Mosquito repellents?

[Jessika]

*Supposedly* you can heat up a spoon (using hot water, not hot enough to burn you) and place it on the welt from the bite and it's supposed to stop the itching and shrink the welt considerably. I have personally not used this to attest to it... my sister heard about it from my mom and was very skeptical until she tried it and it worked. Nothing to lose by doing it, eh?

As far as repellants go, I'm not as versed in it. I usually get eaten up whether I use repellants or not.

[Karen]

Another thing that I have heard is a paste of baking soda and water applied will help ease the itching - my body overreacts to mosquito bites (huge half-inch welt for each bite) so I will try that the next time I am unfortunate enough to get bitten. That's one of the good parts about living in the city - relatively few mosquitos!

[cassiesmom]

Another thing that I have heard is a paste of baking soda and water applied will help ease the itching - my body overreacts to mosquito bites (huge half-inch welt for each bite) so I will try that the next time I am unfortunate enough to get bitten. That's one of the good parts about living in the city - relatively few mosquitos!

When I was little my grandmother used to make a paste of baking soda and vinegar for insect bites and stings. She would mix it in a big bowl because it would fizz when she poured the vinegar over the baking soda. THe chemical reaction was a good distraction, too. Karen, I get welts when I get insect bites. I've found that clobetasol ointment (available by Rx) works really well to stop the burning/itching/swelling reaction.

[Louie and me]

I have a really bad reaction to mosquito bites and so use an aerosol repellant with 30 DEET that lasts for 8 hours. I wear long sleeved tops and long pants and only spray my clothes, not my skin, if I have to spend time in the garden. If I get careless and do get bitten occasionally, I use Benadryl cream and it does work but I have to apply every couple of hours.

[phesina]

Thanks very much for all the suggestions. I'll try these.

A friend suggested OFF! Deep Woods as a repellent.

[Freedom]

Avon has a nice skin lotion, Skin So Soft. For some reason it also repels mosquitos.

Anything with DEET in it will work. Do NOT spray this on the cat!!

[pomtzu]

Another itch reliever that I forgotten about and works well, is toothpaste - a good paste like Crest - not a gel variety. I got a wasp sting on my hand several years ago, and the itch and burning was maddening! I had heard about the toothpaste treatment and tried it - and it worked. This also works well to dry up cold sores/fever blisters in short order.

As far as repellants go - nothing works very well for me - so I just tend to stay in the house when the bugs are too bad.