next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
slightly=20
At 8:44 PM -0300 5/22/15, David & Alison Webster wrote:
> I am interested in your comment that "...of course, anything
>that comes as a lotion and ends up on the palm of your hands is NOT
>safe for use handling plastics and is useless for fabrics in the
>field)."
As I'm sure you know, DEET melts some plastics and non-rubberized
binoculars and cameras seem especially susceptible. High DEET
concentration lotions, in my experience, don't rub off very well
because they don't transfer well to fabrics...any residue on my palms
always ended up on my binoculars and cameras. The best thing I found
to clean my hands were Handi-Wipes and even then I had to use a
couple of them so I stopped using lotions. Anyone wanting to treat
their shoes, socks and lower pant legs for chiggers (or ticks) would
be better advised to use a spray (I just prefer pumps and avoid
aerosols, regardless of the accelerant, as a matter of course) for
the same reason: no residue on the hands.
> For years I used a bottle of 95% Deet (lotion) mostly to repel
>Yellow Jackets when working near a damaged nest by rubbing a drop or
>two on bare shoulders, neck and hat; avoiding glasses and rubbed my
>palms reasonably clean on my pants. When I ran out last year I was
>able to find only 23.75% Deet in a pump container and have as yet
>not used it.
I think the operative words here, Dave, are "reasonably clean"...for
95% DEET and thousand-dollar optics, "reasonably clean" just isn't
good enough. I want to use the least amount of DEET that I possibly
can, regardless of the application method.
> How does the interaction of dilute pump formulations with
>fabrics differ from that of concentrated lotions ? How does one use
>one of these pumps so the squirt doesn't go where it is unwanted;
>e.g. as an aerosol on glasses ?
I find the directionability and transfer of pump spray to fabric (or
arms, neck, etc.) is quite controllable and the dilute formulations
(specifically the 18% that I used to get in the Repel spray) were
effective against chiggers. I suspect, though I have no empirical
data, that rubbed-off 95% DEET lotion would result in pretty similar
concentrations of DEET on fabric as the low concentration spray but,
and this is most important, I didn't have to worry about residue on
my hands. As for glasses (or binoculars hanging around your neck) the
solution is simple: remove them before spraying!
Finally, DEET stinks to high heaven and I'd rather not be the scratch
'n sniff poster boy for L'eau du Muskol!
Phil
--
Phil Schappert, PhD
27 Clovis Ave.
Halifax, NS, B3P 1J3
902-460-8343 (cell)
philschappert.ca
imaginaturestudio.ca
imaginaturestudio.blogspot.ca
philschappert.com
"Just let imagination lead, reality will follow through..."
(Michael Hedges)
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects