Mosquito Repelling clothing

Mosquito Repelling clothing

As mosquito borne diseases continue to ravage the world, more proactive steps are being taken to control mosquitoes, one of such steps being the introduction of mosquito repelling clothes. If you live in areas with high density of mosquito population, taking preventive measures against mosquitoes becomes a necessity not an option. It’s true wearing mosquito repelling offers some sort of question from mosquitoes but the question is; how effective is mosquito repelling clothing? How does it work? Is it really worth the cost? This and many more are some questions we will try to provide answers to in this article but first, let’s know what mosquito repelling clothing is all about.

How anti-mosquito clothing work

Use of sprays, traps and repelling clothes are some of the control techniques currently used to keep mosquitoes at bay. Anti-mosquito clothing were first used by the military and were given to military personnel stationed at post heavily infested with mosquitoes. With time, some individuals saw a business opportunity and so decided to start manufacturing anti-mosquito fabric for the consuming market.

Mosquito repelling clothing is nothing more than an ordinary piece of clothing material that has been treated with a pesticide, in most cases permethrin. Permethrin is a naturally occurring compound which is found in chrysanthemum flowers. Permethrin is actively used in making anti-mosquito fabrics primarily due to its ability to resist wear and remain effective even in the harshest of weathers. Also, the compound poses no health risk because it does not react with the human skin neither does it cause any allergic reaction. Furthermore, major regulatory bodies like the EPA has stated that permethrin laden clothing are perfectly safe and so can be worn by babies, toddlers and expectant mothers.

Limitations of anti-mosquito fabrics

Since areas of the body like the face, hands and neck will be exposed even while wearing protective clothing, wearing mosquito treated clothing isn’t to be relied solely upon. Also, there will always be times when wearing a protective clothing won’t just be possible – bedtime is a typical example. Mosquitoes unlike we humans do not sleep, and it is during those times when we are whisked away to the realms of the unknown that they are most active.

It is important you note that anti-mosquito clothing will lose their repelling power if washed frequently, and so will need to be treated with permethrin over and over again.

Is mosquito repellent clothing really worth it?

While we can’t deny the fact that protective clothing are limited in several ways, what we know for sure is that they do work. You would be setting yourself up for a big-time disappointment by expecting that by wearing protective fabrics, all your mosquito problems would be gone. The best you can do is to use them in combination with other mosquito control tactics like cultivating mosquito repellent plants in your yard or garden, using mosquito traps, installing mosquito misting system and a host of others.

So, the next time you are going for an expedition in the wild, you might as well take a mosquito repellent clothing along.