Don't Buy mosquito repellents that last less than three minutes

Summer’s here and, whether you’re holidaying at home or abroad, you’ll need to protect yourself against biting insects. We’ve tested 12 mosquito repellents to find the top sprays for dodging bites – as well as those to avoid.

The line-up includes conventional aerosol and pump spray repellents from big brands including Asda, Autan, Boots, Incognito, Jungle Formula, Lifesystems, Moskito Guard, Pyramid Trek and Superdrug. 

We’ve also tested alternative mosquito repellents, including Pestects Mosquito Repellent Bracelets (£19.99 for 12) and Meadows Organic Citronella Spray (£6/100ml) to see how they compare.

Although most of the repellents we’ve tested did a decent job of repelling mosquitoes in our tests, some provided next to no protection at all. Find out which repellents to steer clear of this summer.

Head over to the best mosquito repellents for the full results of our in-depth tests

What our mosquito repellent tests found

Would you buy a mosquito repellent that protects you for less than three minutes? That’s the reality we found in our tests with two widely available Don’t Buy products. 

Pestects Mosquito Repellent Bracelets (£20 for 12) and Meadows Organic Citronella Spray (£6/100ml) offered negligible protection against biting insects.

Both rely on plant-based oils, such as citronella, eucalyptus, lemongrass and peppermint, but neither product prevented bites in our tests. 

Some volunteers using Meadows Organic Citronella Spray were bitten within three minutes.

The manufacturer says it is a ‘natural insect repellent with a refreshing citrusy scent’. But our panel didn't find the spray pleasant or effective. 

Pestects Mosquito Repellent Bracelets made similarly bold claims, suggesting that each bracelet could provide up to one and a half weeks of protection, with the packaging stating up to 300 hours per bracelet. 

But, in our tests, the bracelets failed almost immediately, with bites recorded in under three minutes. 

By contrast, our Best Buy repellents delivered up to nine and a half hours of protection, underlining just how poor the results are for the Pestects bracelets and the Meadows Organic spray in our tests.

We offered both manufacturers the opportunity to comment on our findings.

What you need to know about mosquito repellents

Avoid marketing and online hype about mosquito repellents and instead look for the ingredients they contain. 

Scan the label for one or more of these four active ingredients, as they have been proven to repel insects: 

• Deet: Short for N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, Deet is a synthetic repellent that can have a strong smell and may irritate skin and damage some plastics. 
• IR3535: Synthetic insect repellent – a trade name for ethyl butylacetylaminopropionate. It's colourless and odourless but may still degrade plastics and synthetic fabrics.
• Icaridin: This is an odourless synthetic repellent that doesn’t dissolve plastics as Deet andIR3535 can. Also known as Picaridin, Saltidin and KBR 3023.
• PMD: This natural repellent is a by-product from the distillation of oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), which contains high levels of the active ingredient p-Menthane-3,8- diol (PMD). 

All of the products that successfully repelled mosquitoes for more than nine hours in our tests contained at least one of these known and effective repellents. 

The two products that provided hardly any protection, from Pestects and Meadows Organic, didn’t contain any of the four effective ingredients, with both instead relying on plant-based oils.

Health? or Hype?

Make the right choice with recommendations you can trust, backed by expert testing.

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How to keep bite-free this summer

Mosquito repellent needs to be applied properly to have the best chance of protecting you. To stay safe from mosquitoes and other biting insects, follow these four rules:

1. Don’t miss the hotspots: Make sure every part of you that’s exposed has been covered with repellent. Remember ankles, wrists, necks and hands, as mosquitoes will take aim at any patch of uncovered skin.
2. Never spray your face: Apply repellent to your hands and then rub it into your face. Avoid your eyes and remember to wash your fingers and palms afterwards.
3. Sunscreen first, repellent second: If you’re applying both, the order should be sunscreen first, followed by a 20-minute wait before applying the repellent. Deet can reduce the effectiveness of sunscreen, so if you're using a Deet-based repellent, go for a higher SPF sunscreen.
4. Reapply: Repellents containing Deet will need reapplying every six to eight hours. PMD and Icaridin repellents should be topped up every four to six hours. And for both, apply more regularly if you’ve been sweating heavily and after swimming.

What our mosquito repellent tests involve

We test mosquito repellents on volunteers to see how well they actually protect people from bites. We also look at ease of application, odour, ingredients and what's on the label.

• Efficacy: A panel of volunteers have repellent applied to their arm before placing it in a box full of mosquitoes, for three minutes every 30 minutes, up to a maximum of nine and a half hours. As soon as someone has received two consecutive bites, that test is over. 
• Ease of application: Our test subjects rate how easy it is to apply and rub in the repellent, noting any uncomfortable tackiness or visible residue that’s left afterwards. 
• Odour: Some mosquito repellents have a strong and unpleasant smell, so our panel rates each repellent on how good or bad it smells. 
• Ingredient safety: We look at the toxicity of active ingredients in products for men, women and children. All were rated good or excellent. 
• Label clarity: We check the information on the label to ensure it’s clear and easy to understand, and also if there are user or age restrictions.

Find out more about the best mosquito repellents from our thorough lab tests