely, this can't be good to put on your skin if it will eat the picture off of a mug." Then, Mr. Wonderful read the back of the container. It had some kind of warning about being extremely hazardous and that it shouldn't be used on certain people or some blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada that I can't remember right now. I just know it was bad. Really bad. Like, "Who the heck in their right mind would use this stuff?", bad. So, we were at a catch 22. DEET is bad for you. But, then again, so is West Nile Virus. So, what were our options?

Well, we could all go around looking like this. That would make us sure to turn a few heads, wouldn't it?

Or, we could find an alternative. I can thank my dear MIL for this one - who can, in turn, thank the nice cashier at K Mart for sharing this little tip with her while she was in line buying more poison with DEET in it.

Enter, Listerine. Not the new fancy, schmancy, miracle working Listerine. The original, old fashioned, yellow, stinky kind.

The cashier at K Mart told my MIL that if you put original Listerine in a spray bottle and apply it as a bug spray, that it would work as well as any other repellent.

When we went to Brown County State Park to walk the trails, we tried it. We also brought the Repel just in case. Amazingly, none of us got a single bite!

I figure if it is made to be swished around inside of your mouth, then, it has to be safer than the stuff that can eat paint off of ceramic. Incidentally, after the coffee mug episode, I remembered that we had another experience with it once in FL where it got on my cell phone charger and completely deformed and ate away at the plastic.

Now, I've only tried Listerine as a bug spray once, so I can't vouch for it 100%. But, I can tell you, that after walking the wooded trails and not getting a bite, I will definitely be trying this again.

Hope you found this helpful.

Have a great weekend!

Pam

I'm linking this post to Works For Me Wednesday.

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