I Got My Clothes Coated With Insect Shield Tick Killer
Wirecutter's resident bug expert, Doug Mahoney, has written that he uses permethrin spray on his family's socks and shoes. In that article, he cites one study's finding that people who wore treated footwear were 74 times less likely to get a bite from a tick nymph than those who did not.
'I take the hint from that study and concentrate on the feet because it's impractical to treat the entire summer wardrobes of the six people in my immediate family,' Doug writes, adding that they spray the rest of their clothes and skin with picaridin as needed.
That's a perfectly good approach. Personally, though, I get some peace of mind from knowing that my family has a few outfits that are as tick-proofed as any clothes can be — including socks, pants, T-shirts, and hoodies. These are the clothes we'll wear when we're in prime tick territory, pulling up weeds around the unkempt edges of the yard, say, or going hiking with the dog. I'll spend less time second-guessing whether we have enough protection. Insect Shield stitches or stamps an info label onto each item you send in for treatment. Liam McCabe/NYT Wirecutter
Thomas Mather, PhD, a professor of public health entomology at the University of Rhode Island and a co-author of the study referenced above, says that fully grown ticks are more likely to hitch a ride above shoe level.
'The adult ones tend to climb up vegetation a little bit' in search of a large host, he says. 'Then you would want to have your socks and pants treated.' (Mather's TickEncounter program at URI has received funding from Insect Shield.)
Ticks can also crawl around. I found one on my daughter's scalp this March, and that seemed like a good reason to treat a few shirts, just in case the shoes or pants didn't kill the ticks first. The same study that found the benefits of treated footwear also found that a treated T-shirt can reduce the likelihood of a tick nymph bite by about half. It's a nice bonus that our pesticidal shirts might stop some mosquito bites, too.
Cost-wise, the Insect Shield mail-in treatment can be a solid deal compared to manually spraying a set of clothes. If you follow the directions on the Sawyer spray bottle, you use about $3 worth of permethrin spray to treat an outfit at home; you'll need to reapply the spray at least a handful of times throughout tick season, probably to the tune of $15 to $25 per outfit per year.
I managed to fit roughly four outfits (four pants, three T-shirts, and three long-sleeves, with enough room leftover for a couple of pairs of socks) into the Insect Shield Your Clothes Easy Pack envelope, which cost $102 with an on-site discount code. (Without the code, it's $120.)
So that's about $25 per outfit, in a price range similar to that of spraying clothes yourself across a full tick season, without any of the manual labor. I'm not convinced that the treatment will last as long as Insect Shield claims, but even if I get only one good year of protection (and I think I'll get more than that), it's a solid deal. Mather says that he sends clothes in annually for re-treatment, and Griffin of Insect Shield says that, as far as he knows, reapplication works well.
Whereas I used Insect Shield's flat-rate, all-you-can-fit option, the company will also treat individual items for $9 each, or $13.50 for coveralls. That rate doesn't include shipping, as the Easy Pack does, but if you're sending a bunch of bulky items like adult-size pants or long-sleeved shirts made of heavy fabric, you might get more for your money with the per-piece rate. If you're treating a load of socks or kids' clothes, then the Easy Pack is probably the better value.
Griffin says that every year Insect Shield treats upward of 50,000 items at the company's facility in North Carolina through its Insect Shield Your Clothes service, and it runs the gamut. 'We see shirts, pants, shorts, T-shirts, hats,' and of course lots of socks, he said. But the company doesn't treat underwear or shoes.
