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Repellents
An effective alternative to DEET that’s safe for the whole family.
How to use.
An effective alternative to DEET that’s safe for the whole family, Sawyer’s 20% Picaridin insect and tick repellent provides effective protection from disease-spreading ticks (Lyme disease, tick-borne encephalitis) and mosquitoes (West Nile, Dengue, and Zika viruses). More effective at repelling biting flies than DEET, it's also effective at repelling stable flies, black flies, gnats, chiggers, and sand flies. Very comfortable to wear on your skin, it's ideal for all your outdoor adventures, from camping, backpacking, hunting, and fishing to backyard BBQs, sporting events, days at the park, and more.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The amount you would need is variable depending on how often you use it, how much of your body you would need to cover and how often you would need to reapply it. We generally recommend 1/2 oz. per application, but that would be full body coverage for an adult. Reapplication would most likely only be necessary after bathing or swimming.
Picaridin is a perfect balance of efficacy, safety and user-friendliness. It repels a wide variety of pests including mosquitoes, ticks, biting flies, sand flies, gnats, chiggers, and midges. It is the longest lasting repellent with up to 14 hours of protection against mosquitoes and ticks and up to 8 hours against a variety of flies, chiggers and gnats. It’s non-greasy, has a pleasant low odor and won’t damage plastics or synthetic coatings. All these factors combined makes Picaridin the optimal topical repellent for the entire family. Check out the data for yourself: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4173961/
Yes. We would recommend applying the sunscreen first. The trick to a comfortable and effective application of sunscreen it to put it on first thing in the morning or at least 10 minutes before sun exposure to help it fully absorb into your skin. Our SPF 30 sunscreen is a bonding base formula which makes it very breathable while still very effective. You can learn more about this formula at https://help.sawyer.com/en-us/sunscreens
Yes. Picaridin is a fantastic topical insect repellent for the whole family and considered to be the repellent of first choice by the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Canadian Advisory Committee on Tropical Medicine and Travel for travelers six months to 12 years of age. Learn more here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4173961/
The lotions will usually last longer simply because you will have more control over how much product is used (recommended amount is .5 ounces per application). Similarly, the pump spray would last longer than the aerosol, which gives the least control, but is arguably the easiest to use.
FYI, because of the way they slow down the evaporation of the product, lotions will last approx. 2 hours longer than sprays of comparable concentrations. However, sprays have the advantage of being able to be applied to clothing and remain effective much longer on clothing than on skin. Since repellents work as a 3″ barrier, clothing applications can often protect 6″ of exposed skin and significantly reduce your usage on skin. So all things considered, whether to use a lotion or a spray is just a matter of personal preference.
The Picaridin formula is designed for active use but is not officially waterproof. It can definitely vary by the bug density and how long you are in the water so we would simply recommend reapplying as necessary. The lotion version will be more resilient to swimming, especially if it has been given ample time to be absorbed into your skin.
