Travel tip #161: Turn your clothes into a wearable insect repellent
Published 28 days agoย โขย 5 min read
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Hi Reader,
I hope you are doing well.
What a great week at Solo Female Travelers.
We are all back at home, chilling and enjoying the summer and we have just finished several trips to Tuscany, Barcelona and beyond, Bali, Japan and Greece โ๏ธ
We have launched a few of the 2027 tours in the last couple of months and several had limited launch offers, don't miss out on booking your spot at a very generous discount ๐
Last spots left on our 2027 Launch offers
Two 500 EUR OFF Launch spots left on our two Japan trips for 2027 May and October
Two 500 EUR OFF Launch spots on our two Bali tours in September nad October of 2027
In this week's episode of the podcast, I speak to Lois, an expert on Antarctica and experienced expedition leader with years spent in the polar regions. We talk about the ethics of traveling to such a remote place, the measures put in place to keep it as pristine and untouched as possible and penguin parades...they are the most adorable animals you will ever see, and so funnily clumsy!
This week's travel tip is for those who are particularly yummy to mosquitoes and other insects and how you can turn your clothes into an insect repellent, as tried and tested in the Amazon.
Turn your clothes into a wearable insect repellent
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I am pretty tasty to mosquitoes so I always get quite a few bites.
Last year, when I did my scouting trip to Ecuador with a few days in the Amazon, I was prepared with repellent. I didn't wear any on the way there, so as soon as I arrived, I got a few bites. I sprayed repellent and that solved the issue.
There are a few mosquitoes in the Amazon, but the lodge we stay at is by a lake that acts as a natural repellent to mosquitoes because of the chemical composition, so as soon as I put repellent on, I was safe.
This year, when I returned to the Amazon, I decided to try something new.
I was keen to find an alternative to the DEET-heavy repellent because it is quite a powerful and toxic component. In percentages above 50%, it is strong enough to melt the plastic in my Havaianas - true story - but it works to keep mosquitoes away and where they carry dangerous diseases, I have had no choice but to use it.
I heard a few guests treat their clothes with permethrin, which is far less toxic than DEET and gets metabolised rapidly. When used as directed, less than 1% is absorbed through the skin.
However, ingesting or breathing the liquid in large amounts can cause adverse health effects, which is important to bear in mind when treating your clothes.
Unlike DEET which you spray on yourself, permethrin is used to treat the clothes you will wear, so you don't have to put it on your skin.
You need to spray your clothes until soaked with permethrin, let it dry and can then wear it for up to 6 washes or 6 weeks.
Permethrin is sold in large bottles that come with their own pump. You have to keep the bottle about 6 to 8 inches away from the item you want to treat and spray each side of the garment for about 30 seconds, by which time it will be soaked.
You let it air dry, and your clothes are then naturally repellent against 55 types of insects, from ticks to mosquitoes, chiggers, spiders, mites, and more.
I decided to try it for my trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos and I must say that, although the application was cumbersome, it worked like a charm and kept mosquitoes away. I did not get a single bite.
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I bought these permethrin bottles from Sawyer and they were more than enough for 7 full outfits, including socks, long trousers, long-sleeved rash guards, shirts, a buff, my caps, and my hiking shoes. I did not wash the clothes 6 times but the 6 weeks have passed, so technically they aren't repellent anymore.
The application was a pain because I live in an apartment so I had to hang all my clothes in the rooftop and spray them there. It was a super windy day, so that made it all quite difficult because the spray was blown away and the clothes kept flapping in the wind ๐
You can't let the liquid touch your skin, eyes, or mouth so I covered with gloves, put on a buff, my sunglasses, and a face mask then sprayed my clothes and hanged them to dry.
The verdict: This is a great way to keep mosquitoes at bay. I also felt that the parts of my body that were uncovered, like my hands, neck, face, were protected, probably because the nearby clothes acted as a repellent. Application was cumbersome because I don't have a garden and it was windy on the day I had to do it, but it was worth it! Highly recommend!
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