Mint against bedbugs

[Pabloke]

I don't know if this has any scientific basis or it's just the "grandma's wisdom", but i've read and heard that smell of mint repels bedbugs.

My experience? The truth is that i've been using a cold effect gel made with menthol on my legs every night and i have had no bites, while others around do have been bitten.

Casuality? Maybe. I've been using this gel everytime i trek, no matter where, to reactivate the blood circulation and relax my tired legs while sleeping.

 

[Tincatinker]

http://www.wired.com/2014/10/essential-oils-fail-killing-bed-bugs/

 

[C clearly]

Many people find that essence of air works very effectively.

 

[Tincatinker]

Methane is good too. Eat lots of Fabada. Kept the buggers out of my underpants...

 

[Tincatinker]

As an addendum to that last post. It is a well established fact that heat, above 113F / 45c, kills bed-bugs. Which, is why, presumably so much hot air is exercised on this topic on this poor bloody forum.

 

[koilife]

In fairness to the OP, the question is about "repelling" the bed bug, not killing. The usual focus in the threads is on permethrin for killing, but there's a lot of references to using tea tree oil as a repellent. In my admittedly limited research, I don't ever recall seeing any studies on effectiveness of repellents (whether "natural" or not).

I'm not attached to any particular answer, but would be curious to know if a credible scientific study has addressed this?

Also, on the slightly more masochistic side, here's an article about ongoing research into attractants as part of a trapping system . . . Scientist Has A Bedbug Breakthrough After Subjecting Herself To 180,000 Bites. Gave me the willies.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Mint - another reason for carrying a tube of Polos on Camino - and we have never seen a bed-bug there.
Stinkweed keeps moths away so a piece of that might be good too. It tends to permeate the clothes and is often used with the addition of lavender.

 

[Pabloke]

In fairness to the OP, the question is about "repelling" the bed bug, not killing. The usual focus in the threads is on permethrin for killing, but there's a lot of references to using tea tree oil as a repellent. In my admittedly limited research, I don't ever recall seeing any studies on effectiveness of repellents (whether "natural" or not).

I'm not attached to any particular answer, but would be curious to know if a credible scientific study has addressed this?

Also, on the slightly more masochistic side, here's an article about ongoing research into attractants as part of a trapping system . . . Scientist Has A Bedbug Breakthrough After Subjecting Herself To 180,000 Bites. Gave me the willies.

Thanks Koilife.

Yes, i talk about repelling, not killing. By the moment i'm not concerned about bites but about carrying these aliens back home.

And, obviously, i was not asserting a thing about the mint performance; but mint, as any other substance either natural or synthetic, is chemical and can influence on the bug's behavior.

Or not.

 

[DavidsRetired]

.... here's an article about ongoing research into attractants as part of a trapping system . . . Scientist Has A Bedbug Breakthrough After Subjecting Herself To 180,000 Bites. Gave me the willies.

That article is interesting, as it makes note that histamine is a repellent. BEER and WINE are rich in histamine! Perhaps that’s my saving grace for never being bitten on the Camino.

Hmmm, I wonder if I could get a grant for that study?

 

[Anniesantiago]

I wonder if bedbugs laugh?

 

[DavidsRetired]

I wonder if bedbugs laugh?

Of course they laugh, especially when reading how famous they are on this forum. The permethrin threads have them in belly laughs – that’s probably our best defence; keep them laughing, so they don’t bite.

 

[Devon Mike]

If we are responsible for bedbugs travelling all along the Camino, do they qualify for a Compostela?

 

[Bradypus]

No idea if mint repels bed bugs or not. Might do something to improve the overall scent of the albergues though. No bad thing in itself.

 

[paul.ferris]

I don't know if this has any scientific basis or it's just the "grandma's wisdom", but i've read and heard that smell of mint repels bedbugs.

My experience? The truth is that i've been using a cold effect gel made with menthol on my legs every night and i have had no bites, while others around do have been bitten.

Casuality? Maybe. I've been using this gel everytime i trek, no matter where, to reactivate the blood circulation and relax my tired legs while sleeping.

 

[paul.ferris]

I don't know why fun is being made of this legitimate inquiry. It is not impossible that Cold Effect Gel discourages bed bugs. Perhaps the menthol or camphor or cooling effect is not to the little critters taste. I say if it seems to work maybe you have hit on something.

 

[newfydog]

They love peppermint but will settle for spearmint in a pinch.

 

[LiesbethSA]

heat, above 113F / 45c, kills bed-bugs. Which, is why, presumably so much hot air is exercised on this topic to

Ha-ha "English well understood here!!"

 

[Pabloke]

I don't know why fun is being made of this legitimate inquiry. It is not impossible that Cold Effect Gel discourages bed bugs. Perhaps the menthol or camphor or cooling effect is not to the little critters taste. I say if it seems to work maybe you have hit on something.

Bah, don't worry about it.

When i write something i accept that some people may find my thoughts, or even my person, kind of ridiculous. And i accept their need to make me know it, aswell.

That's part of being human, nothing new.

Anyway, i don't feel offended, hurted or so. I'm pretty sure i would have a good time with them around a table of cold beers.

The topic: i'm using this gel for many years. I don't know if it works for repelling bugs but i've never seen a bite on my skin.

 

[Kanga]

The quoted article says that the products failed to repel the bedbugs. So, they don't kill, and they don't repel.

Heat works, but how about the stories about houses going up in flames when heat treatment goes wrong? Apparently there have been a few. Bedbugs win.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I just spent the weekend in New York City, and it seemed that every third TV ad was for services to get rid of bed bugs! It isn't just the Camino!!!!

 

[domigee]

I just spent the weekend in New York City, and it seemed that every third TV ad was for services to get rid of bed bugs! It isn't just the Camino!!!!

Haha! Another reason to blame you Americans for something or rather ! You brought them in!

Please, no hate mail, IT WAS A JOKE