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Best mosquito repellents 2026
We've tested insect repellents (including Deet-free options) from top brands like Jungle Formula and Incognito, as well as Boots and Superdrug, to see which keep mosquitoes at bay
Whether you're spending summer at home or in warmer climes, having one of the best mosquito repellents at hand is important for preventing bites and stings, as well as the associated diseases transmitted by insects.
We've tested popular repellents including Jungle Formula, Autan and Incognito, as well as some own-brand products from the likes of Superdrug and Boots, to uncover the products you can rely on.
In our tough tests, a panel of brave volunteers applied the repellents and placed their arm in mesh cages filled with mosquitoes. We checked every 30 minutes to see if any bites had occurred – some provided protection for more than nine hours with no bites, while others were so bad that our testers were bitten within minutes.
As a greater number of alternatives to traditional mosquito repellent sprays become available, we introduced three of them into the mix with a mosquito repellent bracelet, citronella spray and aftersun mosquito repellent lotion all included in our latest testing for the first time.
How our tests find you the best
Efficacy
Test volunteers apply repellent to their arm before being exposed to a blood-hungry cage of mozzies – we time precisely how long it takes before they're bitten.
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 repellents have a strong unpleasant pong that will follow you around all day, so we get a 1-5 rating on how good or bad each one smells.
We also test...
We look at product toxicity, and we record details on what active ingredients are included, as well as the clarity of allergy advice on the packaging.
The best mosquito repellents we tested
The biggest brands and the most popular 12 mosquito repellents are listed below.
Only logged-in Which? members can view the mosquito repellent test results.
Join Which? to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations.
| Mosquito repellent | Price | Test score | First bite confirmed | Efficacy | User experience | Odour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableGet Digital access £9.99 per month, cancel at any time. Already a member? | 83% | No bites in 9.5 hours | ||||
| 82% | No bites in 9.5 hours | |||||
| 81% | No bites in 9.5 hours | |||||
| 80% | No bites in 9.5 hours | |||||
| 79% | No bites in 9.5 hours | |||||
| 79% | 9 hours | |||||
| 74% | No bites in 9.5 hours | |||||
| 70% | 9.1 hours | |||||
| 67% | No bites in 9.5 hours | |||||
| 54% | 4.5 hours | |||||
| 39% | 3 minutes | |||||
| 33% | 3 minutes |
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Date tested: April 2026. Page last checked: April 2026. First bite confirmed: How long after our real-life volunteers applied the repellent to their arms before being bitten. Efficacy: How well the repellent protected against bites (time taken to first bite and consistency between different testers) in our tests. User experience: Ease of application of repellent onto and into skin and whether a visible residue and tackiness remains after application. Odour: Where 5 stars is pleasant and 1 star is unpleasant. We're not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available.
The mosquito repellents we tested
All the mosquito repellents we tested are listed in alphabetical order below.
Only logged-in Which? members can view the best mosquito repellents from our tests.
Join Which? to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations.
Asda Extra Strength Insect Repellent
Available from: Asda £4 for 125ml (£3.20 per 100ml)
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Deet, PMD
Bottle size 125ml
Need to know Suitable for 2+ years, aerosol repellent
Autan Insect Repellent
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Icaridin
Bottle size 100ml
Need to know Suitable for 2+ years, pump-spray repellent
Boots Repel Maximum DEET & PMD Aerosol
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Deet, PMD
Bottle size 125ml
Need to know Suitable for 2+ years, aerosol repellent
Boots Soltan Soothe & Moisturise Aftersun Lotion with Insect Repellent
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients IR3535
Bottle size 200ml
Need to know Two product in one, lotion repellent
Incognito Insect Repellent Pump Spray
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Citronellol, PMD
Bottle size 100ml
Need to know Suitable for 6+ months, pump spray repellent
Jungle Formula Maximum Aerosol Insect Repellent
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Deet, Geraniol
Bottle size 125ml
Need to know Suitable for 12+ years, aerosol repellent
Going on a trip? Make sure you also pack the best sun cream and avoid the products that failed our sun protection tests
Lifesystems Expedition MAX DEET Mosquito Repellent
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Deet, Eucalyptus citriodora oil
Bottle size 100ml
Need to know Suitable for 2+ years, pump-spray repellent
Meadows Organic Citronella Spray
Available from: Meadows Organic £6 for 100ml
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Eucalyptus citriodora oil, Citronellol, Geraniol
Bottle size 100ml
Need to know Suitable for 3+ years, pump-spray repellent
Moskito Guard Mosquito & Tick Repellent
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Icaridin
Bottle size 75ml
Need to know Suitable for 2+ years, pump-spray repellent
Pestects Mosquito Repellent Bracelet
Available from: Pestects £19.99 for 12
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Citronella
Bottle size 12 pack
Need to know Bracelet repellent
Pyramid Trek 50
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Deet
Bottle size 100ml
Need to know Suitable for 1+ years, pump-spray repellent
Superdrug Buzz Off Extra Strength Insect Repellent
Available from: Superdrug £9.00 for 125ml (£7.20 per 100ml)
Most recently tested April 2026
Active ingredients Deet, PMD
Bottle size 125ml
Need to know Suitable for 2+ years, aerosol repellent
Which? Don't Buy mosquito repellents
Our tests uncover the best and the worst. If a product performs so poorly that we think you should avoid it, we call it a Don't Buy.
