Dealing with No-See-Ums?

My wife is getting bitten on our boat, even when the boat is closed up tight with the aircon running. Interestingly, the little buggers don't bite me.

Is there a way to exterminate no-see-ums inside the boat, preferably without inhaling toxic chemicals?

David

My wfe is also susceptible to no-see-ums and I am not, where as mosquitos get me and not her.

Our boat stays open but screened. Our screens are not the small no-see-um mesh (so we actually get air flow), so I treated all the screens with Permethrin. You could also use it anywhere else you think the ingress is happening (engine room vents, head exhaust fans when not runnng, etc.

Worked very well all through central/South America which is where all the no-see-ums seemed to be. No runs in yet in the Eastern Caribbean, just mosquitos.

Usually don’t bother me either
Wife likes “skin so soft”
Says it works

That's why we keep girls around.

J/K...

In my area they can be real bad in the cockpit, but in the salon they rarely come in unless boat is all the way opened up. Just the pilot house door open, not too bad. And I have no screens except port lights in cabins.

Skin so soft sorta works. I put it on and no help. The girls seem to think it works.

Close up the boat for sleep and run the snot out of the ac and that seems to solve the problem.

I've heard Canadian bugs are a different breed, though... You must be down south somewhere??

Is that you and how you solve the bug problem?

Impressive.

Ski in NC said:

That's why we keep girls around.

I've heard Canadian bugs are a different breed, though... You must be down south somewhere??

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Oh yes, Canadian mosquitoes and black flies are in a class of their own.

We are however currently in the Okeechobee waterway.

David

OK, here's how to get rid of them.

Get some Permethrin, and get the 36.8% stuff. Probably have to order online as most local shops don't stock the 36.8% and are very expensive.

Also called Tengard Permethrin.

I use to buy it in the 5 qt containers, and now I just get a quart on Amazon for about $25 and last me a year.

I treat the lawn about 3x a year with a 1.6 oz per 1 gal of water solution. Run thu a garden hose with a metering bottle. Hose water is about 2 gal a minute so you can figure out how much to use.

You can spray the boat with a hose or a garden sprayer or even a spray bottle. The goal is to get things real wet with the solution. DO NOT spray metal items like appliances, hardware railings, etc. It will tarnish them, but if you hit some, flush it off with water. But you can spray floors, wood, walls, carpet, drapes furniture, screens, seats, etc. It's somewhat toxic until it dries then non toxic (so hide the cat).

It's the same stuff you make insect proof clothes with and you can make your own, soaking your clothes in a solution and hanging them up to dry... good for about 10 washings. Do not spray on your body. If you must spray your body, us a product containing deet.

For the boat, do a few treatments to "condition" your boat.

It works very well. I've been using it for years in the no see um capital of the world, hot, wet and no wind days.

Now, if you're out on the water, they should be minimal, but get close to land where there's vegetation and standing shallow water, hold on you your hat... they'll carry you off.

Great info Seevee.
Living in St. Pete we are constantly being barraged by them. At $25 it's worth a try. They used to just like me but now the wife is complaining so I better get something done soon.

Eat more kosher dill pickles, the vinegar changes the latic acid content on your skin. They love fruit eaters; cut back on the bananas.

a friend of mine use to keep a rag soaked in fabric softener, every now and then he would wipe down arms and back of neck, he use to swear by it..... im not so sure i want to walk around among others smelling like downy

i have a theory that female deodorant might have a part to play in the attraction to the women folk....... and some of men folk as well

maybe try an unscented variety, or even better, a natural salt crystal..... it wont stop the sweat, but it kills the stink just as good as the fancy stuff

In the Keys, we found "Skintastic" (Johnson Wax OFF brand) with 7% DEET to work well against no-see-ums, aka "Flying Teeth". I was told that it's basically Skin-So-Soft with the addition of DEET so it can be sold as an insect repellent. Comes in both a spray bottle liquid and a lotion - both seem to work well.

This ^^^^^^^

DEET for green heads, black flies, and mosquitos. I spray it in my hand and then rub it on. I don't like aerosols. My wife doesn't like toxic chemicals or smelly ones, or greasy ones, but she doesn't like swatting bugs all day either. Skin-So-Soft has never worked on anything. She has tried misc. natural repellents without success.

If someone marketed an SPF50 cream based non-toxic repellent they would clean up.

SoWhat said:

DEET for green heads, black flies, and mosquitos. I spray it in my hand and then rub it on. I don't like aerosols. My wife doesn't like toxic chemicals or smelly ones, or greasy ones, but she doesn't like swatting bugs all day either. Skin-So-Soft has never worked on anything. She has tried misc. natural repellents without success.

If someone marketed an SPF50 cream based non-toxic repellent they would clean up.

