Chiggers! Yes, it’s that time of year again. Here in Texas, they've been swarming and have been staying for a while. Within a day or so, I'm covered in chigger bites…and they itch like crazy! At this time of year, a lot of questions about how to get rid of chiggers come to mind! Luckily, I know the answers.
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How To Get Rid Of Chiggers: Natural Methods That Help
1. Keep Your Lawn Mowed
Chiggers love to hang out in tall grass and weeds. Keeping your lawn mowed as short as you can will help prevent chigger infestations.
2. Plant Marigolds
Some swear by this method! Apparently, chiggers do not like marigolds, so plant some around your home. Not only will you repel chiggers, but your flower garden will also be extra beautiful.
3. Diatomaceous Earth
For this method, use only food-grade DE only for your clothes and lawn. Chiggers hate this stuff! Before leaving the house, dust a little food-grade DE on the bottom of your pants (about 6 inches upward), your socks around ankles, and your shirt sleeves.
For your lawn, sprinkle food grade DE to repel chiggers. The rule of thumb for this method is 5 pounds per 1000 square feet.
4. Panty Hose
Wear pantyhose underneath your pants. This is a popular method due to the fact that chiggers can’t bite through this kind of material.
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5. Sulfur
Using sulfur to repel chiggers is a well known and very effective repellent.
- Sulfur Powder – Dust your clothes and shoes with sulfur powder before heading outside.
- Sulfur Pellets – You can also spread sulfur pellets around your lawn to repel chiggers. The suggestion for this method is to do so before it becomes extremely hot out. However, this method is not recommended if you have pets.
- Sulfur Supplements – My mom swears by this method! My great grandmother used to give my mom sulfur tablets and the bugs really stayed away.
Before taking any sulfur supplements, please consult with your primary care physician if you have any known medical conditions, if you are pregnant or nursing, or if you are taking any prescription medications. Understanding how to get rid of chiggers means finding a solution that fits with your medical needs!
6. Vinegar
Spray your clothes with white distilled vinegar before heading outdoors. Some people do this and never turn back to any other method!
7. Garlic
Eat a single clove of garlic daily to repel chiggers. Garlic is a great mosquito repellent as well.
8. Hit The Shower
Every single time I spend any time outdoors, I head straight for the shower after I come back inside. It takes time for chiggers to pierce the skin, so the sooner you can take a hot shower, the better! I also recommend using antibacterial soap.
9. DIY Chigger Repellent
Here is a great chigger repellent recipe using essential oils:
- 2 teaspoons of witch hazel
- 4 tablespoons of water
- 5 drops of essential oil (lavender, tea tree, thyme, or lemongrass will work)
Mix well and spray directly onto your skin.
Watch this video from National Geographic so you'll know what to do when a chigger infestation runs over your garden:
If you are currently suffering from chigger bites, there are home remedies you can make to soothe your skin. These are ways to help get rid of pests.
Do any natural answers to how to get rid of chiggers? Share with us in the comment section below.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on September 4, 2017, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
When you have been bitten. Wash the area with soap and water and apply GRAIN alcohol to the bites. Rubbing alcohol does NOT work the same (for me anyway) This was prescribed to me by an old country Doctor 60 years ago.
Then wash your clothes. Placing them in the dryer. That will kill them for certain.
I read that the adults bite, causing the enzymes to form. But then they lay eggs in the area, the eggs hatch, and the babies then eat the skin affected by the enzymes. That is why they last so long. I have to believe this one because the bites are spreading, and always at least 3 bites form around the original, meaning the babies have turned into adults and the cycle is spreading. Right now I have over 34 bites, which started out as much less. I have NOT been in the yard but one time, when it started. So, this is the only explanation. The problem is, there seems to be no way I can kill these bugs. I have been affected for over 10 days now, and it has only gotten worse. I wake up daily with more bites. I have tried every different way to kill them, but nothing has worked. We don’t have grain alcohol and I don’t think you can buy it any more. Any suggestions would be appreciated. (I am very sensitive to chemicals, so must be careful.)
Just be aware we have washed all clothing, sheets, blankets, , etc., and vacuumed everywhere, just to make sure they can’t be in the bedroom itself. So my main question is, how do you finally get rid of these insects, once they have seemed to become infested?
diatomaceous earth, food grade on your legs,
While growing up I have had thousands of chigger bites from playing in the pastures and wooded areas behind our home. Clear nail polish! As soon as you know you have a bite coat it with nail polish. Clear if you don’t want to look like you have chicken pox 🤠
olivia
wall mart sells equate pain ointment. Its the same as tiger balm but more powerful ingredient wise.
this stuff is cheap and will kill offspring and parent. it will relieve itching and heal too.
