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| They are disgusting. I hate them so much. I have between 8-10 bites, and the itch is terrible. I understand that the life cycle is that they remain on your skin for about a day - even when you shower, then when they drop off, your body reacts to them, and the itch begins. Therefore when you shower, you need to rub your entire body with the terrycloth towel to rub off the chiggers. I know they are not as bad as mosquitoes or ticks, but the itch is driving me crazy. Are they primarily Oklahoma demons, or do the rest of you also have them. itch itch itch. Sammy |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| We have them. Just a couple of bites itch so much you can't sleep--loathe them. Last summer when I got a bunch of bites I searched around on the web & found a page of home remedies. They included scrubbing the bites with ammonia, floor cleaner, alcohol, etc., scalding them with hot water & vigorous scrubbing, holding lit cigarettes to the bite--just about everything short of napalm. (I'll try to find it--it was hilarious) One suggested prevention formula has worked very well--mix a few tablespoons of sulfur into a jar of cheap lotion & smear the stuff all over before exposure--especially along your underwear & sock lines. Stinks, but I only got a couple of minor bites after a full day spent trimming berry vines. That & getting out of your gardening clothes & showering well as soon as you're out of the weeds. |
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| Oh, yeah! Awful little beasts... |
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| I got chigger bites last summer working in my sister's garden. The itch was horrible. Worse than mosquito bites and lasts longer. One suggested remedy that helped me, which sounds awful but worked, is to spit on your finger and apply it to the bite. Fortunately no chiggers in my suburban area. |
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| Here's the GW thread, which includes the link to the funny home remedies page. "The Old Army Method" truly works well for me |
Here is a link that might be useful: chigger thread
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- Posted by Summerseve 6a (My Page) on Mon, Jun 9, 14 at 23:07
| Not sure if this is a problem only in the warmer climate or not, I have never heard about chiggers here in the snow country. " Ivarest poison ivy itch relief" works the best for insect bites, you can get it from Walmart, it stops itch really fast. I use Bayer Advanced complete insect killer (20lb) for the lawn every 3 months, you can get it from Lowe's, it kills all the bugs in the yard. Hope you guys feel better. |
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- Posted by melissa_thefarm NItaly (My Page) on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 4:08
| I think we have them--Suzie talked about "harvest mites" in England, and they sound like our bugs and like chiggers in the U.S. Horrible things. I finally went to our doctor last summer because I was itching so miserably, and she told me to take the pill antihistamine that I use off and on for pollen allergy. This worked. I suffer from them much more than DH does, so it seems likely there's an allergy component. Sulfur is an old southern prevention, as I recall. It makes sense to mix with something that will make it stick. I don't know where to find it here, and should look into it. I use insect repellant and wear long-sleeved shirt and pants, but they get in anyway. Melissa |
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| I do not feel so alone, now. Thank you for your replies. When I read some older links, I wonder where everyone is. I see names that I have not seen in a long time, and wonder what happened. Very interesting contributors to the forum simply stop writing. Maybe there has been a reason that I missed, but I still feel the loss. Bluegirl, your thread was funny. I guess my commitment to wanting a no spray garden causes me to have so many more chiggers, ants, and other critters. If I were to stay on top of my gardening, I would not have so many problems. Ogrose, that really says it all. They are beasts. Summerseve, I do not know where you live, but thanks for your suggestion. I appreciate it even if I do not use products like that anymore. Melissa, I always like your input. I think our yard is a mini farm. We have a slope, and creek together with very hot weather. I can almost always identify with what you write. My main problem is that I got behind this year by not working hard enough in the winter and early spring. Piles of thorny stems remain, yet there is continuing work to be done. I have to get rid of the trash. It would be worth it to try to hire a professional to help, but heavy equipment cannot get to our yard without leaving deep tread marks in the soil. AND around here people do not like to work without machines. Sammy |
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| yes, hateful things - just coming into midge, mosquito, tick and harvest mite season in the woods. I never wear shorts (horrid knees) but any revealed flesh whatsoever is an invitation to the banquet........so a sweaty and hot summer, with trousers tucked into thick socks beckons. Thankfully, there is shade in the woods along with a million biting stinging things. They laugh at Deet and Jungle Formula.....am going down the antihistamine pill route myself (and I also get a great nights sleep after a couple of pills, washed down with a beer or two.) |
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| Lots of chiggers in Texas, but I'm not bothered with them when I'm on St. Augustine grass, just Bermuda. As a child, my mom would make us kids dust our shoes and socks with sulfur before going out in the woods. Can't remember if or how much it helped. Lou |
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| Knock on wood I don't have chiggers here in California, but I have a friend in Ohio who is plagued by them. Recently I found the product below in the catalog of a company I order from for other organic stuff (like nematodes that eat flea eggs/larva). Don't know if it works, but it is based on essential oils, so at least it isn't made of a bunch of harsh chemicals. I was going to suggest my friend try it. Melissa |
Here is a link that might be useful: Essentria botanical oil insecticide
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| A week ago I was attacked by chiggers while pruning some azaleas in shorts and a tee and I got nailed. Dozens and dozens of red welts on my stomack, legs, and arms. They pick the tender skin areas. The itching drove me crazy. Caladryl lotion helped a little, as well as oral benedryl. I've had chigger bites before but this is the most I've ever seen... |
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- Posted by Toolbelt68 7 (My Page) on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 16:08
| After you get though laughing at this one give it a try. Way back when we got bites from chiggers we would paint the center of the bite with fingernail polish. It worked as it closed up the hole and they couldn't breathe. We also rubbed poison ivy with dirt from the field. Years later I found out that the dry dirt soaked up the oil. |
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| My mom keeps an old sock filled with sulphur and knotted closed. We just bang it against our feet, then they can't crawl up your legs. It works. She lives in east texas and has lots of chiggers. If we don't use the "sulphur sock" and get nailed....we take a bleach bath. Literally soak in a bath with bleach in it.... Kills the little suckers. We've also used nail polish. That seems to work also, if there are only a couple. For lots of bites the bleach bath is the way to go! |
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- Posted by nikthegreek 9b/10a E of Athens (My Page) on Thu, Jun 12, 14 at 7:17
| What an itchy thread. I made the mistake of reading it because I didn't know what 'chiggers' meant and now I'm itching all over. Nik |
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| I hate chiggers! We also call them red bugs in SE TX. I would get them as a child when we would go black berry picking and my mom would give us a bath in vinegar for the itching, I think it was supposed to kill the itchy buggers. The vinegar bath also worked on sun burns. |
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