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Sawyer® Permethrin Insect
Repellent 12 oz. pump-bottle, picture by the author
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So, you are going out
into the wilderness, or maybe you are going out into your own backyard. In either case, there are bugs out there,
lots of them! And they bite! Some carry diseases too.
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A Lonestar tick biting
the author’s leg, picture by the author
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So, what are you going to
do?
What you are going to do
is treat your clothes with Sawyer® Permethrin Insect Repellent. Why you ask, well, here is why.
Full disclosure, I am
friends with the chemist who invented, patented and marketed permethrin, before
selling it to Sawyer. In addition, I
have used this brand of permethrin for four years, I have never had any
sensitivity or other issues with it and it has done a great job of keeping the
bugs off me. I am very pleased with and
enthusiastically recommend it.
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Close up of the Sawyer®
Permethrin Insect Repellent 12 oz. pump-bottle, picture by the author
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Permethrin is the
synthetic version of pyrethrin which
occurs naturally in chrysanthemum flowers (Chrysanthemum
cinerariifolium and Chrysanthemum
coccineum), it is a powerful, contact insecticide; it is not an insect
repellent. This is an important distinction
since, unlike topical insect repellents that are applied to your skin; permethrin
is not sprayed on your skin, it is sprayed on your clothing, tents, sleeping
bags and other fabrics.
Permethrin is effective
against mosquitos, biting flies, ticks, fleas, chiggers, lice and more than 55
other types of insects. When a mosquito
or tick lands or crawls onto a fabric that has been treated with permethrin, it
absorbs a dose of insecticide that will either kill it, or repel it.
Naturally, occurring
pyrethrin breaks down quickly, in sunlight.
However, as Sawyer’s synthetic permethrin establishes a strong bond with
most fabrics, it will be effective for six weeks or six washings, whichever
comes first. According to Sawyer, the
U.S. Army performed studies and found that 20 to 30 percent of the permethrin
was removed after the first laundering. Each laundering after that, removed about
3 to 5 percent of the permethrin treatment, through ten launderings.
If you have to wash your
treated clothes, Sawyer recommends hand washing and air drying, because the
agitation of the washing machine reduces the effectiveness of permethrin, by
knocking loose the permethrin molecules from the fabric. If you use a conventional washer and dryer,
use a gentle wash setting and dryer cycle: loss in the dryer is less in
comparison to the loss in the washer.
Also, do not dry clean treated garments, as dry cleaning will remove the
permethrin from the fabric. Store
treated garments in dark plastic bags, between uses, as this will help to
preserve the permethrin treatment.
Additionally, per Sawyer,
sweating and exposure to water does not reduce the effectiveness of permethrin,
and it resist degradation from the Sun and heat.
Unlike DEET, which may
harm some fabrics and definitely will harm plastics, permethrin is an odorless,
non-greasy, non-staining spray, which will not damage your clothes and
equipment, and will not harm plastics.
According to Sawyer, permethrin is safe to use on synthetics, waterproof
membrane fabrics, silk and if you use the pump spray version of Sawyer®
Permethrin Insect Repellent, it will not harm flame retardant clothes. In addition, based on an email answer I
received from Sawyer, if you need to apply a silicone, heavy-duty water
repellent spray and permethrin to a garment, such as a wide brimmed hat, apply
the waterproofing first and then spray on the permethrin, since permethrin
needs to be exposed to be effective.
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First aid instructions
from the side of the Sawyer® Permethrin Insect Repellent 12 oz. pump-bottle,
picture by the author
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Some people have asked if
Sawyer® Permethrin Insect Repellent is safe to use. Per Sawyer, in mammals, the skin poorly
absorbs permethrin and if it is absorbed, the body rapidly metabolizes it. Additionally, it has a low level of toxicity
in mammals and animal studies have shown no skin irritation or sensitivity
following direct application, except in cats.
Also, Sawyer’s web site noted a controlled study of 200 subjects;
permethrin did not cause skin sensitivity or irritation. However, do not expose cats to wet permethrin
as it effects their central nervous system.
Once the permethrin on the clothes has dried, it is safe to have around
cats. Additionally, permethrin is
harmful to aquatic creatures, so do not spray permethrin near aquariums or
cats!
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Permethrin useful tips,
picture by the author
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Permethrin useful tips,
picture by the author
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Instructions from the
side of the Sawyer® Permethrin Insect Repellent 12 oz. pump-bottle, picture by
the author
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According to Sawyer, one
12 ounce pump-bottle of Sawyer® Permethrin Insect Repellent will treat two
complete sets of clothing, consisting of one shirt, one pair of socks and one
pair of pants.
To treat your clothes
follow the instructions on the packaging, however in general the following
applications rules apply.
· While
outdoors, in an area protected from the wind, spray.
Ø Hold
the pump-bottle about six to eight inches away from the fabric to be treated.
Ø Spray
each side of the clothing for about 30 seconds with a slow sweeping motion,
just enough to moisten the fabric.
· Allow
the garments to dry for two hours or four hours if it is humid.
And that’s, that! You are now protected from all of those
nasty, crawly bugs. Apply a little DEET
or your favorite topical insect repellent to any exposed skin and you are good
to go.
I hope that you continue
to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and my videos at BandanaMan Productions
and don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online and
subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube, and if you have questions, as
always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.
Sources
Sawyer, “Permethrin Insect
Repellent For Clothing Gear And Tents”, [Sawyer Products, Inc., 2019] https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin-insect-repellent-treatment/,
accessed 7/18/19
Wikipedia Contributors, “Pyrethrum”, [Wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia, June 10, 2019], https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethrum, accessed 7/18/19
Wikipedia Contributors, “Pyrethrin”, [Wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia, June 2, 2019], https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethrin, accessed 7/25/19
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