Chiggers

[crop/hail]

Do yall have these miserable little S O B's? Ok if youre not from Texas you may call em "red bugs", we have them bad this year with all the rain in the spring. I was fixing fence yesterday and was wading through tall grass and now im covered in the itchy good for nothing little basturds. What works for yall to get rid of em so im not up all night scratching till I bleed? Ive had em in the past but not this bad.

 

[Kingfisher]

Calomine lotion & a 6 pack...

 

[TCRanch]

Nothing really works, at least not for me. Benadryl helps along with Caladryl or Chiggerex (followed with a sleeping pill like ZzzQuil & maybe a glass of wine ). I now spray with Deep Woods Off w/Deet 40 any and every time I'm out in the pasture, woods, etc & it's made a huge difference in how many chiggers/skeeters/ticks feast on me.

 

[Bigfoot]

If something has me itching, it's a Benadryl at bed time. Helps with the itch, and helps you sleep. I wear bucks coated with permethrin when I'm out.

 

[Cross-7]

Saw a remedy the other day but haven't tried it.
Hot shower and wash off chiggers.
Vicks vapor rub infused heavy with table salt( real heavy with salt)
Rub listerrne mouh wash on bites then coat bites with salt/Vicks on chigger bites

 

[callmefence]

Cowboy boots. Not lace ups . jeans out not tucked in . soak the bottom cuff of your jeans with off.

Once you got em . 6pack .......tallboys

 

[ga.prime]

Fill your bathtub with hot water. Pour a box of salt in and get it all dissolved and then soak yourself for awhile in it.

For prevention, get some powdered sulphur and put in a white tube sock and then after you're dressed and have your boots on and are outside the house, beat the tube sock against your pants leg from your knees down. Keeps redbugs, ticks, and other critters from crawling up your pants. You can use the same sulphur filled sock over and over. Keep it in a coffee can in your truck.

 

[M-5]

Asorbine Jr

 

[JMJ Farms]

Paint the bites with clear fingernail polish. Suffocates them.

Drink pickle juice to repel them.

GaPrime, that's a new one on me with the sulfur sock. Gonna try that bc I don't like pickles much.

 

[talltimber]

If I know ahead of time I'll be in the tall grass/brush, I'll spray down real good with deep woods off. When I get home, clothes come off in the mud room, straight to shower with a jug of bleach. Wipe/rub down legs real good with bleach and let it soak a couple of minutes, then shower. Chiggerex the next day or two if I missed any.

 

[Rafter S]

I am from Texas, and I grew up calling them redbugs. And if there's one within 1/2 mile it will find me. If I know I'm going where they're likely to be I'll spray my boots, and my jeans from the knees down, with Off.

If it's too late for that, rubbing alcohol on the bites works well.

 

[Bigfoot]

Chiggers leave after they bite don't they?

 

[dun]

My wife has found that washing down with a mixture of clorox and water gets rid of them.

 

[LRTX1]

They love me, I've had probably 10000 of them in my life as a surveyor. If it gets bad, 300 or more at a time, I'll draw a bath and pour a cup of bleach in it. Other than that just benign neglect but, I'm not a compulsive scratcher either.

 

[Clodhopper]

I have to locate utilities, so I'm walking in waist high weeds all summer. Dose down with Deep woods off, as was mentioned. If I do get bit, I use a method I just learned of this year. Turn the hot water on, and let it run until the steam is rolling. Stick a spoon under the water for a few seconds then press the spoon down hard on the bite and don't let up. Feels like sticking a needle right through the middle of it, but it will kill the itch. Hurts like he77, but it's worth it.

The best preventative I ever heard of was from another locater who wears shorts all summer. I asked him how he keeps from getting ate up, he said "easy, just smoke a lot of pot and eat a bunch of jalapenos!" I've only tried half of his recipe so far, won't say which half but I will say I like hot spicy food.

I'll also say, be glad you have chigger bites and not turkey mite bites. Those things are chigger bites x100.

 

[D2Cat]

During summer I get odorless Garlic and take 3-4 tablets every other day. Put mustard on about every sandwich I eat. Soak sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions in vinegar and put on sandwiches.

Ticks, chiggers and other bugs don't seem to like you if you have enough vinegar and garlic for them to taste!!

 

[backhoeboogie]

Chiggerex bottles. I think there is six bottles in the medicine cabinet now.

I've tried everything. Painting your scrotum with nail polish for a week solid is for the birds. Still itch and they keep biting in. Chiggerex fixes the problem. If I get down to three bottles I will stock up again.

Did I mention I hate chiggers?

 

[Son of Butch]

Chiggers leave after they bite don't they?

Yes they do.
Painting bites with nail polish ect is based on old wifes tale that they burrow under the skin.
Calamine lotion or other itch relief medicine and time... the itching usually stops in a couple of days on its own.
A cool shower may give some relief.
Wash your clothes in hot water to kill any chiggers that may be remaining on your clothing.

 

[plumber_greg]

Feel for you guys.
Never in my life have I known what a chigger bite, mosquito bite, or anything like that feels like.
Don't know why, they just leave me alone
Wasps will sting me, but it barely leaves a mark. Bumble bee stings will itch for about 5 minutes or less and then go away.
Should sell my blood to some research company to make a vaccine. gs

 

[pdfangus]

some good information in this thread....

learned a few new tricks...