Insect repellents
An insect repellent represents a special substance that has to be applied to skin, clothing, or any other surfaces in order to repel any kind of insects and arthropods in general. Strictly speaking a good insect repellent succeeds in discouraging insects from climbing or basically landing on the respective surface. In this case it turns out to be very important that insect repellents get applied judiciously to exposed skin, though not to mouth, open wounds, eyes, or irritated skin. If this however accidently occurs, the affected surface or area should immediately be rinsed with water.
Many people do use insect repellents in order to prevent and/or control the outbreak of insect-borne diseases such as for example malaria, West Nile fever, and Lyme disease. There several animals like flea, fly, and mosquito that commonly serve as so-called vectors for the already mentioned diseases. These insect repellents are basically toxic chemical substances. There are also various insect repellents such as anti-insect sprays, special gels and creams as well as plug-in mosquito killers. For all those people who do not want to use toxic chemical insect repellents, it is also possible to make your own natural mosquito repellent. Strictly speaking natural repellents effectively repel and discourage mosquitoes, but these substances based on natural ingredients require more frequent reapplication – at least every 2-3 hours in months like June, July and August.
The majority of people however use fly screens and general mosquito nettings which are also called Fliegengitter/Insektenschutzgitter in German. An insect screen is a special device placed in front of a window or door in order to prevent the ingress of any kind of insects. Strictly speaking a fly screen is made of fine woven fabric having a mesh size of approximately one millimeter in order to prevent flies and mosquitoes from coming into the room as well as to have always enough light. Fly screens and mosquito nettings are generally available in building centers or pet shops (Fliegengitter Shop). They are very easy to install: General fly screens are attached with adhesive Velcro closures between window and frame. For so-called framed fly screens it is required to use suspensions that are attached to the window.