I would love to know how to get rid of these pesky bugs too! Since December 2019 and its now June 2020 and I get bites regularly. During that time I have had over 100 bites. I have followed every recommendation except grain alcohol. HELP!
85 years old Navy Vet and never seen a chigger before. I called the Vet and they gave me two tube’s of cream, one being;Triamcinolone .0.025% and another called Permethrin cream 5% and then there are my own concoctions that I am experimenting with. I am using DMSO and combining it with Iodine. I just combined the Iodine with “natures best” flea and tick spray so will see how that will work, so far no pain or itch. I have picked a few; eggs or larvae out to see what they look like. Black specks some tiny and some larger ones down in the center of the pimple like wound, expect blood. I am making a hot tub out of a 50 gal plastic barrel that I can sit in up to my neck and It will be heated with a stock tank submersible120V heater. I always wanted on of them anyway.
For me plain white distilled vinegar works very well!
I live in Ghana WAfrica and I am 77…..
The sweating and the heat do the rest
After 1 or 2 days the itch goes away and the bites heal!
Try coating the bites with clear nail polish.
Young Living Purification essential oil blend takes the itch away. My husband gets bitten every year when he picks our blueberries. This is the only thing that takes care of the itch.
I have used natural lye soap as a preventative agents mosquito and Chigger bites and as treatment on bites after.being bitten. Chigger bites require repeated applications.
I wet the bar of soap and apply it on wet skin avoiding folds. (Mosquitoes usually can’t bite you there and chiggers can’t get that far if treated) lye soap is made most often w/fat so it’s no drying on skin but can irritate in folds.
I use Sea Breeze astringent every time I have been outside at all. if you apply soon enough, it seems to deactivate the enzyme from poison Ivy which is everywhere…. With chiggers, even the Deet doesn’t work for me in preventing them from secreting their enzyme that liquifies your skin making it easier to digest. Clothes have to ALL be laundered immediately. Don’t bring them into the bedroom or they can spread to your linens and other clothes.
What I’m researching is how to get them out of the yard. We have multiple hot spots so that I can only stand on paved surfaces. Since we have a farm, we don’t have a lawn but pollinator meadows with mowed walking paths and lots of trees around our house. There is no area I trust to not get them on me. I fear them more than the ding dang fire ants. What I have read is that identifying the hot spots and treating with diatomaceous earth- food grade (not crystalline) is how you can reduce them. Since we can’t control squirrels, deer and are even now dealing with wild pigs, all of which carry chiggers, we’re going to have to do a multi-tiered approach.
I grew up dealing with chiggers- particularly when blackberry picking, but I have never encountered this many chigger beds in one area. It’s the makings of a horror series… that with the fire ants and poison Ivy is making me agoraphobic!
Appreciate any advice. Planning on trying the DE and sulfur next.
Are you my next door neighbor?
I live on Northern California and could have written your post. I have identified several hot spots on our property. I can’t even bring the trash cans in without getting a bite. And that’s all on paved surfaces! If I got outside to pick one sprig of an herb from a container garden two feet from my back door – bites!
We have squirrels, deer, turkey, lizards. The bug season lasts over 5 months where I have at least two (but usually seven to ten) bites on my body. They keep me awake at night. They are usually in my bikini line, under my arms, around my belt or even in my belly button. Awful!
We’ve tried diatomaceous earth over the whole deck. It didn’t work. We’ve sprayed permethrin around the perimeter of the house. The only thing that mitigates the bites is me never stepping foot on a dirt surface and taking a shower immediately upon coming back inside. Unrealistic!
I can go on long hikes nearby my house, and that’s all on dirt trails. As long as I never stray from the trail and shower when returning home (immediately! And putting my clothes directly in the washer) I don’t usually get bites. But this is not so for my property. The bugs are plentiful, aggressive and well established. I will get bites no matter what I do here. Even if I put one foot, for one step, on a lawn to pick up a toy or pull a weed.
I want to move. We live in an expensive neighborhood, in a somewhat nice house and have taken all precautions to keep the yard tidy during the cold season. Nothing has worked.
Have you had any further success?
I am also dealing with the worst nightmarish infestation of chiggers on my 55 acher horse farm. The horses and the cats and the dogs and the people are suffering greatly. I have always used nail polish to treat them on myself and have always stopped the itch immediately and the bite would heal within a couple days if you didn’t scratch it too much before you hit it with nail polish but I have never seen them bother the horses in this way. We have the flies under control and we don’t have a tick issue so it has to be chiggers.. I am interested in keeping them off the horses but what I really want is information on exterminating them off my property intirely!
I’ve been looking for a chigger predator and I think Predator Mites will work – they eat Spider Mites and that is the family that chiggers are in. Farm & gardening stores sell them.