Insect Repellent Bands: The Latest Arm for Protection

Have you seen people wearing trendy and unique bands in their wrists nowadays? If you do, look closely and you will realize that these are not really ordinary bands, but these are insect repellent bands. Yes, this is the latest headline to hit the news today. Insect repellent bands!

If you are thinking that it is still safe and secure to wander around in a densely populated planet where you come across blood feeding insects as if they were the most ordinary thing to see and as if they are already a part of our daily lives, well think again. It is not a safe world we have out there.

Purchasing the new insect repellent band and having it as your guard against those fatal diseases is really something we have to consider and give our attention about. This is not something that we should take for neither granted nor give a second thought and doubts about. This is not hard to look for anyway; many online stores are now offering this band so buying one will not be a difficult task anymore.

Insect repellent bands are made with insect repellents inside them. For your info, an insect repellent is basically a substance that can prevent insects from landing over or getting near the surface where it is applied. Just by simply wearing the band, you will be able to drive insects away from getting near you or even climbing up on you.

They can usually be worn on your wrist or even your ankle. These may also be clipped to the seat belts of your car, to bikes, and to baby strollers. This Insect repellent band can help you chase away the insects plus more importantly so the illnesses and deadly diseases they carry and may pass on to us.

Insects such as mosquito, fly, and flea are usually the carriers of these diseases. The diseases that you can get because of these bites are plague, malaria, and dengue, among others. Insect resistant bands can mask using the human fragrance against bugs and this, thereby, will make them unable to find or locate any humans. Some of these repellents can also work using fragrances that insects repel or would not dare to get near to.

These bands are available in many different types. First, you can go naturally, then you may also opt to choose synthetic bands for their extended effect. However, several natural insect repellent bands can also provide you with great relaxing relief.

Insect repellent bands can also come in natural way. They are now being made out of naturally occurring ingredients which could repel away some of the insects. A few of these substances behave as insecticides too thus preventing insects from biting you or buzzing around you.

Some of the substances used to make these natural insect repellent bands are eucalyptus oil, peppermint, tea tree, cinnamon, neem oil, garlic, castor oil, and others. Several of these repellents are to be more effective as fighters with mosquitoes that are a usual find in all places nowadays and could really cause lethal diseases as well.

But then you also need to be cautious about the fact that these natural insect repellent bands are usually to be effective for only just a short period of time. However, this varies while using different brand and sometimes, it also depends on even the companies you are buying them from. Most of the natural repellents are not that effective as compared with the synthetic brands.

The natural bands may not last longer too, not longer than 5 days, to be exact. However, for the time they are stuck with you, they will work well. The necessity for replacement is the main reason why natural repellent bands are not excellent options. Nevertheless, if you will come to know the harmful results of those powerful synthetic bands, I am sure you would not mind spending often and applying as often as you can. Anyway, safety should always come first, right?

Hal Johnson has been writing articles for nearly 4 years. Come visit his latest website over at http://www.insectrepellentbands.com/ which helps people find information on Insect Repellent Bands and deals on all other types of repellents.

How to Treat Your Clothing With Insect Repellent

Have you ever heard about clothing that repels mosquitoes and other airborne insects? If not, I am willing to bet that there have been times when you have wished you could get some. Mosquitoes and midges can ruin a holiday or even make you have to get out of your own garden when it starts go get dark.

There are various ways that you can combat mosquitoes and the other terrors of the dusk, but they always seem to find a place where I am not fully protected. Often that spot is on the shoulder blade, where they will stick their proboscis through the fabric of your shirt to extract your blood.

I get pleasure from my garden, but so do the mosquitoes as there is a lot of open water in the surrounding area. My first technique of defense against mosquitoes is to plant flowers and trees that they are known to dislike the smell of. I find that the odour that they dislike the most is that of lemons.

Therefore, we have a few small lemon trees, which will soon be playing a crucial role in our defense, a patch of lemon grass for my wife's favourite Thai curries and some as yet poorly-looking citronella plants. (I think that Thailand may be too hot for them, but I am hoping that they will acclimatize).

Then I have two mosquito lamps. The kind that entice the insects to an ultraviolet light and then electrocutes them with 25,000 volts. They are very efficient, but more so in the dark than at dusk, when they are probably less discernible to the insects. I know that there are insect lamps that use smells or pheromones to attract mosquitoes, but I have not seen any for sale over here yet. I did once try a device that emits a sound on a high frequency that was supposed to drive them away, but it was not effective on our mosquitoes.

