Insect repellent spray

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1
I'm quite active at tennis and football. Usually I'm on the pitch or court 5 times a week. But after going through the horror of being bitten by these tiny flies here in zurich last summer, I'm desperate to finally try an insect repellent. I had used some when young, but they were sticky and smelt funny. Can anyone recommend any good insect repellent sprays that aren't sticky or smelly? These tiny flesh eating flies get everywhere. they get in eyes, nose, mouth...you name it.

2
Copious amounts of rum. Having drunk so much I have never ever been bothered by them... I swear by it.

3
Your are looking for "anti-brum" spray. Any decent chemist will stock it. There's a range of different ones available for different purposes.

4
What is it with these fking things, im in the garden they're in my face, swim in the lake they're there folllowing me. Crashing into my face. Im sure youre aware they are attracted by the carbon dioxide you exhale. Drives them nuts. Stop breathing and they go away! Well almost. Easier said than done on a tennis court i know.

Try and ensure you get the 'Naturel' formula as opposed to super chemical version!

5
Time to revive an old thread.

I'm traveling to India in October and will visit mostly cities, but also some forest areas so will most probably encounter mosquitoes. I am clear with the information regarding malaria, but would like to avoid mosquito bites in general due to other diseases that are commonly transmitted by them. Having already one auto-immune disease is enough of a challenge for a few weeks stay in India.

I am aware of the existence of Anti-Brumm in Switzerland, but after my experience in South Africa (and just having had lunch with a co-worker who claimed that Anti-Brumm was useless in Brazil), I strongly believe that European products are not as good as many counter-parts from overseas. I tried buying some stuff from Amazon but they do not ship to Switzerland.

So where to buy the "good stuff"? I'm looking for sprays and bracelets.

As always, thankful for any helpful advice!

6
There's only one thing PROVEN to deter mossies and that's DEET. That is the active ingredient in all proper repellents, whether European or whatever. Just find one that has a decent concentration of DEET and they won't touch you. Unless you miss applying it to a few square centimetres of skin in which case they will find the gap.

Typically look for something sold as tropical strength. I've seen up to 50% concentration here, even in Migros. Also if you sweat a lot you will need to reapply it from time to time.

Avoid anything sold as "natural" or "herbal", they don't work (speaking as a natural mosquito magnet myself).

DEET is, however rather nasty stuff. I've seen it dissolve enamal paint

7
Thanks Baboon for your inputs.

On Amazon, I saw some products with DEET in them, concentration varying from 15% to 100%. Among the comments, there were some pictures of what DEET does to plastic and it's truly terrifying, but yes, it seems to work. How that seems to not harm the skin is a mystery to me, though.

Now, my question is, where would you buy this in the area of Zürich? I tried looking at Transa's website but didn't find anything - but will visit store itself as well just in case..

8
+1 on DEET.

Anti-Brumm (& Forte) contain DEET, but I found it less effective than Muskol in Ontario. Anti-Brumm doesn't publish details, but the MSDS for Muskol indicate up to 40% depending on which one you look at.

Basically, you need to bone up on chemical warfare:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/repelli...sn-t-1.1895243

9
That's all fantastic, Jagwaugh, and I'd really love to get my hands on this mosquito-exterminating-wonder-dynamite, but I'm still lacking the largest and most important piece of info yet: where to buy?

I think I'll have to put a cash reward for any tip to leads to successful acquisition of said chemical warfare equipment

10
The Anti-Insect Forte in Migros is 33% DEET and has kept the biting monsters off me in the tropics before

https://www.leshop.ch/leshop/Main.do...t%20repellent/ (for some reason appears in French)

Edit - you can see Anti-Brumm details f you dive in a bit. The "Forte" is 30% DEET.

11
All I found was:

http://www.pharmawiki.ch/wiki/index.php?wiki=DEET

Apparently 30% is the max for CH.

Anti-Brumm forte, applied more regularly than they suggest would probably work.

(And don't wear any scented products: Deo, perfumes, soaps, shampoo or conditioner)

12

I get eaten up easily by those nice flying animals (all of them) so always spray myself in the summer. Anti Brumm Forte is actually not so bad (a lot better than other stuff I have tried). I like Zero Bite a lot as well because it does not smell at all and also has a feel like a Lemon lotion. It has no DEET but is very effective nonetheless! It can be used as a Malaria prophylaxis.

I suggest you try one of those two that are easily available in pharmacies and buy something local in India. Ask for a strong one. That's what I always do.

When I went to South-America I got a Tropical one at the Travelclinic in Zurich ( http://www.travelclinic.ch/index.php/home.html ). Tried once to put some in PET bottle...the bottle melted....

13
I use Jungle Formula - you can get 50% DEET versions.

Absolutely - The plastic on my Swiss Army knife melted. Remember that in your luggage in the plane the air in the bottle will expand and if you've not secured the bottle properly, it'll leak.

14
I'm an airport for mosquitos, and spend a fair bit of time in Greece, so have an arsenal of stuff I take with me. Not all of it is proven to work, but it works for me and has taken several years to (near) perfect.

Start taking odourless garlic capsules a few weeks before you depart and throughout your stay. The jury's out on whether this actually works, but it won't do you any harm and I do start to get biten in the day time if I miss a few days worth.

For the evening / night time chemical attack, I use Johnson's Autan repellent in stick form, not liquid spray. You can really coat the pulse areas so that you give off the scent that repels them. I coat my ankles, inside of my wrists, elbows and the backs of my knees.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autan-Famil.../dp/B000PTKLCI

The only non-Deet application I've had a high degree of success with is this...

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/sho...llent-60083768

Incognito is so good that my OH's mum kept my stash for her own use last summer. It was better for her than any Greek product she's used.

The next 'trick' is a shower gel that works for me. I'd used it for a good while in the UK, but only discovered claims it can help repel mosquitos when I was doing the research that turned up the Incognito result.

https://www.amazon.com/Original-Sour.../dp/B00D4R5F60

The last 'trick' comes from years working in the travel industry. For years, I heard colleagues and clients banging on about Avon 'Skin So Soft'. Then I began to hear the same claims made by cabin crew and ex forces personnel, and how it was "absolutely essential for travel to Thailand".

https://www.avon.uk.com/product/354-...nus-size-250ml

http://www.scotsman.com/news/avon-s-...ines-1-1403152

15
Xandeo, it seems you can order online from abroad via amazon.de, including higher concentrations. For instance here (just a random pick, no idea if that's cheap or expensive) from this amazon list . Or this one for a broader search.

16
Thank you all for your valuable inputs!

Yesterday evening, I decided to visit the Transa store at Europaallée in Zürich, and found several different sprays for sale within a price range of 10-25 francs. The strongest DEET spray I could find had a concentration of 50%, and I even bought the armbands that I personally find extremely useful. There was a sales person who was very friendly and could recommend me the products that I needed.

I'm very happy as I was positively surprised by the prices this time - pretty much in line with what I could find online. So highly recommendable for other forum users in case they need something in Zurich!

Have a good day and thanks again.

17
When there isn't any wind and you aren't moving around much, a drop/squirt in the small of your back, one each at the back of the knees and outside of the elbows, and one at the back of the neck is sometimes enough. You don't have to bathe in the stuff. With a bit of imagination, and modifying how you wipe the persiration off your face etc you can avoid injesting it, or getting it in your eyes.

Also be aware of possible interactions with sunscreen, most bugjuice is compatible, but I have twice discovered that something stopped the sunscreen I was wearing from being effective, and in both cases I suspected the bugjuice and sunscreen weren't working as a team.