Chigger bites are some of the worst bug bites in the world, and not because they’re painful, because you don’t even feel it when it happens!
The intense itching that follows can last for two or three weeks and drive you crazy, clawing at yourself to get rid of them.
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What Are Chigger Repellents?
Insect repellents as a class are chemicals or natural extracts which interfere with a target insect’s ability to smell, see, or hear human or animal hosts. Insects, including chiggers, are attracted by odors or body heat.
Spraying one of those chemicals or natural extracts on your clothes or skin has the effect of inhibiting their ability to detect those odors or body heat, making us effectively invisible to them. This prevents them from attacks us.
Chemicals such as DEET, Bifenthrin, and Cyfluthrin are effective against chiggers. DEET comes in a variety of different sprays intended to be applied to your skin and clothes, while the other two are pesticides to be sprayed around the yard, in grassy areas, bushes, and trees. Permethrin is also used as an insect repellent.
A number of essential oils such as lemon eucalyptus, lemongrass, lavender, and citronella have bug repellent properties as well. They also provide a measure of itch relief when sprayed on your skin.
Do Chigger Repellents Really Work and Are They Effective?
Avoiding tall grass, where chiggers can’t jump or fly onto you, is your first and best bet. Short grass, trimmed bushes, and manicured flower beds allow too much sunlight and air to dry out the damp soil conditions chiggers prefer. At home, a well-mowed yard is the best way to prevent an infestation of them.
However, you are probably like most of our readers and live an active lifestyle. When you’re hiking through a grassy area, long pants with plenty of bug spray on them and your boots or shoes will go a long way toward keeping the little critters off of you.
An excellent mosquito repellent, chigger repellent, or any other repellent for bugs only works if it is applied correctly. If you spray it off-target or don’t cover all the openings in your clothes, it can’t do its job. It can have the best active ingredient in the world but unless it’s where it needs to be, you might as well be putting water in a spray bottle.
How Do You Find The Best Chigger Repellent?
Our staff at Today’s Homeowner is composed of licensed pest control technicians who spent decades crawling under houses to kill termites, suiting up in hazmat suits to kill bed bugs and bees, and having roaches drop on them when they entered infested houses for a cleanout job.
Killing bugs is what we do and our years of experience have provided us with real-world examples of what works and what doesn’t. We put all that knowledge to work finding the best way to repel chiggers than pass it on to you.
We’ll tell you right now that putting nail polish on the bite to suffocate the chigger is a lost cause. By the time you feel the itching, the chigger is usually long gone. We don’t know where this urban legend came from but it’s no more credible than the tooth fairy.
How To Use A Chigger Repellent
Ready-to-use sprays come in pump spray bottles, already premixed. Wear knee-high socks and spray them before you put your pants on. Spray inside the bottom 3-4 inches of your pants legs. After you put your pants on, spray the entire length of each leg, stopping just before you reach the groin area.
Spray your shoes or boots inside and out. You don’t have to spray the inner soles, but the tongue and the upper part of the boots around the ankle, do need to be sprayed on the inside. Chiggers are so small they can easily fit into tight spaces. Spraying keeps them out.
Wear a long sleeve shirt and spray them from the collar up to the shoulders, then down the front where the shirt buttons. You can spray the outside of the collar then wait a minute or two for it to dry before putting it on.
Spray it on your hands then rub it on your arms, neck, and cheeks. Never try to spray your face or neck. If some of it gets in your mouth or nose, you’ll feel like you just drank kerosene. If you’ve ever siphoned gas and gotten some in your mouth, you know what we’re talking about.
Skin lotions leave stains on clothing so this one should only be used when you’re at the beach or swimming pool. This is not calamine lotion, by the way. Calamine lotion is good for relieving the itchiness of a chigger bite, but not for repelling them.
We’ve included one liquid concentrate on our list. The directions on the label have the force of law behind them so the mixing and usage directions are mandatory. The pest control industry has a saying, the label is the law because it is.
Follow the mixing instructions, usually in a 1-gallon pump-up sprayer. Once it is thoroughly mixed, start at the foundation of the house and spray a gradually widening band all the way around it, increasing the distance from the house each time you go around.
