bar soap for mosquitos

[Mick45]

I always thought It was me. Everytime I went out hunting, camping, 4x4 mudding, etc., the bugs just tore me up. Often ignoring my buddies. Then someone suggested it might be my soap. I used Irish Spring. So I switched and it got much better. It got me to thinking though. Maybe I could go a step further and use a soap that actually repelled mosquitos. They are rediculously thick down here in Florida. I've read that some bar soaps help, carbolic, peppermint, rosemary, etc., but these websites are also trying to sell the stuff. I don't like putting alot of chemicals on my skin, and would rather go natural, and use the soap every day. The skeeters get me all the time, even in town. Anyone with actual experience? I'm considering buying a bar of peppermint soap to try. Some Florida/Southern hunters must have some experience with this. Thanks, Mick

 

[T Bran]

Avon Skin So Soft works if they are only moderate. We have been using it since I was a youngster fishing in the KEYS.
If they are super thick 100% DEET is the only thing that works for any real legnth of time DEEP WOODS OFF must be reapplied every 15 minutes unless you are sweating bad then its every 10 minutes.
We used to feed the dogs garlic in their food to help keep them from being eaten alive it helps but now I hear that it is bad for dogs.
Good luck with your search.
T

 

[glockgod]

+1

on Skin so soft-good stuff!

 

[hardluk1]

I never put anything on my skin. I was show very young to Get some DEET and just place a few drops on your gear,or cuffs and waist of your clothing and hat. Might even still need a head net at times . I have had them so darn thick around me you could not hear a deer if it was walking in water going by you. I know that to be fact.
I don't have that problem any more since i moved to NC mountains .hehe

 

[BBQLS1]

I've read that sweet smelling perfumey stuff attracts them. Unscented might be the best that is available now. You might even try making your own with animal fat and pot ash....


Another thing I've used recently that appears to work well is one of those Thermacells. It might not work as well in the wind though. I hunt in Mississippi, so I know what a mosquito is.

 

[oneounceload]

First - what are you wearing? If you like wearing dark clothing, the skeeters will have you for a buffet.

I wear long sleeves (the polyester Columbia-type shirts) not only for sun protection, but also for bugs.

Spray all around your hat if you do not want to spray your skin, same with your clothes

Once this rain quits here, they should start to calm down

 

[Mick45]

Thanks for the suggestions but I'm looking for a bar soap

Thank you for the suggestions, but I'm one of those guys who only uses one bathroom product...... bar soap, for everything. Hair, skin, shaving, hand washing, etc.. and I'm too old to change. I don't and won't use any products like lotions, shampoo, or conditioners, etc.. I'm just looking for an everyday bar soap that will help with the mosquito's. Also, I'm aware that DEET is the only truely effective thing to use in the deep woods here, but I'm outdoors alot and I'm looking for an everyday fix, and I don't want to wear DEET everyday for the rest of my life. I will however, start putting it on my clothes, good tip, don't know why I haddn't thought of it, thanks. Maybe I'll try the "Avon skin-so-soft" (is that a lotion or a soap?). I'm just a little afraid it'll make my skin "so soft", lol. Seriously, if it's a bar soap, i'll try it. Still looking for a good bar soap. Still haven't tried the Peppermint bar soap. Anyone have experience with it? Or the Carbolic soap? Anyone? I appreciate all your suggestions, keep 'em coming. Thanks again, Mick

 

[Readyrod]

Here is something I posted from another thread.

I've worked up north a lot in Canada and the mosquitoes are real bad. The only thing that really worked was DEET. Just don't spray it on yourself, that stuff melts plastic. At least flagging tape anyways. I found that spraying it on my shoulders and ballcap worked well. On bad days I would put a bandana under my ballcap foreign legion style and spray it also. As for clothes skeeters have a hard time going through that cotton/poly material that they use in workpants and shirts. I use to wear those standard blue workshop cotton/poly coveralls, they worked real good but you got to spray the spots that they can get in. Nylon windpants and jackets work well also.
I was once working geology up north and a coworker found out the most incredible thing. One time at the end of the day he was waiting for the helicopter and he covered himself with the bright orange helicopter flag to try to catch some shuteye. The skeeters would go under the flag and freak out and try to get out. No bites. I tried it and it really worked.
One treeplanter I worked with did the garlic thing. I don't know if it worked against the skeeters but it sure did against other people, he smelled real bad.

It's true that smelly soaps attract mosquitoes.

 

[okiewita40]

Not sure there are any bar soaps out there that will do what you want. I do know that if your water has a high sulfur content in it. None of the outdoors bugs want anything to do with you. I used to live in a small in S.W. MO that treated the water supply with sulfur. Never got a mosquito, tick or chigger on me the entire time I lived there. Now that I live in OK and the water is treated with chlorine. The bugs tear me up.

 

[barnetmill]

Exhaust from gasoline engines seems to keep mosquitoes and florida yellow flies away. But it is kind of hard to carry a running chainsaw while hunting or fishing.

 

[JohnD13]

Black powder smoke clears them out fast! So does bear grease, but it clears everything around you out too! 100% DEET is the best modern day repellent.

 

[hardluk1]

The skitters are draw to your breath or I should say they are drawn to the carbon dioxide we breath out. . You can allways hook one of those battery powerd repelants you see the hunters use today. They do work to a point. Got to keep them on the up wind side. Fine while hunting. After 40 years of hunting down in floridas swamps I did own a couple bugnet suites along with the head nets as they keep the deer flies off to. Deet does not bother them. You really don'y want that stuff on your skin, only cloths. Its just the down side of hang'n in the swamps of florida.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Deet is absorbed into your largest organ. It is toxic. It will remove the wood finish of many firearms as well and will dissolve many plastics. I used to hunt with a guy that ended up in the hospital during bow season. Doc said it was too much deet.

