Back-Up Bug Repellent

We sent my oldest son off on a weeklong pioneer trek today. These activities not only allow the teenage girls and boys that attend a chance to camp, but to get an idea of what some of the early Mormon pioneers (in handcart companies) experienced crossing the plains and Rocky Mountains to get to Utah. Adding to the experience, each of the boys and girls was supposed to pick a pioneer (a family ancestor, if possible) and to share a story or details from that pioneer's journey.

Unlike the pioneers, though, the members of this modern handcart company were supposed to pack insect repellent, particularly since the area that this year's trek is being held is famous (or infamous, rather) for mosquitoes. We sent him with both a spray on repellent and a wrist band repellent. However, after dropping him off, my wife mentioned using Bounce dryer sheets in a pinch when she was helping cook at a girls' camp a few years ago. She swore it worked, saying that those that rubbed the dryer sheet over their limbs and face did not have problems with mosquitoes, while those that scoffed wound up being "just stupid."

There has been some limited research into this. In 2010, HortScience published a paper that found that Bounce dryer sheets were effective at repelling fungus gnats. The study found that the sheets released several volatiles, including linalool and beta-citronellol, both of which may work as repellants. There is, nonetheless, a big difference between fungus gnats and mosquitoes. Nevertheless, I found a couple informal tests (here and here) testing out various commercial repellants and dryer sheets (Bounce and generic brands) that found that the dryer sheets did seem to work to repel mosquitoes. (The second test also tested vanilla extract and found that it also seemed to work).

So, my wife's experience and others indicate it probably works.