Medical Monday, Prepping your clothing for bugs

Back when I talked about bugs and keeping yourself safe from them I talked about treating your clothing with permethrin. You can pick it up at Walmart or most other box stores. This is what I did, but I’ve also found it for cheaper on Amazon (for once). The box comes with directions and you won’t go wrong if you follow them. I had two bottles and treated some various camo clothing I had and some uniforms before I attend AT this year. Just wanted to share my process and I’ll make another update post after I get some time to test this clothing out in the woods.

To start you can either lay your clothing out on the ground or hang a clothing line and use clothes pins to hold up the clothing. I laid my clothes out on the ground but next time I’ll be treating them like Epstein. I’ll even turn off my camera first.

I laid my clothes out on a section of mossy oak burlap material to catch any overspray to start the treatment of the burlap as well, but you can just lay the clothes on the ground.

Once everything was all laid out I started spraying. The stuff I was using said to use 4.5 ounces per garment. As my hand was not calibrated for that amount I sprayed until the clothing was saturated enough to darken in color slightly. I’d rather over-spray a bit than not get enough. I paid extra attention to the ankles and waistband of the pants and the wrists and bottom hem of the top. I was spraying from about 5-6 inches above and made sure I was upwind of where I was spraying. Although I wasn’t, wearing gloves probably wouldn’t hurt.

Once it dries for about 30 seconds, flip the stuff over and spray again. Once done, let it dry for 2-4 hours depending on humidity and it’s good to wear. Don’t forget to spray socks too. You can also spray gear as well. I will be spraying my rucks, lbe, and tarps with this stuff. Just don’t apply it to base layers or to headgear. This will last about 6 weeks or 6 washes, whatever happens first. Water or rain won’t shorten that timeframe, it’s the agitation of the washing machine that disrupts the treatment. Just simply retreat and you’re ready to go again.