Finally, if it was a bad night I used to put on some insect repellent cream, often something that had DEET in it. This is pretty effective for a few hours, but it can spoil some fabrics and some plastics, which is why the makers recommend that you only put it on your bare skin. If you do that, your shoulders and your legs become targets, even if you are dressed in trousers and a shirt.

This is when it becomes a good idea to treat your clothing with insect deterrent. Apparently the military has been wearing them for years. The active ingredient used is called permethrin and it ought be used at a concentration of 0.5%. There are two means of applying it: by drenching clothing in it, as the army does or by spraying it on. I assume that you will be spraying it on.

Do the spraying in the garden well removed from any fish pond as permethrin kills fish as well. Spray the clothing and wait for the chemical to soak in and dry out. Clothing treated with insect repellent like this will protect you for about six weeks and will still work after six washes. However, sunlight breaks permethrin down, so dry the items indoors and store in black plastic bags for longer effectiveness.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on quite a few topics, but is currently involved with indoor mosquito repellent. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Mosquito Repellent For Dogs.

Creating Your Homemade Insect Repellent

Not all products available for kids are safe to use. There are some brands that use strong chemicals just to make the insects go away. If your primary concern is the safety of your kids using inexpensive ingredients, then you should try making a homemade insect repellent for your babies.

A natural mosquito repellent is very easy to do. You just have to gather herbs like bay leaves, pennyroyal, rosemary, and of course, the eucalyptus. It does not matter whether you would like to use fresh herbs or the dried ones.

By using a double boiler, put these herbs at the bottom part of the pan. Then pour in enough baby oil or a vegetable oil to submerge all the herbs you just placed. At the top container place enough oil as well. See to it that the cover fits tightly on the double boiler. Put it in a low fire and wait for at least an hour or two. You just have to open the lid from time to time to make sure that you are not overheating the oil.

As soon as you heated the oil and the herbs, use cheesecloth to strain the oil and the other particles of the herbs. You can use a strainer as long as it has fine holes. Pour all the content of the pan at the strainer or cheesecloth and set it aside.

On a separate bowl, press the remaining oil so you can get the remaining extracts from the herbs. If you want to use the more concentrated homemade insect repellent then choose the first pressing. More often than not, although it can be still effective, the second pressing has more sediments and water than the first one.

If you happen to have eucalyptus oil, you can put a couple of drops in the mixture to give your natural mosquito repellent a different scent.

Stuart is writing for many websites, He enjoys writing on wide range of topics such as homemade insect repellent and your green life. You may visit for more details.

Using Essential Oils As Insect Repellents

Instead of bringing out the harmful pesticides and chemical ointments here's some natural earth friendly options for dealing with those pesky insects.

Insect Repellent Essential Oils:

Single Essential Oils: Peppermint, Spearmint, Eucalyptus radiata, Lemon, Lavender, Tea Tree, Cedarwood, Idaho Tansy, Rosemary, Patchouli, Citronella, Lemongrass, Thyme, Sage

Essential Oil Blends:

Purification (contains: Citronella (Cymbopogon nardus), lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Melaleuca (Melaleuca alternifolia) lavandin (Lavandula x hybrida), and myrtle (Myrtus communis)

Thieves(contains: Clove (Syzygium aromaticum), lemon (Citrus limon), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), Eucalyptus radiata and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis CT 1,8 cineol)

Melrose (contains: Melaleuca (Melaleuca alternifolia), naouli (Melaleuca quinquenervia), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), and clove (Syzygium aromaticum).

Insect Repellent Blend:

6 drops Peppermint

6 drops Tea Tree

9 drops Eucalyptus radiata

Application:

Topical: DILUTE 20/80 using a base oil such as almond or jojoba or V6 and apply to exposed skin as needed or mix with 8 ounces of water in a spray bottle, shake well and spray directly on exposed skin areas.

To repel insects, essential oils can also be diffused or put on cotton balls or cedar chips (for use in closets or drawers)

Specific Oils for Specific Insects

Mosquitoes: Lemon, Peppermint, Eucalyptus radiata, Lemongrass.

Moths: Patchouli, Cedarwood, Hyssop, Lavender, Peppermint, Spearmint

Horse-flies: Idaho Tansy floral water, Purification Oil

Aphids: Mix 10 drops Spearmint and 15 drops Orange essential oil in 2 quarts salt water, shake well and spray on plants.

Cockroaches: Mix 10 drops Peppermint and 5 drops Cypress in 1/2 cup salt water. Shake well and spray where cockroaches live.

Silverfish: Eucalyptus radiata, Citriadora

Ants: You can smear a line of Peppermint or Spearmint across your kitchen counter or floor and the ants won't cross it. If you already have a line of ants invading your house, just draw a line of oil across them and they will turn back.

Beetles: Peppermint, Thyme

Caterpillars: Spearmint, Peppermint

Chiggars: Lavender, Lemongrass, Peppermint

Cutworms: Sage, Thyme

Fleas: Peppermint, Lemongrass, Spearmint

Gnats: Patchouli, Spearmint

Spiders: Peppermint, Spearmint

Ticks: Lavender, Lemongrass, Sage, Thyme

Weevils: Cedarwood, Patchouli, Sandalwood

For Pets: Put 10 drops each of Citronella, Eucalyptus radiata, and Peppermint in an 8 ounce spray bottle with water. Alternate formula: Put 2 drops pine, 2 drops Eucalyptus radiata, and 5-10 drops Citronella in a spray bottle of water. OR Mix 5- 10 drops Idaho Tansy or Peppermint Oil in a spray bottle full of water, shake vigorously and spray.

PLEASE NOTE: The information in this article is based solely on the use of 100% Pure Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils due to their high quality and tested purity.

The use of a brand of uncertain quality and/or purity will provide you with potentially dangerous, if not lethal, results. The author assumes no responsibility for your improper use of this information.

The statements about these oils have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These oils are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Rebecca Noel is the author of The Essential Oils and Aromatherapy Info Blog where you can find out everything you could possibly want to know about essential oils and their uses. With category links to aromatherapy accessories too.

Visit: Essential Oils and Aromatherapy Info Blog

Mosquito Products: Are They Safe for our Health ?

There are plenty of mosquito products we can use to get rid of these nasty insects. Some of them are effective some are not. I guess we all own one of these mosquito products at home, but have you ever wondered how they work or are they hazardous for you health? So lets see what kind of mosquito products are out there and how safe they are.

Mosquito products could be classified in two categories based on their purpose. So there are in the first category are the mosquito products that kill the insects and in the second one we've got the products that repels mosquitoes. The products grouped in these two categories there are indoor and outdoor mosquito products.

To understand how these mosquito products work we must understand what attracts mosquitoes. So when humans and animals exhale, they give off CO2 (carbon dioxide) and other scents. Mosquitoes have sensors that can detect the presence of these chemicals at a distance of over 100 feet. Once the mosquito picks up the scent, they will immediately change direction and fly rapidly toward the intended victim. So the purpose of mosquito products would be either to attract and kill the insect or to deceive its senses.

In the fist category of mosquito products would be bug zappers and mosquito magnets. An electric bug-zapper works by attracting insects to a central ultraviolet light, surrounded by a lethal electrical grid so when the mosquito touches that grid gets burned. The best in this mosquito products category, would be the old mosquito magnet the most high-tech (and expensive) weapon in the homeowner's arsenal of mosquito products, made by American Biophysics Corporation. It uses propane to emit carbon dioxide, just as people do, which is one of the things that helps mosquitoes find you. Once mosquitoes are lured to the device, they are sucked into a trap where they dehydrate and die. So these would be about all the mosquito products that have the purpose to lure, trap and kill the mosquitoes.

In the second category of mosquito products are the repellents. They work by blocking the receptors on mosquitoes antennae for the: moisture, warmth CO2 (carbon dioxide) and odor produced by humans that are all attractants for mosquitoes. Even if it is a spray or an ointment the best repellent is DEET.

DEET (diethyl toluamide) was developed in Orlando in the 1950s and contains a synthetic chemical repellent. The mosquito products marketed today contain various concentrations of DEET some of them even to 100 percent witch is not so good for your skin. Mosquito products containing 5 percent to 7 percent DEET keep mosquitoes away for up to 2 1/2 hours.

Citronella, which is also part of this second mosquito products category, is a volatile, liquid oil derived from dried cultivated grasses. It works by repelling animals and insects without harming or killing them. It has a distinctive odor, which also repels certain animals. Oil of Citronella is considered so unlikely to cause harmful effects that some citronella products are exempt from the usual regulation. The mosquito products containing citronella come in the form of candles, cartridges, and rub-on products.

These would be the most important mosquito products available on the market today some of them effective some less effective but I think that the most important thing is weather they are safe for you, your family and your loved ones.