We've tested two mosquito repellents that we've named Don't Buys. Very simply, they didn't protect our volunteer testers well enough from blood-thirsty mozzies and so we can't recommend them for use by the general public.
With both the Meadows Organic Citronella Spray and Pestects Mosquito Repellent Bracelet, we saw our test subjects being bitten within minutes. The best mosquito repellents you can buy will provide around nine hours of protection.
How we test mosquito repellents
We selected a range of widely available and popular insect repellents from UK retailers, including different formulations and active ingredients, to uncover the best options.
We bought all of the insect repellents and used an independent lab to test them. Aside from how good the repellents are at keeping insects at bay, we also checked the safety profile of the ingredients and rated the usefulness of the information on the packaging.
We regularly revisit the mosquito repellents on sale to see if there are any more popular brands that need testing, and when we find them we do.
Efficacy
- We use the blinded 'arm-in-cage' method. This involves volunteers having insect repellent applied to their arms then placing them in a box containing mosquitoes. The arm is left in the box for three minutes before it is removed, and repeated every half hour until a bite is confirmed - the longer the protection, the better the product. We run the test for nine and a half hours.
- Ingredient safety. Insect repellents are designed to be used on the skin for long periods and include approved repellent ingredients. While they should as standard be safe for use, we examine the acute and chronic toxicity of the active ingredients on the average-sized man, woman, child (age 6-8) and toddler (age 2) to help you know which products are best on this front. All were rated good or excellent in our test.
- Label clarity. We also check the information provided on the label to ensure it's clear and easy to understand. Some products have differing age and user restrictions, so it's important to check this before use.
- User experience. Mosquito repellents can feel sticky and horrible, so we get 10 people to tell us about application, absorbance, residue left on the skin, tackiness, odour and ease of use. From this, we produce the user experience star rating.
Why you can trust us: at Which? we're free from manufacturer and retailer influence. Find out more about our impartiality and how your support helps us to stay editorially independent.
Alternatives to mosquito repellents: do they work?
There are many different insect repellent formats – from aerosol and pump sprays, creams, lotions and roll-ons to plug-ins, candles and even repellent clothing – varying in efficacy from highly effective to barely useful.
Whether it's repellent patches, B vitamins or even being told to eat yeast extract or garlic to keep bugs away, there are plenty of myths about what can protect you from mosquitoes and other biting bugs, as well as unusual product solutions for those who don't like applying repellent on their skin.
The WHO says that insect repellents, mosquito nets, mosquito coils and protective clothing (treated with permethrin or etofenprox for extra protection) are the first line of defence against mosquitoes.
Alongside nine traditional mosquito repellents, we also tested three alternatives during our most recent testing: a citronella spray, an insect repellent bracelet and an aftersun with insect repellent.
The citronella spray was really poor at protecting against mozzies. The little blighters bit our volunteers almost immediately, providing just three minutes of protection. The same was true for the bracelet.
But the Boots Soltan Aftersun with Insect Repellent wasn’t bad. Volunteers began to be bitten after four and a half hours, showing that it gave about half the amount of protection as products scoring five stars for efficacy.
When you consider that it won’t be applied until after someone has been in the sun for quite a while – at the end of a day and after being out and about in the sun – it provided a reasonable amount of protection, especially since it was also doing another job.
But do bear in mind that nine hours of protection was provided by all of the standard repellents we tested, significantly eclipsing the results of the three alternative solutions.
Which insect-repelling ingredients are effective?
