apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Is there a pdf version of Maxwells Home Cure book that I could buy online? I am not in the US and none of the sites that sell the book ship to India.(amazon,etc). Any way I can get the book shipped from the US? I am happy to pay the additional airmail shipping charges.

Can anyone recommend a natural mosquito repellant for skin (or point me to a past thread on this topic, if there is one)? I now live where my body lotion SPF 15 is not enough and have to slather on a separte, heavy duty Sun Block...I'm loath to add another layer of a chemical repellant on top of that. But I am being eaten alive and can't stand it anymore! Is there a better alternative to Off and its ilk?

Thanks!

J

I have used two natural repellents that worked well. Burts Bees makes a lemongrass scented one (though slightly oily) and All Terrain has a spray.

I have found that these work better or worse depending who is actually using it, so you might want to try a few. Both of these are available on drugstore.com

J,
First suggestion is to get yourself the sunblock that comes in an areosol can. I jsut recently discovered it and I am addicted. I goes on extremely light (not greasy at all), you don't have to rub it in and it's easier to get to those hard to reach places. It actual gets be to put on sunblock on a daily basis which is something that I'm really terrible at.
As for the insect repellent, I haven't tried this but I've heard it works great. Plant citronella (this only works if you have a place to plant of course, I'm sure it would do well potted). When you're ready to head out the door grab a handfull of leaves off the plant and rub it right on your skin. Can't get more natural than that.

A nurse I know recommends vitamin B as a personal insect repellant; she advises taking it as a supplemental rather than just as part of one's diet.

Never tried it; happily there aren't that many mosquitos around me, but good luck.

a friend of mine told me that vanilla extract dabbed behind the earlobes and put on the face repels gnats. that might work - certainly smells nice.

i am excited about the eames lounger and ottoman i just ordered. now if it would just hurry up and get here!

i am also considering sending a picture and a question of my living room because the arrangement is oh-so-awkward...however, i do not want to be mocked.

my 2 cents for today.

i put repellent on my feet last year and after about 2 hours looked down to see that my nail polish had disintegrated. No clue whats in that stuff!!!! (it wasnt off, some other brand) I'm going to try that citronella trick, thanks!

DEET is what took your nail polish off, it's nasty stuff. I've seen it melt right through a plastic watch band.

If you're looking to keep mosquitos at bay in your yard try planting various different geranium plants. Basil and lemon thyme help as well. They all contain the same oil as the citronella plant.

Thanks, everyone for the mosquito (and sunblock) suggestions! One thing's for sure, I am staying far away from DEET!!!

J, I used to have a great mosquito repellent that was based on "Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus", it came from a company called Repel and they used to sell it at REI. If I could still find it I would heartily recommend it, as is, if you see it, grab it! It's all-natural and works pretty darn well, reeks when you apply it but only of lemony-eucalyptus smell.

Aren't alot of the repellants alcohol-based? Won't alcohol dissolve nail polish?

DEET is nasty stuff; however, it works the best. I try to only use it when I'm going into the deep woods or into thick, tall grass and/or only spray it on my clothes. Otherwise, you come out with dozens of ticks crawling all over or chigger bites that itch for a week. You've gotta pick your battles.

avon skin so soft, my floridian boyfriend testifies this is the stuff the swamp boys use. :P

Guys, the vitamin B and Vanilla are old wives tales and have been debunked on Scopes.

There was even an NIH (National Institutes of Health) study on vitamin B as a repellent that showed no benefits for that use.

There's been an email hoax circulating recently about bogus natural skeeter repellents. Debunked here :

http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/skeeters.asp

Hate to say it but as nasty as DEET is, It's my #1 choice...I'm not willing to risk getting West Nile virus. Deet is simply the most effective thing out there. I've tried citrolnella based repellents and those only seemed to attract bugs.

From the Canadian health service :

http://health.gov.on.ca/english/public/pub/pubhealth/west_nile/wnv_repellent.html

Be sure to read what they think of citronella.

Rhode Island has some interesting data :

http://www.health.ri.gov/disease/communicable/wnv/prevention.php

Also, the FDA has banned the advertising of B1 as a mosquito repellent.

As far as I can tell, only a soybean oil solution shows promise as being as effective as a low-concentration DEET solution (but not as effective as say "Deep Woods Off" which is the best protection you can buy according to most studies).

IKEA ALERT! I didn't have my camera...and being a dork, I forgot to write down the funky Ikea name...

Ikea has a new stainless steel desk w/ Queen Anne-like-scrolly legs and a matching coffee table. The desk was $187 and the coffee table was somewhere in the $140 range. It's not on their site (that I can find) but it in the Long Island store. It's really quite stunning!

J --

I grew up in Texas with lot and lots of mosquitos -- my mother and I both used lavender oil on our pulse points (rec. from a magazine years ago), and it really, really does seem to work.

Good luck!

Soulcurry,
Barnes & Noble.com ships to India.

Thank you Lorry. Just Ordered my copy.