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Life Hacker: Why You Should Spray Your Shoes With Permethrin This Summer

Spraying permethrin on your shoes, clothes, and camping gear will repel ticks and doesn't wash off.

Life Hacker: Why You Should Spray Your Shoes With Permethrin This Summer

Last updated:
December 2, 2025
|  5 min read

Life Hacker: Why You Should Spray Your Shoes With Permethrin This Summer

Life Hacker: Why You Should Spray Your Shoes With Permethrin This Summer

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Spraying permethrin on your shoes, clothes, and camping gear will repel ticks and doesn't wash off.

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Life Hacker: Why You Should Spray Your Shoes With Permethrin This Summer

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Why You Should Spray Your Shoes With Permethrin This Summer

If you’re grossed out by the idea that you might be bitten by a tick this summer (chances are good, to be honest), now is the time to get yourself a bottle of permethrin spray. Permethrin-treating your shoes is one of the simplest ways to set up a barrier between hungry ticks and your delicious, blood-filled flesh.

Ticks need to spend time in dirt or leaf litter to avoid drying out, so they hang out close to the ground. They find us by climbing a stalk of grass and reaching out with their little legs when we walk by. (They do the same for deer, rabbits, and other creatures they consider tasty.) Once they find a warm body, they crawl upwards.

Continue reading to learn more about using permethrin, written by Beth Skwarecki.

Life Hacker: Why You Should Spray Your Shoes With Permethrin This Summer

Why You Should Spray Your Shoes With Permethrin This Summer

If you’re grossed out by the idea that you might be bitten by a tick this summer (chances are good, to be honest), now is the time to get yourself a bottle of permethrin spray. Permethrin-treating your shoes is one of the simplest ways to set up a barrier between hungry ticks and your delicious, blood-filled flesh.

Ticks need to spend time in dirt or leaf litter to avoid drying out, so they hang out close to the ground. They find us by climbing a stalk of grass and reaching out with their little legs when we walk by. (They do the same for deer, rabbits, and other creatures they consider tasty.) Once they find a warm body, they crawl upwards.

Continue reading to learn more about using permethrin, written by Beth Skwarecki.

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Senior Health Editor
Beth Skwarecki
Beth Skwarecki is Lifehacker’s Senior Health Editor and has been writing about health, fitness, and science here since 2015.
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Life Hacker: Why You Should Spray Your Shoes With Permethrin This Summer

Why You Should Spray Your Shoes With Permethrin This Summer

If you’re grossed out by the idea that you might be bitten by a tick this summer (chances are good, to be honest), now is the time to get yourself a bottle of permethrin spray. Permethrin-treating your shoes is one of the simplest ways to set up a barrier between hungry ticks and your delicious, blood-filled flesh.

Ticks need to spend time in dirt or leaf litter to avoid drying out, so they hang out close to the ground. They find us by climbing a stalk of grass and reaching out with their little legs when we walk by. (They do the same for deer, rabbits, and other creatures they consider tasty.) Once they find a warm body, they crawl upwards.

Continue reading to learn more about using permethrin, written by Beth Skwarecki.

Photo thumbnail Blog Author
Senior Health Editor
Beth Skwarecki
Beth Skwarecki is Lifehacker’s Senior Health Editor and has been writing about health, fitness, and science here since 2015.
Media Mentions
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