These long hot summer days and evenings are amazing, they truly are, and I could happily have them until the end of September, however, after about 7.30pm I’m not so keen on the midgies! In my mission to free us all of toxins I no longer want the kids or I having any kind of chemicals on our skin, this includes our insect repellent. So I went on a hunt for a good DEET free repellent.
DEET is a chemical that was developed by the United States Army as an insect repellent in the 1940s. By 1957, it was approved for use by the general public. When applied to certain materials, DEET can be damaging, which is concerning as it is approved for use on human skin. DEET can damage rubber, plastic, vinyl, lenses and synthetic fibers.
Nowadays there are alternatives to DEET. The main two alternatives are Saltidin and Citriodiol (Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus) both of which are approved for use as insect repellents.
With this in mind my search began and these are the two that I have found most effective. As always they may not work for everyone as we are all uniquely different, but for us these stopped the biting. These are what we used on our recent trip to Italy where there were lots of mosquitoes (and my goodness the year before they did seem to love me).
Shelley x