Research shows you should use a repellent containing one (or more) of the four active ingredients that are scientifically proven to repel mosquitoes: Deet, IR3535, icaridin or PMD (although IR3535 products should only be used in non-malaria areas).
Official UK government advice for travellers to tropical destinations is to use a 50% Deet product as a first choice or, if this isn't tolerated, a repellent containing the highest-strength formulation available of either icaridin at 20%, PMD or eucalyptus citriodora oil.
Here are more details of the key active ingredients:
Deet
This is one of the most common insect-repellent options you'll find, and with good reason: it's highly effective at keeping mosquitoes away at a concentration of 20-50% and is the WHO (World Health Organization) gold-standard insect repellent for protection against malaria.
Products containing Deet tend to be cheaper than those with other active ingredients, but the downside is that it has a distinct odour and can melt some rubber, vinyl and plastics, such as watch straps, so you need to be careful when using it.
Some people find it irritates their skin - although this may be the case for any repellent, depending on how your skin responds to products.
IR3535
This synthetic repellent should be used at a concentration of 20% and only in places where there isn't malaria.
Although it's been shown to offer protection comparable to Deet against several mosquito species, it doesn't provide adequate protection against the malaria-transmitting Anopheles mosquito.
Icaridin
Also known as picaridin, piperidine and by trade names including Saltidin, icaridin is recommended by the WHO for protection against mosquito bites that can cause both Zika virus and malaria.
PMD
The only 'natural' repellent of the four, PMD is derived from the lemon eucalyptus gum tree (Eucalyptus citriodora or Corymbia citriodora) and has been shown to provide protection against Aedes, Culux and Anopheles mosquito species at a concentration of 30% or more.
PMD typically needs to be applied more frequently than Deet, and results were mixed for PMD-containing products in our tests so it's important to choose wisely.
PMD is a byproduct from the distillation of oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE). It can be confusing, as there are lots of similar-sounding ingredients and products, but be aware that eucalyptus, citronella and even lemon eucalyptus oil are not the same as oil of lemon eucalyptus and aren't effective in the same way.
How to apply insect repellent properly
Much like sunscreen, good insect repellent protection is only as good as the application. Here's how to do it properly:
Use on all exposed skin
Ankles, wrists, hands and the neck are areas that tend to be exposed, so don't forget to apply repellent – mosquitoes will easily find that tiny patch of skin you missed. Don't apply repellent directly to the face. Spray it into your hands in a well-ventilated area and then apply, and make sure you wash your hands after application.
Re-apply regularly
As a rough guide, Deet and IR3535 should be reapplied every six to eight hours, and PMD and Icaridin every four to six hours, although you should follow the instructions on the bottle. Re-apply sooner if they've worn off because of swimming or sweating, and check if there are any limits on re-application – some products state a maximum per 24 hours.
Cover up with clothing
Long sleeves, long trouser legs, tops with a high neckline and even an insect-net hat are advisable if you're somewhere rife with biting insects, especially if in areas with a risk of disease-transmitting insects.
Apply repellent to cuffs or the bottom of trousers to stop insects creeping up, but don't apply to the clothing of children or babies, and be aware that Deet can disintegrate some synthetic fabrics and plastic.
Level up with pyrethroid-treated clothing if you're travelling to areas with a serious risk of insect-borne disease.
Don't let children apply it themselves, and wash it off them at night
Make sure you choose a repellent that is age-appropriate, too.
Sunscreen or repellent first?
If you need one, you may well need the other, as holiday sunshine and biting bugs often go hand in hand. However, sunscreen and insect repellent don't necessarily play nicely together.
Deet can impact the effectiveness of sunscreen, so it's worth picking a higher-SPF sunscreen if you're using Deet.
The order in which you apply insect repellent depends on the situation. If you're in an area with lots of disease-transmitting mosquitoes, put sunscreen on first then repellent.
But if you're on the beach sunbathing and there aren't many mosquitoes around, put your repellent on then your sunscreen afterwards.
Leave 15 minutes before you apply the second product.
How to treat mosquito bites
If you're unlucky enough to have been bitten by a mosquito, antihistamines are your best bet for relieving itching and discomfort.
You can also use a cold compress or cloth to take the swelling down.
Antihistamine tablets are best, especially if you have multiple bites, but you may find that an antihistamine cream provides some localised relief as well.
Painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen may also help.
Read our advice on insect bites and stings, including what to do if you're worried about symptoms that develop after a bite or sting in the UK or abroad.