Natural Mosquito Repellent: Which is the Best?
A couple of years ago, while driving through Central Asia, I found myself locked in a daily fight with a billion mosquitoes – a fight I lost much more than I won. My only weapon in this war was my trusty DEET mosquito repellent, which I sprayed liberally on myself and around the car to deter the annoying little beasties.
After a couple of weeks on the road I noticed something odd: the car was melting. Every plastic surface bubbled and blistered. The air-conditioner vents fell off. My steering wheel was rough to the touch. The car was a mess.
It was only much later that I realised that my mosquito repellent was the culprit. DEET, you see, is a harsh solvent, and while it can be successful in keeping mosquitoes at bay it also dissolves any plastic surface it comes into contact with. If my mosquito repellent was strong enough to melt my car, I thought, what’s it doing to my skin? From that point on I pledged to stop using DEET based sprays, and from then on I’ve used only natural mosquito repellent.
For the past few months I’ve been living in the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand and, since our mosquitoes don’t carry malaria in this part of the country, I decided there was little risk in experimenting with various natural mosquito repellent options. If I used one that didn’t seem to work I’d only have a few annoying itches to deal with (rather than delirium, coma and ultimate death).
After a little trial and error I managed to narrow down my list to the top 5 natural mosquito repellents available today. Here are my picks…
Top 5 Best Natural Mosquito Repellent
Burt’s Bees Herbal Insect Repellent
This was a bit of an interesting ‘double-edged sword’ natural mosquito repellent. It seemed 100% successful in keeping away mosquitoes, but it also seemed to attract ants. I mean seriously attract ants. We have an enormous ant problem at our house – if we put any food down for more than a few minutes we’ll see a long line of the little buggers snaking across the floor – so any mosquito repellent that attracts ants won’t be popular in my house.
This mosquito repellent was also a little oily for my liking. It comes out of the bottle in a squirt rather than a spray, so you have to rub it into your skin yourself. I don’t know… I like the smell, and it seems to do a good job, but the cons outweigh the pros.
All Terrain Herbal Armor DEET-Free Natural Insect Repellent Spray
This natural mosquito repellent was perfect for me, as it’s designed specifically for active lifestyles. I go running every morning through the streets of Chiang Mai, and a mixture of exertion and the Thai humidity leaves me dripping with sweat after just a few minutes. All-Terrain repellent is sweat- and water-resistant, so I didn’t have to reapply it after returning home.
Of course, ‘water-resistant’ is far from ‘water-proof’. It’s the wet season right now in this part of Thailand, and I found that a quick rain shower was enough to wash away the last traces.
Amazon Lights Natural Insect Repellent Garden Sticks
One of the prime ‘bite zones’ around my house is out on the balcony. My place is a little old and ramshackle, so the balcony is always covered in a puddle from dripping gutter water – and mosquitoes loooove standing water. These citronella incense sticks are great solution. Each stick burns for around two and a half hours, and they seem to work perfectly. They don’t kill insects, but they keep them well away, and the sticks are produced using fair trade materials and labour.
The only problem with this particular mosquito repellent is that it doesn’t work too great when the wind picks up. They’re great on a still evening, but I think my neighbours got the benefit more than myself whenever a light breeze came along.
Best Yet Natural Mosquite Repellent Spray
This mozzie spray is advertised as suitable for pets as well as people, and I was interested to see how my cat would react to a little spritz. Poorly, is the answer.
As far as I’m concerned, though, Best Yet seems to do the job quite well. The spray keeps away mosquitoes for around two hours before you need to reapply it, and the cedar smell is quite nice. I will say that it isn’t for everyone, as my girlfriend’s sensitive nose prefers a more neutral aroma.
Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Natural Insect Repellent
I used this for a weekend camping trip up in the mountains at Doi Suthep, and before I left I almost packed some DEET-based repellent as a backup. The mozzies are thick up in the mountains, and natural mosquito repellent, unfortunately, usually doesn’t offer the same level of protection as the hardcore plastic-melting stuff. As it happens, I entirely forgot to pack the DEET, so I arrived at my camping spot with some trepidation. The last time I went into the mountains with a natural mosquito repellent I came back with blistered ankles, and I rubbed my skin raw in my sleep.
Well, I was amazed. The Repel spray performed just as well as any DEET-based spray I’ve ever used. I got a few bites, sure, but after spraying this on myself and all my gear I created an almost impenetrable mosquito-free zone around my tent. The only bites I got were when I went on a hike into the forest, and I expect I managed to sweat off the protection of the spray.
So, while all of these natural mosquito repellents do a pretty good job of keeping away the bugs, far and away the most effective is Repel. I’ve been using it since the camping trip, and it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve had any serious bites. Perfect.
