I mean it! Every single night, I get attacked by mosquitos. I wake up with about 7 new bites a day, and all in the most annoying places, like on the ball of my thumb, all over my fingers, on my face, and feet. I don't want to use insect repellant/toxic chemical-y stuff as I have exzema and allergies/hayfever so rash up pretty easy, I can't use any sort of spray, as my pet bird lives in here with me. I can't hang up a mosquito net due to A. The angle and height of my ceiling, and B. The often violent nature of my sleep.

Does anyone know of any surefire, preferably natural and easy ways to at least reduce insect bites? I've read that bananas and garlic are good for reducing bites, but I hate garlic so I'd like to know if it works before trying it. Is there perhaps some sort of plant, or odor-releasing thing I can hang up to repel the damn things? Anything?? I'm getting desperate.

Close your windows...

...I do.

When I can. It's the middle of summer, I'm in the hottest room in the house, and prone to migraines. I have the window shut only when it's not going to kill me, and even then I get bitten.

Put up a mosquito screen over your windows?

Or a fan for the room?

That's right! It's summer down there! Organic natural repellent? Not a clue. We have spray here that contains DEET.....Nasty stuff, but it sure works. No mosquitoes in Michigan right now.
It's -8 celsius here. So cold, last night my teeth were pvssyring.............in the glass on the nightstand !

Come to think of it, I bet if you wiped yourself with vinegar they would stay away. I'm not kidding. You might be a little stinky, but certainly not tasty.

I can't afford this. I earn $60 a week. $40 goes on rent. They're big windows.



My fan broke Also, I get bitten still with the windows closed.



It sure is!
Is the vinegar idea just a guess...? Heh, wipe my face with vinegar...delish. I'd probably try eating garlic first. Organic repellant puts me off a little, I'm always worried I'm going to pay a ridiculous amount for something that doesn't work, but I'll probably have a look next time I'm near civilization. I read about DEET. Sounded...pretty lethal. To everything.

Not super sure about vinegar.....It was a guess. Google for a natural cure !

[edit]
http://www.ehow.com/how_2270228_all-natural-mosquito-repellent.html

Are you in the NI? I can't say that I find the mosquitoes an issue in Christchurch.

Also, someone else from NZ! Yay!

http://www.nicamaka.net/images/CampNetBed-T3-600x800-MVC-902X.JPG used to be all the rage back then :wink_smile:

I haven't been bitten all summer.
Try citronella candles, the smell isn't that bad and it does a good job.

Vodka? There's a winning formula right there.

I find it funny that folks over in New Zealand are fighting the heat while on my side of the world my town just received the largest snow I've ever seen! :celebration:

As for ways to repel mosquitos, I don't really know any. They love my sister so much everything she has tried doesn't work. Luckily they hate me, I've only been bitten a few times in my life :toughninja:

How about you stop complaining because it's blizzarding outside right now for me

It's not that you are so delicious, it's your pheromes that attract the mosquito in the first place.
Remove any standing water near the house, that includes houseplants that may be in your room with water in the overflow saucer.
The female will lay eggs in it.
Citronella is a plant that repels mosquitos. You can also burn citronella candles or oil in a tabletop lamp. Glade manufactures an electric plug in device that warms citronella impregnanted strips in a decorative device so there is no danger of fire from an overturned lamp. There are also personal battery operated devices that emit a high frequency sound that repels mosquitos, my son has a clip on Coleman ultrasonic repeller.
Screens on windows only work if there are no gaps between the screen and the frame. Othewise, the mosquitos will come through. I live in Florida.
We use citronella oil in stake lamps or citronella candles. We also have OFF spray, which I never use.
OUr mosquitos should be the state bird. Oddly, they never bite me.
Only the female mosquito bites. The male obtains his sustenance from the nectar of flowers.

Automated precision laser-cannon defense system. That's all I've got, sorry.

If it weren't for yer bird, I'd tell you to quit being such a pansy about your eczema. Hell, I had eczema and I used [censored] Venezuelan mosquito repellant.

Sure, my skin is pretty much permanently scarred in some places from a horrific breakout/sunburn combination, BUT THAT IS BESIDE THE POINT.

In Venezuela, I'd usually just go for numerous, relatively thin blankets when the net and insect spray alone weren't enough (because I toss and turn too). That usually helped at least mitigate the damage.

I always used a mosquito bar. Not sure how violent you are for sleeping, but it was big enough for me to sit up on the cot, and it was as wide as well. A few hooks and some cord to suspend it from the cieling and your good to go for a low cost way.

Edit: and now I have Right Said Fred in my head doing a parody :rofl:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2237704_use-mosquito-plants.html

mosquito repellent spray? Or one of those bug zappers are pretty good. Our friends have one and theres just the sound of bzzt every so often as a blood svcker dies.

As far as making yourself less attractive to biting insects, and your results might vary....eat lots of garlic.

The lore with vampires may have some basis in truth. When I used to eat a LOT of garlic and lived someplace with lots of mosquito, they didn't seem to bother me as much as others. The garlic is in your blood, affects your BO. Scent is what insects are attracted to, so I think it may help.

But for sleeping...good insect netting on your windows and a mosquito net around your bed would probably do better.

I read something about how mosquitos are attacted to blue. Do you wear blue pajamas or have blue bedding?

During the summer months Alaska is mosquito heaven and they love me. My skin is a bit sensitive to various repellants as well. But I wear a normal shirt and on top if it I use a shirt which has been sprayed for years with repellent and never washed. It smells like crap but when hiking, the mosquitoes don't come near me. Since I usually hike alone I don't worry about the smell and shower after returning home and putting the shirt in the garage on the way in.

As for inside, the trick is not to let them in. Put screens on your windows even if you must staple up temp ones. Never leave water standing in or around your home.

Don't use perfumed anything and that includes scented soap. It makes them come to you faster. I have heard however that if you rub "bounce" fabric softener sheets on yourself it helps keep them away. I've not tried that one. Eat more garlic. I've heard that helps.

There is a propane mosquito trap which traps them and keeps a large area outdoors fairly free of mosquitoes and thus would keep them from coming into your house. It is expensive but many, many homeowners up here use them. They work well. I have just never wanted to let go of the money for it as they no longer get into my home except for the odd stray one. http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=propane+mosquito+trap&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=12133094462424000501&ei=SkMrTfziLYz6sAOgwIDWBw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CEIQ8wIwAg# I'm sure there are other brands and such out there but that is the one most of my neighbors have.

Good luck. Mosquitoes are nasty little boogers.

When you do get bitten, don't scratch at the bite at all if you can help it. It may feel briefly satisfying to scratch that itch, but in the long run you're only making it worse. I've found that if I can just persevere through the initial itchiness the feeling eventually subsides and the bites disappear in half the time. Remember that itchiness, like pain, is just in your mind.

I hate mosquitos. You get a lot in Finland during the summer months, and even with all the sprays, Moon Tiger coils, zappers and whatnot, there's always one that gets through anyway and buzzes in your ear all night - the only truly effective way I've found to live with them is just to learn to ignore them. And maybe hold an occasional Household Mosquito Slapping competition.

Maybe you can give that program that emits a high frequency noise inaudible by humans a try. I'm not sure if that would even work buuut there was a cool campaign here for a radio station that used that - on banners around the city - listening to Blah Blah FM saves you from mosquitos.