Soaking Clothes In Permethrin

[Royal27]

Curious if anyone does this. After soaking I hang mine out in the yard for a week. That stuff STINKS!

Yes! LOL

At least for a day or two. Once it is totally dry I will also throw it in the washing machine and rinse, then rehang. I'm sure that the dryer wont hurt it but my OCD cant take that chance and I want if as fresh as can be before the trip.

 

[sgt_zim]

Misleading name as Permethrin isn't a repellent. It kills.

Course if it kills before they bite then the point is moot I suppose.

Pyrethrin and its analogs are repellents and insecticides, so sayeth my dad, the PhD entomologist.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Curious if anyone does this. After soaking I hang mine out in the yard for a week. That stuff STINKS!

Ooohhh Yeah!! On a sunny, 80°F, day my clothes may take a few hours to dry, but they stay outside till near dark to help air out the odorance de permethrin, then into a vacuum sealed bag and into (1 set into each bag) check bag and carry-on bag.

First item out of my bags at the lodge and hung outside to air some more.

Got to hand it to the laundry ladies, I think they wash my sprayed clothing at least twice, because when I hang them up the permethrin odor is almost non noticeable.

 

[Chukar]

I am goin to fly to Johannesburg and the hunt in Limpopo with my brother in a couple of days.

I just soaked my hunting clothes in permethrin 0.5% home made solution and waiting for them to dry. Are there any safety concerns regarding permethrin? Thanks for any advice

Sjakon
View attachment 330303

As long as you are sure that your 0.5% solution is actually a 0.5% solution you should be just fine. Safety of use, especially with a "topical" touching skin dose is broad. If you start breaking out in a rash you will know that your maths were wrong.....

I dont know if it was because of the mix I used or just a little sensitive, but I broke out with a slight rash on my arms and legs the first day. After 2 washings and putting on long john's and long sleeve t shirt my rash and itching cleared up after a couple of days.

Either a rash from permethrin or I from a patch of African poison ivy.

It was a 25% perm/75% water,(in a 20 ounce spray bottle) and wetted--not dampened my clothes and boots.

It was the mix you used and you got a nice touch of contact dermatitis. You don't really include the original percentage of permethrin, but I would guess that you were way over 0.5%.

Easiest way to circumvent this for everyone is to just use the Sawyer's product. It may take two bottles to get a trips clothing treated ($32 dollars on REI as of today) but it is brainless and it works.

If you like the maths and have a DIY mentality, please educate yourself on dilutions and do it safely!

http://www.mathcentre.ac.uk/resources/uploaded/diluting-a-solution.pdf

On the internet you can score an 8 oz. bottle of 10% permethrin for around $16. That should cover you for many trips in any nasty bitey sort of place

 

[Sjakon]

I've used the Sawyer brand spray many times and swear by it. After my last safari I think it lasts through about 4 washes. The reason I say this is that I only used two sets of clothes for the most part and toward the end of a 13 day safari I got some mosquito bites but none at the beginning. I also proved the worth of the Avon skin so soft lotion that is sunscreen and insect repellent. It worked nearly flawlessly on tetse flies.
I can not recommend a DIY permethrin as if you get it wrong and get some skin irritation it could ruin your safari. Its best to buy Sawyer as its proven to work and be the right concentration.
Have a great safari!
Philip

Thank you Philip

 

[Sjakon]

As long as you are sure that your 0.5% solution is actually a 0.5% solution you should be just fine. Safety of use, especially with a "topical" touching skin dose is broad. If you start breaking out in a rash you will know that your maths were wrong.....



It was the mix you used and you got a nice touch of contact dermatitis. You don't really include the original percentage of permethrin, but I would guess that you were way over 0.5%.

Easiest way to circumvent this for everyone is to just use the Sawyer's product. It may take two bottles to get a trips clothing treated ($32 dollars on REI as of today) but it is brainless and it works.

If you like the maths and have a DIY mentality, please educate yourself on dilutions and do it safely!

http://www.mathcentre.ac.uk/resources/uploaded/diluting-a-solution.pdf

On the internet you can score an 8 oz. bottle of 10% permethrin for around $16. That should cover you for many trips in any nasty bitey sort of place

Yes, I bought half a liter of 20% permethrin for $7 here and diluted it with 19.5 liters of water. Looked a scary white color but I guess it is OK. After leaving my clothes out to dry for 24 hours I can’t smell the stuff anymore. Off to Joburg and Limpopo tomorrow night

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

 

[sestoppelman]

U.S. Military thinks it's ok to soak.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://phc.amedd.army.mil/PHC%20Resource%20Library/DoDInsectRepellentSystemandPermethrinTreatmentofMilitaryUniforms_FS-18-082-0317.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiwvsLe3NTnAhUFSq0KHSQFCjMQFjABegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw27dwC2HmDVsErGgB23ISCO

Sawyers is great. Don't get me wrong. But it's way over priced. You can get the same for much less as long as you can follow directions. If you dont know how to follow dilution instructions then use it for sure. If you do, then you can have the same product for less money.

I like simple, I'm a simple guy. Premixed out of the bottle, read the instructions, (yes I can read), spray it on, good to go. I figure every few years I can afford to pop for a couple bottles of Sawyers, its part of the over all cost of safari.
As to this horrible smell I keep reading about? WTH are you guys talking about? I have a very good sniffer and honestly I cant recall ever smelling this stuff at all while spraying it or on my clothes, other than a slight odor of solvent, a not unpleasant smell while still in the bottle.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

As to this horrible smell I keep reading about? WTH are you guys talking about? I have a very good sniffer and honestly I cant recall ever smelling this stuff at all while spraying it or on my clothes, other than a slight odor of solvent, a not unpleasant smell while still in the bottle.

Yah I'm not going to get in an argument of what way you want to use Permethrin or whether it's worth saving a few bucks to make your own solution. So use what you want.

But if you're method involves such a horrid smell, I think I'll stick with the Sawyers. I'm with @sestoppelman on this odor thing. There's just a light odor with the Sawyers and once dried is virtually gone. After one wash, completely gone. And the smell isn't some horrible offensive aroma.

I ordered a bottle off of Amazon for like $15 and treated two sets of hunting clothes, including socks with it. Good enough for a 10 day hunt.

 

[MMAL]

Sawyer twin 24 oz bottles on Amazon is $29. A 32 oz of 36.8% permiethrin is $31. That 32 oz bottle makes @2,350 oz of solution. I have the same 32oz bottle for 4 years now.

The dilution is really simple. 2 teaspoons or cap fulls in my case for a 20 oz spray bottle. You get a little more than .5%

 

[Royal27]

But if you're method involves such a horrid smell, I think I'll stick with the Sawyers.

The intensity of the odor has to do with the amount used. Buy two gallons of Sawyers, dump it in a bucket, soak the clothes, and hang them up in your garage and I bet you'll notice the smell.

Conversely, when I take the leftovers and use them in a spray bottle I dont notice a smell either.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

The intensity of the odor has to do with the amount used. Buy two gallons of Sawyers, dump it in a bucket, soak the clothes, and hang them up in your garage and I bet you'll notice the smell.

Conversely, when I take the leftovers and use them in a spray bottle I dont notice a smell either.

If the spray bottle gets the job done with no smell........

 

[Royal27]

If the spray bottle gets the job done with no smell........

Its not like the smell drives you away or doesnt go away once dried. This is a concern over a problem that doesnt exist.

Soaking lasts for months and is less expensive when you mix your own. Heck you can even get factory treated clothing with Permethrin now. That's what the military has moved to. Bet they dont do that with spray bottle dusting.

You're an engineer, which method do you think is more effective at total coverage of the clothing and likely lasts longer?

Again, if people are happy with Sawyers use it it's easier no doubt. Just remember to keep spraying and hope it doesnt quit working half way through your trip.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Good "how-to" article from Consumer Reports:
https://www.consumerreports.org/insect-repellent/how-to-use-permethrin-on-clothing-safely/

One thing I'll add: When I soak my clothes, I then place into a plastic bag for a day or two so they won't dry too fast. I read this somewhere and supposedly it makes the treatment last longer, through several washings. After soaking damp in the plastic bag for a day or so, then hang up to dry.

fyi........when I hunted in Yukon, the horses received a daily treatment of "Wipe", sort of a sponge bath to keep the flies and mosquitoes away from the horse and rider.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Its not like the smell drives you away or doesnt go away once dried. This is a concern over a problem that doesnt exist.

Soaking lasts for months and is less expensive when you mix your own. Heck you can even get factory treated clothing with Permethrin now. That's what the military has moved to. Bet they dont do that with spray bottle dusting.

You're an engineer, which method do you think is more effective at total coverage of the clothing and likely lasts longer?

Again, if people are happy with Sawyers use it it's easier no doubt. Just remember to keep spraying and hope it doesnt quit working half way through your trip.

I'd guess the factory treated stuff would last longer, but I really don't care. I guess I should be more worried about tics here in the U.S., but I never seem to have a problem here. Now I have in Africa. But I only go there every couple years or thereabouts, and for a limited time. So the spray works for me even if I'm overpaying a few bucks. I could save that and more with one or two less cigars per year.......

As far as the smell goes, I'm not the one who mentioned it. I wouldn't have because it's never been a problem with the spray bottle. Really the only reason I even posted in this thread.

Again I'm not arguing one way or another for whatever anyone wants to use, we're talking bug spray here.

 

[Tbitty]

I would guess duration of hunt, number of outfits being treated, and spraying vs soaking would probably be the factors for what makes sense. I did a 7 day trip, 2 sets of clothes, and 1 $15 bottle of spray was all I needed. Plus I had leftover for dove/Turkey/deer hunting in the fall. Might be a small waste of money, but I can afford a $15 bottle of Sawyers for each trip to Africa, or once a year for here in the states.

If you want to soak your clothes, or need any more than a bottle a year, mixing your own is probabaly worthwhile.

 

[Tbitty]

And likewise, I didn't notice any smell, even while spraying it on.

 

[BobT]

I use the Sawyers and it works okay, seldom have a tick problem. I go through a couple of cans a year between turkey, squirrel and early archery deer hunting. I used as directed before going to Tanzania for a 10 day hunt, I rotated 3 sets of clothes and never saw a tick other than on a animal and didn't see mosquito 1.

I also proved the worth of the Avon skin so soft lotion that is sunscreen and insect repellent. It worked nearly flawlessly on tetse flies.

I took this along also and tried it out on the Tsetse flies, they seemed to thrive on it, sort of like seasoning their food!

 

[Philip Glass]

I use the Sawyers and it works okay, seldom have a tick problem. I go through a couple of cans a year between turkey, squirrel and early archery deer hunting. I used as directed before going to Tanzania for a 10 day hunt, I rotated 3 sets of clothes and never saw a tick other than on a animal and didn't see mosquito 1.



I took this along also and tried it out on the Tsetse flies, they seemed to thrive on it, sort of like seasoning their food!

I can say it worked for me. In fact one of the days I was sick I forgot to put the Avon stuff on and that evening I noticed I had been eaten up by tetses. Also most days I had no trouble and my PH was always fighting them.
Maybe I’m not too sweet to start with!