Testing the Don’t Bite Me! Mosquito-Repellent Patch

I’m writing this from Texas, where, besides being in the middle of a record heat wave, we’re also in the nastiest part of mosquito season. So, even though a review package of Don’t Bite Me! mosquito-repellent patches showed up in my mailbox a month or so back, it seemed like the perfect time to test the patches now.

Don’t Bite Me is a waterproof, nearly invisible skin patch, so you literally just apply it, wait a few hours and head outside to go about your business. Unlike many sprays or creams, Don’t Bite Me is also all-natural and free of harsh chemicals — each patch delivers a blend of Vitamin B1 and aloe throughout your body, effectively making you repulsive to mosquitoes for up to 36 hours as you secrete the vitamin-y blend through your pores.

I tested Don’t Bite Me! on all three of my kids before sending them out to play in our yard (a veritable hotbed for mosquitoes this month). Had I bought the 5-pack we tested, it would’ve run me $4.99 — given that each patch is one-use, that can quickly add up if you live in a mosquito-saturated area and have kids who like to be outside a lot. (A $7.99 10-pack and a $15.99 20-pack are also available.) So, believe me, I was particularly cautious about the fact that these suckers had better work.

The good news: They did.

Out of the Box: Applying Don’t Bite Me! was a breeze — although, given how incredibly thin and sticky they are, you have to take care not to let the patches crumple when peeling them off the backing. The smell — which you’ll recognize if you’ve ever dosed a baby with Poly-Vi-Sol — was only noticeable when I got up close to the patch, and the kids weren’t bothered by it a bit.

In the Yard: After waiting a bit longer than the recommended 2 hours, we headed outside to see how well Don’t Bite Me! worked. Generally speaking, the kids tend to be less delectable to our local mosquitoes than I do, but as the control group with nothing to protect me, I was in pain after an hour, with multiple bites on my face, arms and legs. (Texas skeeters really are that nasty.) The kids, on the other hand, reported no nibbles when we headed back inside, and in spite of the triple-digit temperatures and the eventual water-gun battle we ended up having, Don’t Bite Me! also lived up to its promise of water resistance. Curiously, all three kids also smelled vaguely vitamin-y for the rest of the day, but it was nothing a little soap and water couldn’t fix.

5-, 10- and 20-packs of the patches are available at the Don’t Bite Me! store — and if you’ve used Don’t Bite Me yourself, let us know how it worked for you in the comments.