GreensleevesGnats are out, what to do?
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 11:01 am“Gnats are out in droves and attracted to bare skin, such as my bald head,” Rock Island naturalist Bob Motz says.
“I phoned (a local lawn and garden center), but they had nothing to help. I’m wondering if you know of anything that can keep them out of a picnic/patio area or repel them from skin of people like me who otherwise love being outdoors.”
So gnats are back; co-workers hearing me talk about this subject agree that the little bugs “are everywhere.”
We had lots of questions about gnats last summer, too, with Quad-City Times Master Columnist Bill Wundram and myself taking on the subject.
Among the home remedies suggested to Bill:
* Absorbine Jr., a liniment intended for arthritis aches and pains. Perhaps it’s the scent, which is derived from a combination of natural menthol, absinthium oil and wormwood oil.
* A variation on that of half-Absorbine Jr., half-mouthwash (such as Listerine)
* A dab of household ammonia behind each ear
* A scented dryer sheet (such as Bounce) placed in your pocket, making sure a portion sticks out.
* Avon’s Skin So Soft bug guard
* Vicks VapoRub
* Vanilla Cologne, sold by the Watkins Co. This is not the vanilla used in baking but rather a different kind of product. My neighbor uses it while fishing and mowing the lawn. He buys it from a local distributor, but it also may be purchased here online, he says.
In the calls and e-mails we fielded last summer, there emerged a “holy grail” of gnat repellant, a product called McNess Formula 1046, which was made years ago — but no longer – by a manufacturer in Freeport, Ill.
Readers who happened to have a bottle of this antiseptic/disinfectant guarded it with their life.
Although the product is no longer made in Freeport, its active ingredient (PCMX, parachlorometaxylenol), is used in other products, including Dettol Liquid First Aid Antiseptic, which is made by Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare in Great Britain.
Aaron Osborne of Davenport ordered a small bottle over the Internet and has been using it with success.
“I am not sure if it is the PCMX that repels the gnats or the combination of the ingredients,” Osborne told me last year. “I do know that for $6-$7, after shipping, the small bottle will probably last several years and is well worth the effort.”
To find a product like this, type “dettol” in your computer’s search engine.
Good luck!
May 21st, 2009 at 7:17 am
I would be interested in which one of these will work for dogs, my dog is seriously allergic to these nasty little bugs and broke out in hives several times last year because of them. We have to keep childrens benedryl on hand for him, but I would rather have something that would repel them all together, but if he licks himself will not get poisoned.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:11 am
Try the vanilla product – most farm implement dealers sell it and farmers swear by it. I was introduced to this stuff on a golf course where the gnats were thick and unrelenting on the greens, making putting impossible. One drop behind each ear and they parted like the Red Sea, never coming close again.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:24 am
If the story is about gnats, shouldn’t the picture be a gnat, not a honey bee?
May 21st, 2009 at 8:32 am
Just about every disc golfer in the QC has a bottle of Absorbine Jr. in his/her bag to ward off the gnats. This stuff is the real deal. Dab it on and the gnats leave you alone.
We also found out that applied liberally, Absorbine Jr. also offers relief to the sting from nettles.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:37 am
Tea Tree Oil is just as good as Absorbine Jr. It is very stinky, but extremely effective. It also helps with the itchiness from bug bites and small wounds. If you get a citronella bracelet that has lost it effectiveness, put it in a ziploc baggie with tea tree oil spritzed on it.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:05 am
When I worked for IADOT, we used to use AGCO hand cleaner, found at Farm supply stores. We used to buy it at a small gas station in Calamus, IA – worked better then the Absorbine Jr. (which I use now) or Vanilla, and lasted 50 times as long.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:07 am
Technically, they are not true gnats, but black flies, which orbit your nice-smelling head, land, and bite.
Some research turned up a product specially formulated for them, called “Bugspray”. Get the vanilla scent version.
Worked for me.