NickM

Really great site.

My first post here. hmm, kind of long for a newbie. oops...

I'm a hobby naturalist in Dallas and love going into the woods and high grass even in high summer. Nutty? Maybe but there is just so much to see, photograph and video.

This post is not about treating chigger bites, but preventing them. Being a known chigger magnet I (like many of you) have tried everything ever suggested. One day someone will discover a real chigger repellent and make millions. In the mean time, the quest continues.

Any new suggestions or opinions on any of this would be really appreciated. My overall favorite blocker is at the bottom. Here are my opinions on some preventative measures.

DEET - doesn't work at all. chiggers don't look for you by scent. They are brushed onto you. Too late.

PERMYTHRIN - too weak. Chiggers are very fast moving and desparately hungry.

SULFUR CREAM - no benefit at all. Tried the stuff sold in military px.

SULFUR POWDER - Reduces number of bites. Always bitten though. For example, with powder 30 bites, without >100.

TUCKED IN PANTS - Does nothing in an infested area or anywhere with chiggers for that matter. This just channels the chiggers to your socks, which is disasterous.

NUDE - very few bites but badly sunburned.

RHINOSKIN - Limited benefit. When stretched under a magnifying glass (15x) the fabric holes become significantly larger than chiggers, allowing them access. A bit better than sulphur powder. Exceedingly uncomfortable in the heat. Pretty uncomfortable any time.

In fact, one day, I applied sulphur cream, wore permathrin treated rhinoskin (full body), permathrin treated clothes and then sprayed with DEET, all at the same time. I ended up with about 30 bites, most on the left side.

and the winner is...

Mineral oil?

In my humble experience, this stuff creates a completely impenetrable barrier. I wear shorts and spread unscented mineral oil on my lower legs and ankles (Yuck you say?). I thought so too, expecting it to make me hot and itchy. In 95+ degrees, I cannot even feel that it is on. There is no sensation associated with wearing mineral oil, at least not on your legs.

You can't wear socks since they will soak it up and the biters will reach skin. I wear some really basic, thin-fabric lace-less shoes over oily ankles, like these:

Rocket Dog Native - Natural - Free Shipping & Return Shipping

As the day progresses, little black specs start appearing in the oil coating, which, by the end of the day becomes the la brea tar pit for hundreds of flying and crawling biters.

If you want to take a hike in a chigger infested area, you might try shorts and some mineral oil. Chiggers can't crawl on it and definately can't swim through it.

JohnK

Great post, NickM, and welcome to Wild Texas! Lots of useful info in there. I like the idea of using something as innocuous as mineral oil as a chigger deterent. I imagine you have to towel it off at the end of your outing in order to avoid greasing up the car seats, right? Do you apply it over sunblock?

JohnK

NickM

Thanks for the response. A towel on the car seat is mandatory part of this routine. Mineral oil on car fabric is a serious problem. A towel works perfectly. Caution is needed when applying it. Cleaning up spilled mineral oil is no fun. Once home, I paper towel it off (the easy part) and hop in a bath. Even in the heat, the coating stayed on my legs where I applied it.

Last year was my first time using mineral oil. I'm trying to remember what I did with sunscreen. I usually use the spf 30 clear liquid pump since its so easy to put on. Sunscreens don't mix well with mineral oil. I seem to remember them separating on my legs and so instead I just kept my lower legs out of the direct sun. This year I may try to apply the clear 30 first and let it dry. Maybe the mineral oil will work over that. Chiggers are already starting to come out in Texas so this will be soon.

Ok. I was chicken to say this before but here's the rest of the story. There is one other exposure, so to speak. Since I only used mineral oil on the lower legs, chiggers are easily able to land on your upper legs and, well travel north. Being this is Texas, the solution really kills 2 birds with 1 stone. If you're willing to forego the (embarrassed smiley) undies and add a little mineral oil to where chiggers might be headed, you avoid getting bitten, well where chiggers have been known to bite people. Also, it is a cool (ahhh...) secret that you don't have to share with your baking hot friends.

Sorry

I'm not too proud and I love the Texas outdoors too much to miss it just for chiggers. The freedom to stay out all day is entirely worth the effort.

Shannon

Wow! Welcome to Wild Texas -- fabulous first post, and so timely! My poor chicklet (one-year-old, Sara) has three chigger bites she mysteriously picked up after a fifteen minute jaunt in my parents' backyard yesterday after the rains. We stayed out of tall grass and the like, but my dad did some brush cutting and removing recently so I guess the chiggers were displaced every which way. Obviously with a one-year-old preventive options are limited, but I love the mineral oil idea and will have to try that during our camping trip this Friday ('cuz apparently my little sweetie is a chigger magnet like her daddy; Justin has the same experiences you do when we're out in the 'wilds'.)

I used mineral oil to help soften scar tissue after knee surgery, and during pregnancy and post-pregnancy to minimize/mitigate stretchmarks and taut, painful skin, so I already know the wonders of it and how you don't feel it.

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srds

Thanks we will have to try it,our lit'l ones seem to be chigger magnets also. Welcome to Wild Texas and great post.

srds
Have Fun

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honeask

Thanks for the great post and welcome also. I think I can attract chiggers sitting on my back patio just looking at the grass. I have had some luck with OFF when I know I am going out to my back pasture. Chiggers have ruined many a good memory of an outing for me. Thanks again.

Sandy

srds

Last time Ds got attacked, doctor told us to put Vicks Vapor Rub to stop the itching and it helped alot.

srds
Have Fun

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MissionCamper

Nude? You mean, like, scare them away?

DEET has worked well for me, though I require no less than 40%.

kmerian

When I hike through thick brush that will contain chiggers. I prefer to wear BDU pants tucked into my hiking boots. They are comfortable, loose and have a lot of pockets.

Also, I have never had problems with chiggers in my socks doing that. And it minimizes the amount of chemicals I have to use. Only having to spray my arms.