midges

A good repellant with DEET. Bushmans is the only stuff that keeps them off me.

Aeroguard does not seem to work with sandflies.
Rid seems to work ok.
OFF repelant is reported to be the best .

Mix equal quantities of baby oil and Detol. Add up to 5% citronella. Just put the mixture into one of those cheap trigger spray bottles and apply mixture with this spray

The citronella deters the midges, the Detol clears up the infection if they do bite and the baby oil is to stick the other ingredients on to you.

First saw this mixture at the Kamarooka Tourist Park - St George. A spray bottle was left near the barbecue for all to use.

PeterD

Check this post

PostID: 39097

Grrr!!!

Leonora,

As above, but as follows:-

40% baby oil

40% disinfectant

20% methylated spirits

PS - It'll keep hubby away too!

PPS - my wife swears by it for ALL pests ;)

Bilbo

Best prevention is not to be in the open when they are very active and have good mesh on the tent etc. For midges I have found Aeroguard to give poor results and Rid average results. Bushmans works well but DEET is not without risks, read the label. This stuff can take paint of your car! If you are in a disease risk area for MVE or some other disease you are normally advised to use something with 20% DEET (ie the lotions) so you may as well be using it. It's not something I would consider using long term or without good reason. I have no idea if it is suitable for use on children.

As for treatments post bite anaesthetic/antiseptic creams like paraderm soov etc work well as they stop the scratching so you tend not to get the infected areas. It needs to be applied when you notice the bites, don't wait until you have started scratching. They work much like the detol/baby oil mix but will fit in the handbag ok if you are out and about.

Steve

I have found that they do not take kindly to being picked up and tossed across a room.....oops, hangon, we are talking about insects here ;)

try bushman as previously mentioned, also 'Rid" thats not too bad, they have worked for me

Hi Leonora: they don't ever go near me either but they always find Jenny. She tries to prevent it using the above but if they do get her, for the first time ever she has prevented infection using a little gizmo called "Click": see

http://www.hotofftheshelf.com.au/media/Click%20Media%20Release.pdf

She swears by them and they do reduce itching. Hope this helps: Ray

Hi Leonora,

We live in the heart of sandfly/midge territory at the mouth of the Burnett River near Bundaberg. Most of our recreation activities are water based and are usually somewhere between Pancake Creen, Middle Creek, Baffle Creek, Riverview, and Hervey Bay including the dreaded River Heads. All of these places are renowned for having very large populations of sandflies/midges.

Our youngest daughter is allergic to the "bites" from these creatures and each "bite" will turn into a huge weeping sore that takes over 2 months to heal. 10 mintues unprotected outside and she can have 40 unsightly sores over her legs, arms and face for up to 3 months.
As you can imagine we have put some time and energy into trying to find the best solution for protecting Olivia from these "bites" over the last 4.5 years. We had tried the metho, dettol, tea tree oil, and other mixtures including commercial products and finally about 2 years ago we found our solution.

A local mentioned that we should try Avon - Skin So Soft Bath Oil. Since then we have also had this Avon product recommended to us by people from all over the world. In fact without ever saying anything about the Avon product, 2 people on opposite sides of the USA also told us to try it.

Well obviously I did not phone the Avon lady and ask her to come round but my wife did and they had a special on the SSS Bath Oil at 2 x 750ml bottles for $12.00. I poured the contents of one entire bottle into a squirter bottle and have found that one squirt into the palm of your hand is enough to rub over your entire body. This will keep sandflies/midges away for a whole day and it does not wash off with sweat or swimming. If you put too much on it feels a bit greasy ofr the day so stick to one small squirt and it is still effective.

We have the bottle hanging near the back door and when anyone is going to do any outside activities they just give themselves a quick rub and off they go. So far we have protected our family of 5 using this method for a cost of $3 per year as we have just used the first bottle and refilled the container with the 2nd bottle. This is much more cost effective than some of the other methods that have been suggested and it also smells heaps better than dettol etc.

I hope you have success in finding the best solution for your family.

Regards,
Brett

Once bitten always found Vicks chest rub takes the sting and itcheness out of them.
Just got to put up with the smell. :o)
Get a nice warm feeling too:O))))

An old bloke who used to be a trawlerman put me on to a good thing for bites when I had my Hire Boat business. To stop the itch mix metho & iodine & use a old tooth brush to rub the solution into the bite.

Hi Leonora,
I was transferred to Gladstone in 77 and was immediately attacked by these little critters. I went to the doctor because of the sores I had created by scratching all of the time. My local GP put me on a high dose of Vitamen B.
Since that time I have never been bothered by midges. I have spoken to many other people who have confirmed this treatment. Might be worth a try. I also dont like the thought of using deet.

Howard.

I had a dreadful case of Bites last year after being in PNG. One other person in our group had problems. On the plane ride home, talking to a bloke who does a lot of fishing up north and said they love him. He recommended Vitamin B1. Said they don't touch him any more.

Taking an Antihistamine will get rid of the bites in a few days...
I found this out because I too get badly affected by midge bites and untreated can last and stay itchy for weeks. Taking Telfast or similar will get rid of them fairly quickly.

Whilst Vitamin B may work for some, its never worked for me.
Its interesting to note that midges bites can be resisted fairly quickly when you live in an area, locals quickly become resistant to them, but when they move to another locality they will have to develop another immunity.

As for stopping the bites in the first place. I refuse to use that Bushmans stuff, read the label very carefully before you do.
I havent found anything that works effectively yet (besides wearing long clothing) but will try out the homemade recipe above.

The dettol mix didn't seem to keep them away from the baby last holiday and I think you will find that Bushman's etc with high DEET content are not recommended for young children or babies.

To stop itching almost immediately try lavender oil; must be essential oil not fragrant.