 

[Frozen North]

The nice thing about 100% Deet is that it comes in a small package and a small amount on your collar and cuffs will do the trick. Put a bottle in your tool set, another one in your tackle box, another in your glove box, and another in your range bag. You will never notice the extra cargo and it will always be there when you need it.

Some people really rag on deet, say it's horrible for your health. I say skeeters transmit disease and can cause more harm.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/list_mosquitoborne.htm

I live in MN, and fish frequently at night. You need to keep your mouth shut and breathe from your nose or you will be spitting, ingesting, and gagging on insects all night. Even with that incredible concentration of bugs, you will never be bit with a sparingly applied dose of deet.

Soap does matter, and the stink pretty stuff is the worst. Try white Dove soap, it's worked well for me. No stink, keeps my skin from cracking when its forty below, and works better than anything I have found for shaving.

A big stinky cigar keeps the skeeters away too!

 

[Strykervet]

If peppermint works, try Dr. Bonner's Magic Soap. It is an organic soap, so look for it in places that carry stuff like that. But I've seen guys that used all kinds of different soaps and some that didn't use soap at all, and the mosquitoes, they are attracted to your breathe.

Citron candles are supposed to work, and they may be a good idea for shooting or fishing, but probably not so wise for hunting.

We used DEET in the army, so much of it our lips would go numb. Nasty stuff. Rather use a net over a boonie hat these days. And if you can get it in little bottles of pure stuff to dab on clothes, that would be great too, but spraying it all over is paramount to using DDT the way it was used in the 40's. Not so smart looking back.

 

[Cosmoline]

Grandpa's pine tar soap! Or packers, if you prefer. But make it pine tar and the air leaches run away.

 

[RinkRat]

I didn't believe it myself till I tried it ... Listerine mouth wash.

Just put it in a spray bottle and your good to go!! I bought the generic wally-world brand and yes it does work!!!! Works on no-see-ums too!! And it's a hell of a lot safer then Deet or other toxic repellents and most of the flavors when it dries it leaves no scent and there isn't any oily slime like some other repellants leave behind. It's a lot cheaper too.

And if you don't believe it try it ... it will only cost you about two-buck for the wally's to find out it works.

Yo Mick45 ... I read somewhere that the mosquito is the State Bird of Florida ????

 

[osprey176]

After living in Florida for 47 years I can honestly say the best repellent,hands down,is the Therma-cell.DEET will keep them off, but will take bluing off your barrel,and the finish off your stock. Do you really want that stuff on your skin? Long pants and shirts,along with headnets help too,but most Florida skeeters are big enough to bite through thick jeans.I've heard they were crossbred with hummingbirds,and escaped the lab.Seriously,the Therma-cells work.

 

[hardluk1]

osprey176 Think we all know that deet only goes on the other layer of what you need to have on. That why I used it on a hat ,collars or edge of your pants. never gets on anything that is can hurt.
Thermo-cell is fine for now stand or blinds but not real good in open stands and i find if its at all breezy iam moveing it up wind all the time. + there not at all good if walking or hinkeing. Just got to be carfull how you use products like deet. But it works,

Tiger sketters, AKA (gallanippers) are the worst for sure. You need to whack-um hard enough to bruse skin and they might still get up and fly off to try again.

 

[lizziedog1]

For nightime mosquito problems use Vicks Vapor Rub. The stuff your mother used to put on your chest when you had a cold. Just dab a little on before turning in and the little critters won't touch you.

 

[303tom]

So does a big ol fat cigar !

 

[hardluk1]

Hard to sleep with a cigar in your mouth!!! And the coughing scares the deer off.

 

[Mick45]

Grandpas Pine Tar Soap

Thanks Cosmoline I will order some to try. With 20k posts and a handle like cosmoline, it sounds like you have some experience. If this thread is still open, I will post some of my results. Keep the suggestions coming and thanks. Mick P.S. Where is Los Anchorage? P.P.S. If the mosquito isn't the state bird here, it should be.
I heard somewhere (can't verify so don't everybody attack) that Florida mosquitos are the only excuse ever accepted for leaving your post in the army (dates way back to pioneer days before deet and the like). If true, I could believe it. They really get so bad down here that without any protection it could drive someone crazy.

 

[gibson_es]

I too am in florida, born and raised.


When i was a wee little lad. My mother used the avon s-s-s on us, worked great.

I dont like putting sprays and stuff on. I would almost rather get eaten by skeeters then have skin feel like i took a bath in oil.

I can also say the thermo cell works well too. Not perfect but decent.

Not sure your take on baccy. But i am a cigar and pipe smoker (no, not pot, dont ask me, its annoying) and the baccy smoke seems to help also.

I had a pepperment soap, it did make a difference, but not drastic. And the peppermint made my skin feel "funny". I have always been an irish spring man as well. And i have tried others but i go back to the irish spring (original, not this new crap they got out)

I find the only thing that really works is thick jeans, boot socks and boots. I dont worry about my arms because the skeeters dont usually bother my arms too bad, its my legs they want, and the pipe smoke helps keep away the few that would go for my arms.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

peppermint will help, but the age old sage, Kephart in Camping and Woodcraft has several recipes for bug dope, here is one:

1 part Pine Tar
1 part Oil of Penny Royal
2 parts Vaseline

The essential oil is the key appently which is why the peppermint works. You could also add citronella oil, 1 part. You can find Oil of Penny Royal online.

I normally don't suffer from mosquito bites, but my diet is heavy in B vitamins and cider vinegar (pickles), which are supposed to be two other "home remedies" for skeeters.

Lye soap made with clove oil as a scent, and only clove oil, is supposed to be very good, and you can rub such soap under your shirt collar for added effect.
LD