Good question! The treatment of our clothes has been tested, proven, and EPA registered, to repel mosquitoes, ticks, ants, fleas, chiggers, flies, and midges (otherwise known as no-see-ums). Sorry, ladies! Not effective against pesky men.
Permethrin. Yes. The stuff that your mom used to get rid of lice with when you were a kid. The proprietary application process binds the treatment so tightly to the fabric that it lasts 70 washes on the leggings and tee and 25 washes on the mesh tops.
NO! That is the beauty of this. It's completely odorless and invisible. If I didn’t tell you that it was treated, you would never know, but the bugs do.
Absolutely. 100%. Kids can wear it. Expecting mothers can wear it. Even me, the sensitive one, can wear it. Allow me to get a little nerdy here. Permethrin has been successfully used as a US EPA registered product since 1977 with an excellent safety record. The bug repellant in our clothes is near your skin, not ON your skin like traditional bug sprays. And it isn't just us who think this stuff is amazing... Insect-repellent clothing is recommended by the CDC, WHO, The American Academy of Family Physicians, and lots of other big-time agencies.
That is the beautiful thing. You wear the clothes and our treatment does the rest. Just don't dry-clean them as that reduces the effectiveness of the repellent. In fact, we suggest handwashing and hang-drying the mesh tops, not for the repellency, but just to keep them looking good. And if you are feeling especially fancy, you are free to bleach, starch, and even press our products.
Thats just a fancy way of saying that you don't have to do any special disposal process. If you have worn your PESKYS clothing out, you can donate, throw it away, or repurpose it just like you would any of your other clothing.
The more clothing you wear, the more repellency it will offer. For example, our tank top is great for protecting your torso and waistline. Think about sitting in the grass and avoiding ticks from checking out your belly button, but not so much avoiding mosquito bites on your arms. Where the coverage is, the protection is in place. In seriously buggy situations, you should always put a topical repellent on exposed skin.
Even though we pride we ourselves making pretty awesome looking and feeling clothing, our Insect Shield® technology is serious, world class stuff. As such, we have serious, big girl registrations and testings.
Our product is actually registered with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a result of a lot of very smart people doing years of research and testing. The registration process designed to evaluate a proposed product to ensure it will not have adverse effects on people or the environment. And that is actually pretty cool. Insect Shield® products have been rigorously evaluated on multiple levels including the chemistry, the application process and the final consumer product. Our Insect Shield® treated apparel is registered under EPA Reg No 72843-2.