How Permethrin Can Help Protect You From Ticks

Written by Leigh Krietsch Boerner

Ticks are vile little creatures that can transmit diseases like Lyme, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Powassan. According to the Center for Disease Control, these diseases are on the rise as ticks expand their geographic rage. “The number of counties in the northeastern and upper midwestern United States that are considered high-risk for Lyme disease increased by more than 300% between 1993 and 2012,“ they write. Lyme, the most prevalent tick-borne disease in America, is potentially debilitating and difficult to diagnose. We believe it is critical to protect yourselves from ticks. As we say in our bug repellent guide, a 20 percent concentration of picaridin repellent works well, but to really give yourself the highest level of protection we recommend using it in conjunction with permethrin-treated clothing.

Permethrin is an insecticide, not a repellent, so it will actually kill ticks and not just send them packing. It’s also different in that it is sprayed on your clothing rather than your skin. Once a piece of clothing is properly treated, the permethrin remains effective for weeks, if not months or years, depending on how it is applied.

What you can do now

You have a few ways to use permethrin. You can buy a spray and treat clothes you already own, buy already treated clothes, or send your clothes to a service for treatment.

Buying a permethrin spray is the easiest way to quickly take action. The most important thing is that the spray has a 0.5 % concentration of permethrin. There are a number of brands available, but we like the Sawyer brand, because of the range of sizes available and the easy spray nozzle.

Learn more about how Permethrin is the easiest way to quickly take action against ticks here.