Okay, I've done a few searches on this topic so I feel reasonably sure that this hasn't been covered recently. Please accept my apologies if it has. With the upcoming summer season and the dangers of lime disease and the west nile virus I plan on covering myself with lots of deet-laden insect repellant this year as I am out disc golfing. My understanding is that deet can melt “some” plastics. My question is obvious for the various factory reps here: Does deet affect disc plastic, if so – which kinds and how? It must not affect every kind of plastic because a lot of the repellant with the highest concentration of deet is sold in plastic bottles.

-DaveB

Morning DB. Not directly related to the disc's themselves but something that we generally spend more money on in our sport - shoes. It will absolutely, positively eat the stitching and delaminate your best pair of Merrell's or Lowa's or NB's. This goes for the elastic in those seven dollar, cushioned socks you're wearing too. Makes DEET application to your feet and ankles kind of problematic. On the other hand Lyme is more expensive still. I use citronella oil preps which, applied frequently, work well and are safer for me and my clothing.

I had a bottle of deet break open in my disc bag. All that it did was take the stamp off of some of my discs. It didn't damage the disc itself.

wow , i had never thought of this prior to reading here!! good point!! i wonder what else it affects.. Also , i believe there are some repellents without deet that work well , can anyone share some ideas or thoughts??

I had a bottle of industrial repellent spill in my bag. It was cool because the plastic ID cover was totally eaten away and it also made my inside pocket really greasy. :D:D

what are you doing with industrial repellant??

My Dad had it from when he worked for the city. :D:D

sounds like some scary *** toxic sludge!! :D

No just like 95% deet. :D:D

oh thats all!! thats toxic!!

i also had a bottle of 100% deet open in my bag. it ate into the plastic of my cell phone and ruined the display. it also ate a hole in the bottom of the bag. didnt get on the discs, though.

I bought some all natural Eucaliptis and lemon stuff but on the bottle it says not to use to often. So, I was thinking of putting it on my bag. Little concerned that it could saturate to my discs tho and make them oily. If this is the case, it would be a great product for your opponent's bag.

Garlic repels all blood suckers.
-and maybe some competitors as well. :)

I heard that deet was just a masking agent, so they couldnt smell you that well. Anyone confirm this? That Lemon eucaliptis oil stuff is supposed to repell them. put on your bag and when your in the shule, you set down the stink on em and make em run! Im just going to put along the bottom of my bag so the oil cant possibly seep into my discs. Can it?

I had a bottle of industrial repellent spill in my bag. It was cool because the plastic ID cover was totally eaten away and it also made my inside pocket really greasy. :D:D



Yea....Hero loves greasy inner pockets :confused: :D

In all seriousness, "Skin so soft" by Avon is a spray on moisturizing lotion that also works well against bugs. Hero loves soft skin too. /msgboard/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Nothing works like DEET -- it doesn't just mask your odor, it actually stuns the critter that's after your blood (for up to 3 hours -- its kinda like tear gas for mosquitos). The problem is that it is quite toxic and will melt certain plastics (fiberglass, acrylics and polycarbonates, not sure of others, although disc golf plastic seems impervious) I think the CW is to apply as needed and wash away ASAP. Any product that's more than 25% DEET is just overkill; I think the point is to generate a 'plume' of DEET vapors rather than an even coating. And apparently DEET applied to your T-shirt is just as effective as skin application, so that's another way to reduce exposure. One word of warning: You probably don't want to put it on your face but if you do, DO NOT spray it in your face and by all means DO NOT apply it above/on/near your eyes. You'll just sweat it into your eyes (ouch), and if you're wearing contacts you might 'cook' them onto your corneas (cringe).

BTW all repellents (citronella oil, DEET, etc) rely on being vaporized by body heat so they have to be on/near your skin. Insecticides like permethrin work by direct contact and should not be anywhere near your skin. Attractants like octonol and mosquito traps also rely on heat (but you'd have to be a fool to hang one around your neck anyway).

I work outdoors in tick and mosquito infested areas on a consistant basis and DEET really is not a very effective repellant for ticks. The only thing that I have ever found that works is a little thing called Permethorine, which should be applied to clothes only (never to bare skin) and is good for about 2 weeks even with normal clothes washing.

As to whether this will melt plastic or not, I have no idea, but I did have DEET melt both a watch and a pair of sunglasses once.

All you guys are complaining bout DEET eating away your plastic... what bout it eating away your skin? Long exposure to DEET has been known to cause health problems. Just an fyi, dont' want to be losing all the players to our sport... though it wouldn't hurt to knock away some of the competetion.

I'm just glad we're not made of plastic...!
I see soooo many folks just liberally spraying this 'sheet' all over everything...shoes, socks, skin...guess they feel it's safe...or something... :p

Nothing works like DEET -- it doesn't just mask your odor, it actually stuns the critter that's after your blood (for up to 3 hours -- its kinda like tear gas for mosquitos). The problem is that it is quite toxic and will melt certain plastics (fiberglass, acrylics and polycarbonates, not sure of others, although disc golf plastic seems impervious ) I think the CW is to apply as needed and wash away ASAP. Any product that's more than 25% DEET is just overkill; I think the point is to generate a 'plume' of DEET vapors rather than an even coating. And apparently DEET applied to your T-shirt is just as effective as skin application, so that's another way to reduce exposure. One word of warning: You probably don't want to put it on your face but if you do, DO NOT spray it in your face and by all means DO NOT apply it above/on/near your eyes. You'll just sweat it into your eyes (ouch), and if you're wearing contacts you might 'cook' them onto your corneas (cringe).



My experience is a little different, exuberant use of Deet on my hands makes my Champion and Z plastic tacky to the grip. When I look at the place where my hand has rested the plastic has been smudged... permanently. It is kind of cloudy. The effect isn't huge but it is annoying to look at.

Good topic, I hadn't thought of this either.

I've had deet melt a watch. Seeing what this does to plastic does not get me real enthused about putting it on my skin. Definitely looking for alternatives, as west nile has arrived up here.

That lemon euclyiptus sounds interesting.