Uw, good tip. You're absolutely right about some antibiotic creams helping the itch. And ITCH is what chiggers do most.

I was scatching a mosquito bite one day and dearly beloved said, "If you put some of this antibiotic on that it will stop itching."

I said, "Sweetheart, an antibiotic isn't going to do anything for the itching."

"Well, it does", he replied. I looked the ingredients and sure enough it contained a topical analgesic. I've been using it on insect bites ever since. Good for burns too.

Chigarid is good to put on bites. I couldn't find it in stores any more, so I ordered some this year from the company.

We have recently had a large infestation of chiggers in our woodsy, heavily shaded (pine trees), back yard. The itching from our chigger bites has been ferocious this summer! My husband and I have both been eaten up on several occasions. I finally remembered my great-grandmother's remedy of getting in a hot shower with a bottle of regular rubbing alcohol and a loofah/scrub brush. Here's what to do: After getting your body wet, pour a generous amount of alcohol on a loofah/scrub brush and then scrub the spots that itch as hard as you can without breaking the skin. The itching ceases in seconds. Next, wash all over with antibacterial soap and rinse thoroughly. Towel dry your skin, patting your skin dry instead of rubbing it roughly. After skin has dried, pour alcohol onto a dry cloth and rub skin down once again. Allow alcohol to completely dry before dressing.

This remedy has been passed down in my southern family for generations!

Lisa S. from Chattanooga, TN

I have found by mixing cedar oil and water in a small bottle and spraying all over my clothes especially around my shoes and pants has helped me tremendously.

1. I have tried a lot of the above treatments and they did not work so well. I have found one thing that absolutely will work. You get in the shower or bathtub and increase the water temperature as much as you can stand it. That itching will go crazy at that point. Stay in the hot water for at least five minutes. When you get out the itching Will soon be gone. It will stay away for about four hours then may start up again. Do the same thing again. Works for poison ivy also. .try it and you will see.

My family always swallowed two tablespoons of vinegar before going out in the woods, it worked great for chiggers once you get over the taste.

We just got an invasion of ticks. I heard that lime dust would kill them. I could not find any way to fog the wooded area so I bought a cheap leaf blower and drilled a hole in the top of one section and mounted a funnel. I can not believe how good it worked. I bought medium ground lime from Tractor Supply and four fifty pound bags fogged my six acres. It left small grains on the ground as well for some time release. I can't believe someone doesn't sell something like this.

Best thing I found to treat chigger bites is a hot tub full of water and a box of baking soda mixed in! After a good soak all my pain and itching vanished!

We live in Idaho between Boise and Twin Falls. We moved here last year and I'm the only one that get bit! We don't have tall grass, mostly dirt and I only get bit at night. Last year it was over four weeks before my ankles stopped itching. The other night I was out side with my husband putting our greenhouse tarp up at night ( because the wind was calmer) and I did shower after coming in and the next day I've got twenty plus bites. I live in flip flops all day and it was only the two nights being outside at night. I guess I'm house bound at night. We have alot of wild life on the property, so not sure what to use?

Nane judgeing by location of your bits, terrain and presence of wild animals I'd say fleas are bitting you. Fleas bit day or night. To see if you have fleas in an area,wear white pants as you walk about. You can see them moving against white.

Klem , good observation.

I'll agree with a lengthy hot shower for itchy bites every day. Then I apply Chigarid on each bite. Works good!

I'll try about anything to relieve discomfort of chiggers but I'm a fan of "a stitch in time save's nine". Washing off with plain soap and water within a couple of hours of picking up chiggers will remove 90% if not all them. How can you tell if that short walk in weeds earned a load of chiggers? IDK but I shower afterwards just in case unless there was snow on the ground. ^_^

I was climbing the walls my ankles itched to my but then I read what cestbellevie said about mixing aspirin and a little water. I dissolved 2 325g aspirin in about a teaspoon of water and applied it to the areas that were itching and they stopped itching almost immediately. I had been using alcohol which I had to repeatedly apply but now it's been half an hour and no itching AT ALL. I am so happy! THANK YOU!!

@JoAnn Hare - could you tell me the ratio of bleach to water - hubby and I are always getting bitten and would love to try preventing them instead of curing them - thanks.

I have the same issue with chiggers and ticks in my back yard so I'm gonna look in to sufur, I have had awful chiggers, clear finger nail polish of the spot will smother then its gonna itch bite for a little cause they go Cray but it works

I use permethrin on the lawn, non-flowering landscape plants,deck and house near main entry doors to control skeeters and chiggers. For those occasions where I go into places suspected of haveing biteing insects I soak a pair of light cotton coveralls,cotton hat and socks in a 0.5% solution then let them air dry before wearing. Not 100% organic but isn't toxic to humans either. There's similar products extracted from a popular flower that have close to same benifit for those who insist on 100% organic.

encourage your spiders and ants, they'll eat them. We usually leave an anthill or two toward the back of the yard, KILLING any that pop up closer, and we rarely get bites. We also stay inside at dusk/dawn,and keep the grass trimmed.

If anyone want's them I have plenty Imported Fire Ants free for the asking. (:

Ive found vinegar applied to skin stops chigger bite itch and general itching. Thanks for all the good tips it's time to try to get rid of the chiggers instead of just scratching afterwards

I make up my own concoction, not sure exactly how well it works yet, but I think it works pretty good. I buy several different essential oils, like citronella, orange, cinnamon, etc. Most bugs hate all those. I get a 1-2 gallon pump up yard sprayer. Mix the oils with 2 big bottles of rubbing alcohol and finish filling with water. The alcohol makes the oils and water miscible. Pump up and spray down and the yard smells delicious for days. It seems to have worked. I have also just dusted with sulfur. I try to spray my pants and shoes with OFF but forget sometimes. Even forgetting lately, I haven't been bitten, and I have the bad reactions, too. I plan on treating with both of these multiple times. It can get pricey, even cheap ebay oils aren't cheap and the 8-16 oz sizes are needed. Here the sulfur is 18 bucks for 25 lbs and I lay it on thick. If anybody finds a cheaper source for essential oils, or knows of one that works awesome, please post. I would think citronella and cinnamon are the most effective.

Repellents with DEET and sulphur. Those can be used. I've also stumbled on some information that includes permethrin clothing. That substance has proven lethal to fleas and ticks, and should be just as effective when employed with chiggers. You can also take practical measures. Don't go out into a battlefield unprepared. Chiggers are also drawn to specific hosts. That includes reptiles and small mammals. Reduce their visits to your home and you could do well. Frankly, it's hard to get rid of chiggers, but small measures can reduce their numbers and your vulnerability to being bitten. My advice, expect to be bitten, just ensure to have on hand treatments so as not to swell up.

PLEASE don't spray your pets with a bleach solution, no matter how diluted or mild. Most pets have more sensitive skin to such products than we do. Please. Don't do it, if you question me, please contact your veterinarian. Be considerate of those who depend on you. Think first.

This thread has been a huge help. Just wanted to add one thing. Caladryl lotion saved my sanity this week. I tried a benadryl stick, hydrocortisone cream, hot baths, etc. None eased the irritation. The itch was maddening. Calamine (active ingredient in caladryl) worked fast and long term. The bites quickly cleared up. Pretty much any drug store or grocery store carries it.

Now I'm determined to rid my backyard of them. Lol!

Thank you for all of your shared wisdom and experiences. I've been dealing with chiggers in my city garden for the past few years and am unable to find their host sites. I will try cedar pellets and sulphur this year. My solution to bites are to treat topically once discovered with Tea Tree Oil or Melaleuca. It's been great to stop the itching and possibly spreading of critters. Additionally, the oil helps the healing much more quickly.

If you can't control chiggers. The best thing that I have found I'd oddly enough is. If you're going out where the chiggers are. wear long pants or jeans with socks and buy a pair of hearts flea collars the white ones That you stretch to activate put them around your boot ankles or around your socks and you won't get any chigger bites at all. I have use this method for years and it works great

I moved to the country about 3 years ago and forgot how bad the chiggers can be. Makes me want to move to the city. :-) However, my brother just told me about the sulfur he used with great results. I'm on my way to town to get some today to spread. I tried everything for the bites but got the best results from calamine lotion. Not the swann brand because it's too watery. I then bought the CVS brand and it spread like a lotion. On parts of my skin that is constantly rubbed with my clothes, I put the lotion on and then a bandaid over it. It really keeps it from itching because there is no friction to aggravate it. My best remedy is to come inside after any amount of time near plants, put my clothes directly into a hot water wash and me in a hot water shower and scrub with lots of soap. Of course that limits how often I go outside. Praying the sulfur takes care of the problem here. Thanks for all of the input. I've noted several that I'm going to try.

My folks lived in the country up around Texarkana and had ticks and chiggers real bad when they built their house. Back side of 80 acres was wooded. Daddy ran Beagles for hunting and walk those infested woods many a time training his dogs and hunting. Even lightly dusted his 8 beagles and his pants legs and shoes with Sevin Dust (I think he used 5% dust spread on a non-windy day) and was never plagued with chiggers or ticks on the mowed part of his yard. None of his dogs seemed to suffer from a very light dusting on their fur either in the 12 years they lived there. He treated the 2-3 acres he mowed right around the house with it also when he ran his tractor/mower. Man, you could walk out there barefoot and short shorts and never get a chigger (or tick) bite after he did that. They lived there for 12 years and that always did the job for him. My MIL had them in Dallas as they lived near a railroad track. A treatment with Spectracide always knocked them in her back yard where they were the worst.

That said, neither of those things are "organic". But they both will work as I have used both. They say in the literature for DE (diatomaceous earth used for pool filters) will kill chiggers. I put that down here in Temple proper to get the fleas this property was infested with 4 years ago when we bought this place. Neither we nor the dog has been bitten by a flea since. So if you want to go strictly organic, I'd recommend DE and let it get lots of your multi-legged pests. It works by slicing into exoskeletons of the incests and they die of dehydration. But it will kill ALL insects with an exoskeleton. Man, even roaches will get into my house occasionally and every single one of them I find belly up on the floor, in various stages of slow death. Not what I put the DE down for, but I'm not complaining. :) BTW, I have not had to retreat the back yard in nearly 3 years now, so the stuff lays on the ground for a very long time and keeps on a-tickin'. It's finely crushed crustaceon shells, so totally organic.

I have a very safe and organic way to spray your lawn for killing all kinds of bugs and insects.Ive been doing this for yrs since I got the formula and havent had any fleas,ants,chiggers or any other bug in the lawn..you can spray on the plants,vegetable,pets anything I like and it’s safe.

Using one of those sprayers that attach to the garden hose,fill it with these items..

12oz can of Sprite

1cup of lemon juice

1cup of anti bacterial dish soap

...put on end of hose and spray away...be crazy and spray everythin..u will see bubbles and that’s from the soap,they will go away..the Sprite and lemon juice will eat the insects bodies and kill them leaving the lawn INSECT FREE..Ive been using it for years and have had many compliments regarding the lawn..Enjoy !!

sdinnes737@gmail.com and let me know how things turned out.Thanks

That's amazing. Thanks for the tip. I found several similar 'recipes' on the internet. Yes, if anyone tries it let us know how it works for you.

Add a bottle of vodka so bugs can take a bath and throw a party.

Add some ice cream and I'll be over ... ;-)

klem1 Please! You clearly don't know how badly bugs act when they get drunk. Rarely do they party, they'll start pillaging until they drop. First you, then the neighbors. It's not pretty. And who'll take care of their kids?

I don't have an organic solution for chiggers in the yard but I have them too. If I go into my yard I will have several bites around my ankles. I have found a solution to the bites though. As soon as you come indoors wash your ankles and feet with listerine. Kills them before they cause an itchy bite. Don't use this on pets though. I rarely deal with itchy bites now provided I do this as soon as I come in.

HU-899286606 How long do you go between applications on this remedy? I'm going to try this spring/summer for sure.

I am totally in the "treat with bleach" after exposure group. Any time I've been in tall grass or an area that could possibly harbor chiggers I pour a slug of bleach (1/2 cup?) into bathwater & submerge. I don't soak my hair, but everything else gets the dip. Or shower & rub washcloth with diluted bleach all over your body. It won't work if you wait more than a few hours. I know this works because a friend became an unwitting control subject after she wandered through a high chigger area with me as I was birding. I treated with bleach, got on a plane to come home and didn't think to mention it to her. She was totally covered with bites and I didn't have one......Sorry, Kathy. For some reason St. Augustine lawns do not ever seem to have chiggers, but Bermuda grass is usually FULL of the little demons.

Deb K, thank you! So good to know a dip in bleach treated bath water works.

If you know you’re going into an area with chiggers if you go to the store and get a couple of dog collars activate those and put them around your ankles not on the skin but over your socks you won’t have any issues with chiggers

@

HOMEWORK CONSTRUCTION SOLUTIONS INC OMG OMG OMG! Flea collars rely on organophospates to compromise the central nervous system of fleas, but research has shown exposure to these ingredients is also dangerous to humans and pets. Research is so conclusive that France has banned the use of organophospates in flea collars.

Audio Junky The point of this thread, if you will read the actual subject line is a request for an ORGANIC way to handle the situation. If you feel this is too bleeding heart for you, you do realize there are toxic, chemical-laden remedies galore, on every street corner and in between. I'm sure you can find something to appease your needs there. Again, this thread is about organic.

I prefer toxic murder. all this organic bleed don’t work. Prove it. Show me.

I’ve tried plenty of organic things. They just don’t work.

Audio Junky You are welcome to use, prefer and anything else. You're asking me to prove what? I can prove my point by repeating it, and perhaps you might want to read with comprehension. I said the point of this thread was someone was asking about ORGANIC remedies, not chemical remedies. Who cares what you want to do non organic, go to a thread relative to your wants and needs. This is a thread on organic. Hello?

By the way, to the original poster, bo_berrin - the closest to a green solution I've found for chiggers is Sulfur applied to the lawn.

Some readers mentioned using sulfur to get rid of chiggers in the yard. So how do you apply it and in what form is the sulfur? I appreciate any help. Bugs eat me up and I've had to put bug spray on every time I go out in the yard.

We applied DE and sulfur with a burlap bag. Tractor Supply has them here in Texas. They are used coffee bean bags.

You could get burlap from Lowe’s and make your own.

My bags are about as big as a 5 gallon bucket. I’ll put 2 or 3

lbs in the bag and shake it up and down as I walk. Give it a try and adjust according to how much you want to apply, a light

dusting works. Hope this helps.

@HU-191022756 Which DE did you use? Or if anyone here has a suggestion?

I am leaning towards the food-grade DE as it serves so many purposes! Just want to make sure it tackles these chiggers! I sure wish my now ex-landscaper would have shared this would happen with me! I didn't even want grass and was pushing for micro clover but he wouldn't do it. Was trying to give my dogs a better yard and now they are being bit and we are being eaten alive as well! Scoff! lol

Sounds like you need help now. I would go with the powder sulfur, then use the DE

as a growth and reproduction control. Food grade is expensive. You can get agricultural grade at your farm store, tractor supply, or Home Depot. There has been some discussion regarding DE affecting the respiratory function of people and animal.

To my knowledge nothing has ever been proven. Just a note to be careful with your application. Use your MASK....

lol. I prefer the sulfur. A little bit goes along way.

Sorry I didn’t get to you in a timely fashion. Stay well. Be safe.

Deet will kill your dog. Even just kicking it off your legs will give your dog seizures if not kill them shortly thereafter. Ive seen 3 dogs i the last 2 years come in because they licked Deet of their owners legs while mowing, and all 3 died. Don't not take a chance. Great repellent for people without pets though.

I remember reading a short story in college (a long time ago...) that said the only way to avoid chigger bites was to run through the field naked. Idk, haven't done it, but they love me. I may be the only one out of 3 or 4 people in the exact same area who ends up with bites. I have found only one spray that kept them off of me and I let a friend use it for her freaking mosquitoes.

I don't know why mosquitoes don't really like me, but chiggers LOVE me. Is there any known reason why some people are more likely to get chiggers VS mosquitoes? Or, am I the only fortunate one?

One thing that a friend of mine swears by, and he mows lawns for his employment, is sticking dryer sheets in his socks. He looks odd, but he says he gets no chigger bites by doing this. I don't trust it, but anyone else had luck with this? Or even hearts of it?