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Keeping my boat currently in the Merrimack river I can empathize and agree that if something repels Greenheads, it must be good. Repelling Greenheads usually requires some pretty serious DEET. For those unfamiliar with the area "Greenheads" are a type of horsefly that thrive in marshes.

Ken

SoWhat said:

If someone marketed an SPF50 cream based non-toxic repellent they would clean up.

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Bullfrog makes bug spray/sunscreen combo:

https://www.amazon.com/Bull-Frog-Sunblock-Repellent-Mosquito/dp/B000HQKZM0

SoWhat said:

............ If someone marketed an SPF50 cream based non-toxic repellent they would clean up.

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Perhaps, but why use a combination product if you don't need the other chemicals?

It's best to use sunscreen when you need sunscreen and insect repellent when you need insect repellent. Buy some of each.

We spray permethrin, heavy duty solution for horses that is sold at Tractor Supply plus, in some cases, coils. I like the smell of the coils.

SoWhat said:

DEET for green heads, black flies, and mosquitos. I spray it in my hand and then rub it on. I don't like aerosols. My wife doesn't like toxic chemicals or smelly ones, or greasy ones, but she doesn't like swatting bugs all day either. Skin-So-Soft has never worked on anything. She has tried misc. natural repellents without success.

If someone marketed an SPF50 cream based non-toxic repellent they would clean up.

Click to expand...

LOT OF 3 AVON Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus IR3535 SPF 30 Insect Repellent Lotions 4 fl oz
Amazon $17.89
Going to give this a try.. The wife will let us know

If you look up this issue in consumer reports, you will learn that products containing the highest amounts of deet work best. When I was in the army, many swore by skin so soft. It was often rumored that Rangers and special forces use this. Consumer reports found that skin so soft has almost 0 effect on mosquitoes and gnats.

Gordon J said:

If you look up this issue in consumer reports, you will learn that products containing the highest amounts of deet work best. When I was in the army, many swore by skin so soft. It was often rumored that Rangers and special forces use this. Consumer reports found that skin so soft has almost 0 effect on mosquitoes and gnats.

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When I lived in FLA, I spent quite a bit of time in the Everglades and other swamp land. Skin so Soft in no way repelled any biting bug. I was in one management area one night feeding mosquitoes and regular Off with some DEET was only sorta effective. One guy had some bug spray that kept the mosquitoes completely at bay. I suspect it had 100% DEET.

For repelling biting bugs I use either DEET, higher percentage if the bugs are really bad, or Permethrin(But only sprayed/soaked on clothes, not on the skin).

Later,
Dan

I had a fishing guide I used to camp with down in the Everglades and he had 100% deet wipes. That worked very well. I don’t think I’d want use it regularly though.

We have them bad here. Deet is the stuff. . The only way SSS works, is to put so much on that they drown when they land on you.

Try hanging a fly strip or two. It that fails, wear one around your neck.

In the right situation, an electric fan is cheap and effective at keeping no see ums away.

Bounce dryer anti-static sheets work fine on the Texas coast where the no-see-ums can fly thru a screen by just momentarily folding their wings in flight. I just stick one in my shirt pocket while on deck. At night we pin a sheet to each port screen and spray a high deet repellent around the cracks in the doors where they will try to sneak in......if you dont mind smelling like a French prostitute. Not that I know how that smells.

In our area, Moreton Bay Queensland, Australia, those combined ultraviolet and electrical insect zap things seem to work quite well. There are 12v versions, and also AC as well. At least that is one potentially toxic chemical-free way of doing it.

However, spraying the screens you use with a decent surface type bug spray also helps a lot in keeping the tiny midges that can get through at bay.
Or so we were told by the security screen folk at a home show we attended just last weekend, when I queried the size of the holes in some of the better security screens that looked a bit large.

The bug zappers are probably worse for you than the chemicals. When the bug explodes,all the bacteria in and on the bug are sprayed about the area. after reading about this test, I decided I would rather eat one or two of them occasionally rather than have their guts sprayed about my bar b que area.

I would think that any bug that is instantly heated enough to explode would either be cooked through or the high temp would also kill any bacteria present. Any small bug that is cooked probably is just incinerated.

jimisbell said:

The bug zappers are probably worse for you than the chemicals. When the bug explodes,all the bacteria in and on the bug are sprayed about the area. after reading about this test, I decided I would rather eat one or two of them occasionally rather than have their guts sprayed about my bar b que area.

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ssobol said:

I would think that any bug that is instantly heated enough to explode would either be cooked through or the high temp would also kill any bacteria present. Any small bug that is cooked probably is just incinerated.

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Yes, I agree - anyway, just think of it if ingested as extra protein...
I remember one time doing the Nancy's Peak walk over in West Australia, the place being legend for its summer fly infestation. My wife swallowed about 8 of the things that flew in her mouth or up her nose. That's what I advised her - just think of it as extra protein. Didn't cause her any trouble at all.
My moustach appeared to protect me - never got to taste even one. :lol: