Professional-grade insect repellents with EPA-registered active ingredients like DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 repel mosquitoes immediately on contact. Spray formulations work within seconds, while lotions take about 20 minutes to become fully effective once applied to skin.
But here’s the limit that you’ll run into with any topical repellent: they only protect skin when and where you apply them. Miss a spot the size of a dime and mosquitoes will find it. They also wash off with sweat or water, meaning you’ll have to reapply them a lot. That’s fine for a hike or evening walk, but it’s not a solution for using your own backyard.
DEET has been the gold standard since 1957 for straightforward reasons. It’s fast and it works for a long time. A 10% DEET product can give you about 90 minutes of protection, with 30% concentration lasting 5 to 6 hours.
Picardin is similarly effective at 20% concentration, giving you up to six hours of protection. It smells less and has no negative effect on plastics.
These professional formulations interfere with mosquitoes’ ability to detect you, essentially making you invisible to their sensors.
There are also plenty of home remedies like citronella candles, essential oil sprays, and mosquito-repelling plants. These often work to varying degrees, but none provide the immediate and reliable protection that EPA-registered repellents do.
Citronella candles only add about 50% extra protection in their immediate vicinity and fail when there's wind. Essential oils like clove or cinnamon can repel for 60-90 minutes when properly formulated at 10% concentration, but that's a fraction of what professional repellents provide. And if you intend to use lavender or basil, you’ll need to crush them and rub them on your skin to release their oils. Simply growing a few plants in the garden won’t do the trick.
Mosquito Squad of North Orange County provides immediate relief with its yard treatment service. It can knock out 90% or more of mosquitoes on contact and it works for 21 days at a time. And it works because it goes after where mosquitoes breed, stopping the next generation from coming back and picking up where the last round left off.