Raul Gallu is the author of http://control-home-mosquitos.blogspot.com

- a website full of information for those who got tired of mosquitoes and wanna do something to get rid of them.

Buying Mosquito Nets - What You Should Know

Mosquito nets are useful in the prevention of malaria and other diseases carried by insect bites. Mosquito nets can be used in the house, in the garden, during a jungle safari and anywhere else where you might find mosquitoes, insects and creepy crawlies.

There are a few things you should keep in mind when deciding to buy a mosquito net.

Size and Shape: You can find mosquito nets of varying sizes and shapes. There are small mosquito nets to cover a baby car seat and then there are large mosquito nets to cover an entire outdoor gazebo. You should select the appropriate size and shape for the purpose required. If you are looking for bed net to ward of mosquitoes while you sleep then a six foot dimension mosquito net is good for king size bed. You also have to choose the shape of the mosquito net - a ceiling hanging net or a net attached to the four poles of a bed post. The shape and size need to be considered carefully for effective use. Standard mosquito nets has holes of 1.2mm x 1.2mm and that is the best option.

Color: Machine made polyester mosquito nets comes in several colors with white being the most common. You might want to select the appropriate color to blend in with your home for aesthetic reasons.

Treatment: Most nets sold nowadays are pre-treated with insecticides for better protection. This is a good thing. You can also find untreated nets but you are better off having a pre-treated mosquito net for better protection.

Composition: You have 2 choices - cotton or polyester netting. Cotton nets are heavier when wet, gets dirty faster and are not as long lasting as the polyester netting.

Now that you understand the different options and varieties between mosquito nets, it should be easy to find the right net to suit your needs and protect your family from disease carrying insects.

Suthep Sachasiri operates the Better Mosquito Nets store where you can find quality mosquito nets for the home and travel at low prices. A percentage of every sale is donated to charities to help fight malaria in Asia and Africa.

What Are the Best Natural Insect Repellents?

Those annoying flying insects are arguably the worst part of the warm summer months. Summer is usually the most anticipated of all the season. There's the vacations, the swimming, hiking, fishing, sports and, last and certainly least are all those bug bites and stings. So, how can we keep those insects away without dumping a bottle of toxic chemicals on our skin and, to all the parents reading this, how can you avoid spraying toxic chemical insect repellents on your kids? 

It is a very difficult decision: expose ourselves to a witch's brew of toxic chemicals or risk being bitten by mosquitoes which could be carrying West Nile Virus and, let's not forget those ticks which carry Lyme disease and who knows what else. Even if the insects are not carrying a deadly pathogen like West Nile or Lyme disease; no one wants to suffer with itchy bug bites all summer. 

So, what are the natural alternatives to chemical insect repellents?

You've already decided that toxic chemicals may be more comfortable than itchy bug bites but it just isn't worth the potential health risks, and you certainly don't want to put up with those bug bites all summer. Well, there are some natural alternatives to toxic insect repellents that work just as well as their chemical cousins. 

Many people use essential oils to promote relaxation and even to induce meditative states or, simply to add a wonderful fragrance to any room.   The following essential oils have proven effective as natural insect repellents:

Lemon - may irritate skin if undiluted

Geranium

Pine

Citronella

Cedar

Rosemary

Basil

Myrrh - also a powerful antimicrobial

Juniper

Use 1/4 teaspoon of any one, or a combination of two or more (ie. 1/8 tsp. lemon + 1/8 tsp. Myrrh) of these essential oils mixed with approximately 2 ounces of 190 proof grain alcohol (available at any liquor store) to make an effective insect repellent. Water can also be used as a substitute for the alcohol although it may not be as effective. Mix the oils and the alcohol/water in a 2 ounce amber glass bottle with a sprayer and shake vigorously before spraying the mixture on exposed skin and/or clothing.

Experiment with the oils to find a combination that you like and remember to test it on a small area of skin before spraying it on larger areas. 

What do you do if you've already been bitten or stung? I have used pure, undiluted eucalyptus oil on bites to relieve itching. Eucalyptus is also a strong antimicrobial which may be absorbed into the skin to kill any nasty pathogens that may have been carried by the insect. Another effective remedy is plantain, which is a very common "weed" that grows on lawns and even on sidewalk cracks and along driveways. Crush the fresh plantain leaves and rub the crushed leaves directly on the bite.

Discover more at Key2Healing.com
Viny A. D'Errico