Here's somebody who has put a brand name on permethrin treated clothing and gotten some pretty big endorsements for permethrin treatment. I take this as the final encouragement I need to start doing it myself.

http://www.insectshield.com/Video/default.htm

Pretty funny video. So how does it protect the women and men shown in the shots wearing shorts? Also, what protection was there for the arms of the sleeveless shirts? My only point is that it not as care-free and easy as they show. You really have got to cover up all exposed skin as much as possible.

I've had Lyme disease, and since I live in Lyme central, I use permethrin on all of my designated 'woods' clothing, but yeah, it's not a complete answer.
It does have some repellent effect AROUND the treated clothing, but not enough to keep biting insects and other nasties off of large areas of exposed skin....some other type of repellant is still required.

That said, nothing works better than permethrin at keeping the ticks at bay..although I find it a lot easier and more reliable to treat your clothes yourself, as opposed to buying pre-treated.

Keep this stuff away from your pets, though!!!! Especially cats.

Self-treatment is my intention. There have been other posts about doing that, but I'd be interested in your procedure . . .

well, some people have a skin sensitivity to permethrin, some even after it's cured, so first you want to make sure that you don't. I'd treat a pair of pants or something, then wear them for a day to be certain that no rashes pop up.

As far as a method...Just lay out the clothes you want to treat (I treat everything, including socks and underwear, but that's just me), then spray every inch of the fabric, giving it a good wet coating....kind of like spray painting it. If you use the Repel version of the product, one can will most likely treat two pairs of pants and two shirts....

After it's soaked, hang it or drape it over a clothesline until it's completely dry. That's it.

The cans claim that the treatment is good for several washings or a few weeks....I just re-treat every couple of weeks, or after I've washed them a couple of times. Then again, I use this stuff on my dedicated hiking clothes, which don't get washed all that often, so your mileage may vary.

Don't use this stuff in your house, or in windy conditions, as it tends to drift around a lot, and you don't want to touch the wet chemical, so maybe wear gloves.

Keith, there was an extensive discussion about this about two years ago with several updates. You should search the archives using the word "permethrin." There were several methods suggested and many questions answered. I get mine in concentrate from an insecticide dealer and then make up several gallons of the stuff. I then totally soak the clothes, wring them out, and hang them on the back fence to dry. I let them dry completely and then lightly rinse them out again with clean water to remove the excess permethrin. I also set up my tent and spray my bug netting. I sit in the tent and spray outwards to keep the spray off the body and floor of the tent. Works great. I've watched skitters land on the netting and immediately fly off.

First time I did this I didn't remove the excess from my clothes. I sweat alot when hiking so tend to go swimming in my hiking clothes when I hit camp to clean the clothes and me. I was wading into Big Heart Lake in the Cascades in my treated clothes and realized that huge clouds of white residue were billowing off my clothes in the water. Probably an ecological disaster. I have always rinsed my clothes since then.

O.S.,
Thanks for the post. I recall the discussion some years ago and couldn't seem to get to the nitty gritty when I tried to look it up recently.

I think I'll go ahead and use your treatment procedure.

I see what you mean. I guess you can't search beyond one year.

There are "archive" links on the top left of this screen. The search function there goes back two years.

I use the spray stuff sold at Wally World. One can does two shirts, a hat, a pair of shorts and a pair of long pants. Plus a little left over for my tent. Seems to work well.