By Doug Mahoney
Doug Mahoney is a writer covering home-improvement topics, outdoor power equipment, bug repellents, and (yes) bidets.
Vile, horrible, insidious, and disgusting are just a few of the words I use to describe ticks.
There is absolutely nothing to like about these awful, disease-ridden insects.
They range in size from a sesame seed to a poppy seed. And they can infect you with any number of terrible ailments, such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, Powassan virus, or alpha-gal syndrome, which makes you allergic to many different types of meat.
Because ticks are so small, feeling them on the skin is difficult. And their bite—which they perform with a horrific, saw-like mouth (video)—is often undetectable.
My loathing of ticks is based on personal experience. I live in a rural area and spend a lot of time outdoors in the woods and in my fields. I’ve been treated for Lyme disease and other tick-related ailments on at least five separate occasions, and two of those involved full, 30-day courses of doxycycline, which is its own special nightmare.
I conduct nightly tick checks on my kids, and I watch them like a hawk for Lyme disease symptoms. I pull ticks off my cats and my sheep, and anytime I’m outdoors with someone, I remind them to check themselves when they get home.
Some standard bug repellents work on ticks (Wirecutter recommends Sawyer Premium Insect Repellent), but I supplement that with Sawyer Permethrin Premium Insect Repellent.
Permethrin is completely different from regular repellents, like those that contain picaridin and DEET. For one thing, you apply permethrin to your clothing and gear (such as backpacks and tents), not to your skin. Once you’ve properly sprayed an item, it holds repellency for about six weeks or through roughly six washings. Unlike picaridin- and DEET-based sprays, permethrin is actually an insecticide, so it can kill ticks instead of just shooing them away.
This repellent is for treating clothing, not spraying on skin. And it provides long-lasting protection against ticks.
Stepping up my tick protection
Permethrin is effective, too. People who wore permethrin-treated sneakers and socks were nearly 74 times less likely to get a tick bite than those who wore untreated footwear, according to one study.
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. All summer long, I soak my family’s shoes in the Sawyer permethrin spray every month or so (if someone has a favorite pair of shorts, I do those too). The task takes only a few minutes, but once it’s done, I am confident that I’ve put up a solid barrier where it counts the most. For the legs and upper body, we rely on Sawyer Picaridin Insect Repellent.
Before I understood the joys of permethrin, I used just regular bug spray. But the problem was that I was protected only when I remembered to spray myself down, and even then, the spray was often quick and incomplete. And don’t get me started on how hard it is to properly apply repellent on young kids. Permethrin is like the wall around the castle: It’s always there offering protection and doesn’t need much maintenance at all.
A 24-ounce bottle of Sawyer permethrin spray, which treats five complete outfits, is $15. I have no issues with the cost. And honestly, even if the price were three times that, I’d still think it was worth the investment. Ticks are active whenever the temperature is above freezing, not just in the spring and summer months as most people think. After having gone through the aches and malaise of Lyme disease multiple times—not to mention a brutal 30-day course of antibiotics—paying less than $20 for protection is totally worth it.
The pros and cons of permethrin
We tested 19 different bug repellents, including four permethrin sprays. And of those sprays, we favored the Sawyer permethrin spray the most. We enjoyed the nice trigger spray, the wide availability, and the variety of sizes.
You can also use it to treat larger surfaces than shoes and clothing, including sleeping bags and tents. If you’re treating a large piece of gear like a tent, note that the Sawyer repellent also comes in an aerosol bottle to keep you from wearing out your index finger on the spray bottle.
Keep in mind that you can use up Sawyer’s permethrin spray quickly because the gear you treat really needs to be thoroughly dampened—you don’t just apply a light mist, as you do with a regular repellent. So it’s a good idea to limit overspray when possible. The nozzle is similar to that of a household spray cleaner in that it offers options for a wide spray or a narrow stream. We recommend experimenting with those options until you find a method that suits what you’re treating.
Note too that permethrin is highly toxic to cats when freshly applied. There should be no issue once it’s dry, but make sure to lock the kitties in a bedroom when you’re treating gear.
And as much as we like using Sawyer’s repellents, brand loyalty shouldn’t get in the way of proper tick protection. Other sprays with EPA approval and the presence of 0.5% permethrin, such as Ben’s Clothing and Gear Insect Repellent or Coleman’s Gear and Clothing Permethrin Insect and Tick Repellent, will also repel ticks.
This article was edited by Rachelle Bergstein.
Meet your guide
Doug Mahoney
Doug Mahoney is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter covering home improvement. He spent 10 years in high-end construction as a carpenter, foreman, and supervisor. He lives in a very demanding 250-year-old farmhouse and spent four years gutting and rebuilding his previous home. He also raises sheep and has a dairy cow that he milks every morning.