It also doesn't treat clothes that can be only dry-cleaned or line-dried, or otherwise not tumble-dried. It can't effectively treat waterproof or water-resistant gear, either. 'It's just really hard to get the permethrin to bond well to those garments,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNET
13 hours ago
- CNET
Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers for June 21, #741
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles. Today's NYT Connections puzzle has a real puzzler of a purple category. If you know your global geography and enjoy wordplay, this is your day. Read on for clues and today's Connections answers. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak. Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time Hints for today's Connections groups Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group. Yellow group hint: Like a chonky cat. Green group hint: Business. Blue group hint: Washington state fruit. Purple group hint: Nation names. Answers for today's Connections groups Yellow group: Stocky Green group: Company Blue group: Apple products Purple group: Starts of European countries Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words What are today's Connections answers? The completed NYT Connections puzzle for June 21, 2025, #741. NYT/Screenshot by CNET The yellow words in today's Connections The theme is stocky. The four answers are solid, squat, stout and thick. The green words in today's Connections The theme is company. The four answers are concern, firm, house and outfit. The blue words in today's Connections The theme is apple products. The four answers are brandy, butter, cider and sauce. The purple words in today's Connections The theme is starts of European countries. The four answers are germ, luxe, malt and port. Germ = Germany Luxe = Luxembourg Malt = Malta Port = Portugal
New York Times
a day ago
- New York Times
3 Easy (and Delicious) Ways to Eat Well This Summer
Hi, I'm Melissa Clark, a food reporter taking over today for Jancee Dunn. Summer officially starts this weekend, but it's already underway in my kitchen. Ripe berries and peaches are at their best, and heirloom tomatoes, fresh corn, glossy eggplant and zucchini are just waiting to be invited to the table. But I don't blame you if you don't quite know where to start. At NYT Cooking, we believe the path to healthier eating starts with cooking more at home. And there's plenty of research that shows the benefits of fruits and vegetables and, for that matter, eating less meat. My strategy has always been fairly simple: Build meals around the season's produce; add proteins that don't need much, or any, cooking; then go all in with the condiments, herbs and spices. You'll find a few more of my favorite tips below. Take your preferred protein — rotisserie chicken, canned beans, quick cooking salmon filets — then, instead of sides, add lettuces, herbs, tomatoes and other vegetables to turn it into a vibrant main course. The two recipes below do just that, pairing salmon, chicken and chickpeas with loads of greens. Grilled salmon salad with lime, chiles and herbs: A pungent dressing — featuring lime, fish sauce, chilies and shallot — is the real jewel of this five-star recipe. You can grill the salmon on a balmy night if you feel like being outside, or roast it in the oven if you don't. Feel free to add any fruits or vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, leftover grilled zucchini or corn. This multi-textured dish is a perfect home for any or all of them. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Miami Herald
Eric Dane is ‘angry' over ‘very good chance' he will be taken from his daughters
Eric Dane is sharing details about his Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, diagnosis. During a conversation with Diane Sawyer on 'Good Morning America' the 'Grey's Anatomy' actor shared that he only has 'one functioning arm.' 'My left side is functioning, my right side has completely stopped working,' the 52-year-old told Sawyer, adding that his left arm has been getting increasingly weaker. 'I feel like maybe a couple more months and I won't have my left hand either. It's sobering.' The weakness in his right hand was one of the first ALS symptoms he began having a year and a half ago, Dane explained. Dane received his ALS diagnosis in April after nine months of testing. Dane explained that he initially didn't think much about the weakness in his right hand at the time, chalking it up to 'texting too much or my hand was fatigued.' 'But a few weeks later I noticed it got a little worse,' Dane continued telling Sawyer. 'So I went and saw a hand specialist, who sent me to another hand specialist. I went and saw a neurologist and the neurologist sent me to another neurologist and said, 'This is way above my pay grade.'' After being diagnosed with what Johns Hopkins describes as the incurable 'fatal type of motor neuron disease,' Dane said he 'will never forget those three letters.' 'It's on me the second I wake up. It's not a dream,' the 'Euphoria' actor continued. Although Dane still has use of his legs, he told Sawyer that he worries about losing his leg function as well, recalling a moment he was snorkeling with one of his daughters he shares with his wife Rebecca Gayheart. According to Dane, he was snorkeling with his daughter when he was unable to swim back to the boat on his own. 'She dragged me back to the boat,' Dane told Sawyer. 'I was like, breaking down in tears. I made sure she got back to the water with her friend and continued on with the snorkeling. I was just heartbroken.' 'I'm angry because my father was taken from me when I was young, and now there's a very good chance I'm going to be taken from my girls while they're very young,' Dane continued, adding that, at the end of the day, all he wants to do is spend time with his family and tell them every day that they are loved. Despite being diagnosed with ALS, Dane has returned to acting, saying, 'In my heart, I don't feel like this is the end for me. I'm fighting as much as I can. There's so much about it that's out of my control.' But Dane's wife, and the mother of his 15- and 13-year-old daughters, Gayheart has been his 'biggest champion' during this time. 'We have managed to become better friends and better parents,' he said as he got emotional. 'She is probably my biggest champion and my most stalwart supporter, and I lean on her.'