Continue circling the house until you’ve sprayed the entire yard. Depending on the size of the yard it might take several gallons. Only spray after the grass has been cut and on a day when it’s not supposed to rain.
Once the pesticide dries, if it’s a man-made chemical, it will be good for up to 60-90 days. If it’s an essential oil or all-natural product, it will only last until the first hard rain. Then it will be washed away and you’ll have to re-spray the yard.
Are Chigger Repellents Safe Around My Pets And Children?
Yes and no. It depends on the active ingredient. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends not using products containing DEET on children under two months old, even while admitting the EPA hasn’t issued any guidelines regarding age limitations.
Essential oils actually do have some age limitations on them in spite of being all-natural and we’ll cover those as we come to them. The bottom line is if you don’t feel safe putting something on your newborn, don’t.
Top 5 Best Chigger Repellent
- Natrapel Insect Repellent Spray
- Sawyer Products Premium Permethrin Insect Repellent
- Bug Soother Natural Insect Repellent
- Ranger Ready Repellent
- Wondercide EcoTreat – Natural Outdoor Pest Control Concentrate
Natrapel Insect Repellent Spray
This insect repellent spray from Natrapel uses the best natural ingredients to repel chiggers and other biting pests. It’s DEET-free concentrated formula is CDC-approved, and it’s safe to use around children and pets.
Natrapel Insect Repellent Spray is safe to use on clothing, camping gear, and backpacks. This EPA-registered product even works well for mosquitoes. It’s convenient spray applicator also makes it easy to apply at any angle.
Sawyer Products Premium Permethrin Insect Repellent
Chiggers are resilient pests and will attach to clothing and camping gear to bite you later on if necessary. Permethrin is one of the top pesticides to use for killing these pests, and this product is an excellent choice for treating your clothing, shoes, and camping/outdoor gear to repel chiggers.
All you have to do is coat the spray along all of your clothing, shoes, and accessories to keep chiggers from clinging to the material. The product lasts up to six weeks or six wash cycles and is free of unpleasant odors. Once the chiggers crawl through the spray, they quickly crawl right off to avoid dying.
Chigger repellents need to be able to repel, but it also helps to have a product that can kill them if they are stubborn and won’t crawl off. Best of all, this product will also repel mosquitoes, spiders, ticks, and other types of mites.
Bug Soother Natural Insect Repellent
Finally, be rid of chiggers and other biting insects with this highly effective repellent spray from Bug Soother. It contains just the right blend of natural ingredients to chase most biting pests away quickly.
It’s easy to take with you anywhere, and the convenient spray bottle contains no aerosols. So it’s entirely safe for children, pets, and the environment.
Bug Soother uses only the best essential oil ingredients, including lemongrass, castor oil, and natural vanilla extract.
Take it anywhere you may encounter chiggers, gnats, or mosquitoes. Bug Soother Natural Insect repellent is made in the U.S. and comes with a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee.
Ranger Ready Repellent
Ranger Ready Repellent utilizes the latest bug-repelling technology for use on clothing, camping equipment, and other outdoor gear. This powerful formula uses permethrin 0.5% to keep most insects away, including:
- Chiggers
- Ticks
- Mosquitoes
- Gnats
- Crawling insects
Ranger Ready Repellent lasts up to 40 days and won’t stain most fabrics. Furthermore, it’s easy to apply using the 360-degree sprayer.
Wondercide EcoTreat – Natural Outdoor Pest Control Concentrate
Wondercide is the all-natural alternative to Tempo. The active ingredient is cedarwood essential oil. It repels and kills ants, chiggers, chinch bugs, crickets, fleas, flies, gnats, Japanese beetles, mosquitoes, no-see-ums, roaches, scorpions, ticks, and more.
This 16-ounce bottle can be diluted with water to treat up to 8,000 square feet of lawn gardens, flowers, siding, vegetables, brick, and paint. Because there aren’t any harsh chemicals in it, there’s no waiting for it to dry. Your children and pets can play right away.
It has the added benefit of being safe for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. It washes away easily when it rains though, so you’ll have to respray each time.
If you’re looking for professional pest control help, use the tool below to get estimates from local professionals:
