How to Kill Chiggers
- 1). Maintain all areas around your yard. Chiggers infest thick vegetation, unmowed grass and weeds. Keeping your lawn well manicured is one of the main ways to ensure chiggers stay out as thick vegetation can attract animals that serve as hosts for chiggers. A well-manicured lawn that gets plenty of sunlight is also key as chiggers prefer shady moisture-rich areas, according to Ohio State University Extension.
- 2). Protect yourself in chigger-infested areas by wearing tightly woven socks, long sleeves and long pants tucked into boots or other high shoes. Button all cuffs and collars as tightly as you can stand.
- 3). Dust sulfur powder around pant and sleeve openings. Rub sulfur directly on arms, legs and stomach if going into heavily infested areas. Note that the smell of sulfur is quite pungent. Use mosquito repellent, which is also repulsive to chiggers, if you do not wish to offend others in your party. Follow label directions of such products.
- 4). Remove and wash clothing immediately following time in a chigger-infested area. Wash the clothes in 125-degree soapy water for half an hour before rinsing. Dry clothes in direct sunlight.
- 5). Take a hot, soapy bath after being in a chigger-infested area and thoroughly scrub the body a few times over. Any chiggers on the body will dislodge; however, additional scrubbing may be necessary to remove the stylostomes, or mixtures of digestive fluid and hardened skin, that result from chigger bites and cause the severe itching.
- 6). Use insecticides as a last resort for treating chigger infestations as such chemicals can leach into the ground and possibly nearby waterways. Treat specific areas rather than the whole of your property.
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