Help! Does anyone know a good gnat repellant? Serious.

SittingElf

SittingElf

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I'm trying to do work in my yard here in mid-Georgia creating a raised bed garden for my wife, as well as other things.

The gnats are so bad right now that I have to escape from them every ten minutes or so. They swarm heavily. I've tried wearing a hat with Bounce dryer sheets tucked in (as recommended by some locals), but it only gives me that ten minutes before they are just too damn annoying. (Not to mention the amount of protein I'm ingesting when they get in my mouth!  [mad])

Anyone have a working solution...seriously?

Cheers,

Frank
 
Cochese said:
Skin So Soft.
Click to expand...

Does that still work?  I used to use that a long time ago when I played golf regularly in South Georgia, but I heard it's become less effective. That may just be rumor.

I can't remember where you can buy the stuff. Don't you have to find an Avon lady or something?

Frank
 
I got some Herbal Armor late last summer and it seemed to work well. The big test is coming in a few days. The black flies will be coming out in New Hampshire very soon. I have been racing to get as much yard work done before they come out. I will be trying the Herbal Armor when they do come out. I am sure my wife will have gardening projects that need to be done in May.

http://www.allterrainco.com/ecommerce/natural-insect-repellents.html
 
Thanks guys. Great suggestions! [big grin]

I'm going to try the cheap mesh over-hats AND ordered some Permethrin.  I'll saturate one of my Festool Hats with it.

I'll let you know by this weekend whether it works against these nasty buggers!

Cheers,

Frank
 
A product called "Bug Soother" came on the market a few years ago here (http://www.simplysoothing.net).  It's an awesome product that actually works.  It's made by a small company in Iowa.  Here's a link to where you can buy it on Amazon: Bug Soother

You can also read an article on it from one of the local newspapers: http://www.corridorbusiness.com/news/bug-soother-insect-repellent-an-overnight-sensation/

We use it any time we're working outside, boating, yard work, etc.  It even works well on pets.  Best of all, it's complete safe and doesn't smell bad  ;D

Karl
 
I used to spend a few weeks each summer at my Grandparents' lake house in middle Georgia.

The only relief from the gnats that I can recall was to travel "North of the Gnat Line".

That's probably why we always begged to go visit Atlanta and see Stone Mountain!
 
kelauben said:
A product called "Bug Soother" came on the market a few years ago here (http://www.simplysoothing.net).  It's an awesome product that actually works.  It's made by a small company in Iowa.  Here's a link to where you can buy it on Amazon: Bug Soother

You can also read an article on it from one of the local newspapers: http://www.corridorbusiness.com/news/bug-soother-insect-repellent-an-overnight-sensation/

We use it any time we're working outside, boating, yard work, etc.  It even works well on pets.  Best of all, it's complete safe and doesn't smell bad  ;D

Karl
Click to expand...

OK.. thanks. Trying that too!  I'll report my findings trying each product next weekend.  ANYTHING to relieve having those unbelievably annoying gnats!! [tongue]

Cheers,

Frank

 
SittingElf said:
Cochese said:
Skin So Soft.
Click to expand...

Does that still work?  I used to use that a long time ago when I played golf regularly in South Georgia, but I heard it's become less effective. That may just be rumor.

I can't remember where you can buy the stuff. Don't you have to find an Avon lady or something?

Frank
Click to expand...
It's still the No 1 repellant for midges in Scotland. You get to keep,the blighters at bay, moisturise and smell like a tart all at the same time! A mate of mine also swears by eating loads of marmite. He reckons that it sweats out on his skin and the midges don't like it?!
 
Where my permanent home in Florida is located, the only insects we have to contend with are early morning and dusk mosquitos.....but most of us have pool enclosure screens, so even they don't bother us.

On the other hand, the non-insect things we deal with are snakes of many species, alligators, racoons, feral pigs, Florida Bobcats and Panthers, and woodpeckers (they damage our gutters and are very loud)!  No joke! Every one of those are issues in East Central Florida. But NO GNATS! [big grin]

Frank
 
I am a mosquito magnet. I get bit several times before anyone else around me even knows they're there. Gnats apparently also love me and they seem to flock to me with their swarms. I read somewhere that it has to do with how you metabolize cholesterol. Apparently, some of us metabolize a lot through our skin.

Skin so Soft was a favorite of some friends of mine from Houston and it works for a little while. From what I can observe personally, it works about as long as the solvent is still on you. When it wears out, it's like your niece doused you in cheap perfume and you're once again getting bit.

I recognize that you're talking about gnats, Frank but I think the reaction is similar. I have gnats in my yard here pretty commonly and they tend to go right for my head/face. They are in consolidated swarms normally. Something I have also observed, starting because I had a black terrier, is that they all love black. I can take my black river sandals off and put them a foot or two away from me and the swarms of mosquitoes and gnats hang around them an leave me alone.

When I used to go into the swamps around Houston/Galveston/etc. and duck hunt just before dawn, the only thing that really worked for me was almost pure DEET. It came in a small bottle and your just rubbed a tiny bit on you. IT WORKED!

Of course, it also melted the bluing on your shotgun.

I have to admit that I'll ingest a million gnats any day over receiving a hundred 'skeeter bites. But then, I've had well over a hundred 'skeeter bites in a day in Honduras...

Tom
 
Mosquitoes are really bad here in Alberta in the summer months (swarms of them really!) and lots of small no-see-ums or I guess what you call gnats? They bite too!

We use Deet spray here and it seems to keep all the bugs at bay for the most part. However, over the past ten years or so the Deet concentration is only available in something like 23% Deet which limits the effectiveness.

My Wife and I back in the 80's and 90's did a lot of wilderness backpacking where we'd hike into the bush in British Columbia for up to 40 kms at times for several days and the bugs (Mosquitoes, Gnats, Deer and Horse flies) in wetland areas were epic and on steroids!

During that time we still could buy 98% Deet and that really did work. I know that Deet is not great to use all the time because of the chemical worries but I'd rather risk that then risk getting West Nile Disease or eaten alive.

You can still order 98% Deet on line through eBay last time I checked but not in stores here.

 
Mosquitoes and gnats in the northern latitudes, nothing like them. A National Geographic photographer once hired an Inuit guide to traverse the Boothia Peninsula with him in Arctic Canada. After a couple days of pure misery he asked the guide how he so nonchalantly handled the bugs that were driving him crazy. His response was, "What bugs?".

I guess that means it's all in your head. [poke]
 
Off Deep Woods Dry has been working for me when I'm out doing yard work during the growing months.  Keeps the danged things out of my eyes, ears, nose, etc.  Like Tom, I'm a mosquito magnet. 
 
Tom Bellemare said:
I can take my black river sandals off and put them a foot or two away from me and the swarms of mosquitoes and gnats hang around them an leave me alone.

Tom
Click to expand...

Is it the colour they like, or the smell?  [scared]
 
I've often wondered that myself, Ed. Bit since my feet are close by and they swarm the sandals...

Tom
 
Depending on your level of infestation you can try cedar wood oil.  THey sell it under numerous natural pest product brands, and the nice thing is it helps get rid of mosquitoes too.  A plus is that your yard will smell like cedar and it's not harmful to you or your family. 

We use it spring and summer, but by the fall the mosquitoes get so bad here we have to resort to a commercial outfit.  Still, anything to not use chemicals is always a good route.

 
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