"Anneliese Virro" [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hello Barbara: > Thank you for that information. For some reason I thought that the > ingredients in Flygone and Repel Xp were the same. Do you think I cold make > it work better by adding some citronella oil to it? > Anneliese >> ...Repel-Xp...lacks the citronella that make FlyGone7000 so effective at >> repelling >> culicoides. [See: < http://www.maineicelandics.org/html/se.html >.]
Hi, Anneliese, Yes, these bug spray formulations are a pain to keep track of, and the Repel-X family is especially confusing as they have at different formulations for their ready-to-use spray, their concentrate, their lotion, and another spray (but none list citronella). I have not tried adding citronella oil to Repel-Xp, but it might be worth a try. I did try adding citronella oil to another spray and it didn't mix in well, so one continually had to shake the bottle while spraying, to dispense any citronella at all. Not very satisfactory. But maybe citronella oil is miscible in Repel-Xp. Do let me know if you try, please. BTW, I just noted that Bronco spray -- which is cheap but does not seem to last too long -- lists 0.05% Pyrethrins, 0.1% Permethrin, 0.5% Piperonyl Butoxide, and Citronella, suggesting that the Butoxypolypropyl Glycol that is 15% of FlyGone7000 may help extend the effectiveness of its citronella. Fitting with that hypothesis, Butoxypolypropyl Glycol is listed as 5% of Repel-X (the ready-to-use) but not in Repel-Xp (the concentrate), and my impression has been that the effectiveness of Repel-X lasts longer than Repel-Xp. Hmmm... We formerly had used Repel-Xp for repelling flies on our non-Icey horses, but after observing that FlyGone7000 is substantially longer-lasting at repelling fies, we switched to FlyGone7000 for them too, and they seem happier. [They get it in AM only, and less than the SE-allergic icey, so about $25-30/year/horse.] The other imported icey, after 3 years of 2x/day FlyGone7000 was last year reduced to 1x/day, but also spraying her tummy, prophylacticly, so about $35-40/year. The super SE-allergic icey (2x/day, larger does) uses about $150/year of FlyGone7000, but it keeps him quite lesion-free, so well worth it in our estimation. However, every dusk and dawn he leaves his buddies in the field and goes to stand in the breezy barn for a couple of hours, clearly having learned when and where to get away from the worst of the culicoides, which obviously still bother him enough to make this ritual worthwhile. [Also, if we stop spraying him for a day or two, he gets loads of starting lesions, verifying that he remains highly SE-allergic.] As you evidently have many more SE iceys, I definitely can understand the importance of finding the least expensive way to get a good result. Please do keep us appraised of what you learn! The best of luck! And thanks much for telling us about your micro-climate, which certainly sounds like a delight for US-born horses, and unfortunately also for culicoides. yours, Barbara
