TICK REPELLENT (for body and yard)
Updated: Oct 20
There are many options for keeping ticks off you and out of your yard. Please comment with your favorite if it's not listed!
Short on time or energy? A quick-view graphic with the key points is at the bottom of this post.
WHAT ILADS RECOMMENDS
-Wear long sleeves and pants, and tuck your pants into your socks.
-Use a tick repellent with DEET, picaridin, IR3535 or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
-Treat outdoor clothing and gear with permethrin, which kills ticks on contact. Clothing can be treated at home with sprays or dips that last 2 to 6 weeks.
-Check yourself for ticks after every time you might have been exposed.
-Check your pets after every trip outside, even if they use tick prevention.
WHAT LYMEDISEASE.ORG RECOMMENDS
-Avoiding ticks is your best defense. Stay on cleared trails, and be careful with leaf piles, firewood and leaning against tree trunks.
-Wear closed shoes, socks, long pants and long sleeves. Tie back long hair and wear a hat.
-Choose light-colored clothing, so ticks are easier to spot.
-Factory-treated permethrin clothing stays protective through about 70 washes. Clothes you spray yourself stay protected for about 5 to 6 washes. Treat both the inside and outside of clothes.
-Spray your shoes with permethrin too, so ticks can't crawl up them.
-On bare skin, use a repellent with DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
-Check your skin and clothes while you're outside, and brush off any ticks.
-Shower soon after coming inside. Feel for bumps in the groin, armpits, backs of the knees, belly button and scalp. Parents, check your children too.
-Put clothes in the dryer on high heat for 10 minutes before washing them.
-Ask your vet about tick protection for your dogs and cats.
WHAT GLOBAL LYME ALLIANCE RECOMMENDS
-Use a skin repellent with DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus, and treat clothing and shoes with permethrin.
-Match your protection to what you're doing. Hiking, camping or gardening: permethrin-treated clothing plus repellent. A casual walk: repellent.
-Keep cats away from wet permethrin, because it affects their nervous system.
-Put repellent only on bare skin, never on cuts or irritated skin. For your face, spray it into your hands first and apply lightly.
-Keep children from handling repellent, wash your hands after putting it on, and don't over-apply. More doesn't work better.
-After coming inside, wash repellent off your skin with soap and water.
-Put clothes in the dryer on high heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Washing alone won't kill ticks.
-Check yourself and your pets for ticks every day.
-Keep protecting yourself until it stays below freezing. Ticks can be active on mild winter days.
MORE ABOUT SKIN REPELLENTS
-EPA-registered skin repellents include DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, PMD and 2-undecanone.
-Penn State Extension explains that oil of lemon eucalyptus, PMD and 2-undecanone come from plant compounds, though they are made in a lab.
-The EPA's repellent search tool lets you look for products that work on ticks.
-Nootkatone was registered by the EPA in 2020 as a tick repellent, and a 2023 lab study found it strongly repelled deer ticks.
-The University of Rhode Island's TickEncounter notes that DEET repellents alone are not enough to protect against tick bites, so pair your skin repellent with permethrin-treated clothing.
NATURAL OPTIONS
-Many people prefer natural repellents. Please know they usually don't last as long.
-In a 2022 USDA lab test on treated paper, cedarwood oil repelled 94% of young deer ticks at 30 minutes, dropping to 80% at one hour.
-A 2023 review of essential oil studies against ticks found the results hard to compare, because the studies were done in very different ways.
-If you use a natural repellent, reapply it often and still do daily tick checks.
CISTUS TEA
-A story often shared in Lyme circles, credited to Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, says that Sardinian farm animals that ate Cistus incanus had no ticks, while animals that didn't eat it had many. Some people drink Cistus tea hoping for the same effect.
-Please know this is a story, not a study. I could not find any published research testing Cistus against ticks, so don't rely on it alone.
YARD PROTECTION
Global Lyme Alliance's yard tips:
-Make a 3-foot border of wood chips or mulch between the edge of your yard and the areas where you spend time.
-Keep your lawn short, and rake up leaves and brush piles.
-Trim weeds, shrubs and bushes to let in more sun, and remove ground covers like pachysandra and Japanese barberry.
-Move swing sets, sandboxes and play areas to the sunny middle of the yard, and keep patio furniture on the patio, away from grass and shrubs.
-Seal stone walls, since ticks like the dark, damp spaces between stones.
More yard options:
-Tick tubes: a 2024 Penn State study found they lowered the number of ticks on mice within one season. The study didn't measure ticks in the yard, and the researchers expect yard numbers may not drop as much. The tubes were replaced about once a month.
-Tick bait boxes: Dr. Richard Horowitz mentions using these on his land. The Tick Project (Cary Institute and Bard College, results in 2022) found the boxes cut the number of ticks in yards by about half and lowered infections in pets, but did not lower tick-borne illness in people.
-Yard sprays: the University of Rhode Island calls insecticide the most effective way to reduce deer ticks in a yard. Most sprays last 6 to 8 weeks (Global Lyme Alliance). The University of Maine suggests spraying mid-May through mid-June for young ticks, and in the fall for adults. A 2023 review in Pathogens found that sprays and bait boxes usually lower tick numbers, but the few studies that measured illness in people have not shown it went down, so keep protecting yourself too.
-Plants: Global Lyme Alliance mentions lavender, rosemary and garlic as plants that may help keep ticks away. University of Maryland Extension says there are no scientific studies yet showing that plants in your yard repel ticks.
SOURCES
ILADEF - How to Handle a Tick Bite (updated 2024)
EPA - Skin-Applied Repellent Ingredients (updated 2025)
EPA - Find the Repellent That Is Right for You
EPA - Nootkatone registration (2020)
Insects - Nootkatone tick repellency study (December 2023)
University of Rhode Island TickEncounter - Protect Yourself
LymeDisease.org - Personal Protection (updated March 2026)
Global Lyme Alliance - Tick Repellent (2023)
USDA Agricultural Research Service - Cedarwood oil and ticks (February 2022)
Parasites and Vectors - Review of essential oils against ticks (November 2023)
Penn State Extension - Tick and Mosquito Repellent Guide (2022)
Global Lyme Alliance - How to Keep Your Yard Safe from Ticks and Lyme Disease (March 2025)
Global Lyme Alliance - Fall is Still Tick Season (October 2024)
Penn State - Tick tubes help reduce parasites on mice (November 2024)
The Tick Project - Results (Cary Institute and Bard College)
Cary Institute - The Tick Project research (2022)
Pathogens - Does Experimental Reduction of Blacklegged Tick Abundance Reduce Lyme Disease Incidence? (May 2023)
University of Rhode Island TickEncounter - Protect Your Yard
University of Maine Extension - Chemical Control of Ticks
University of Maryland Extension - Plants and ticks (March 2026)
RELATED POSTS
Tick Bite Education
New Tick Bite?
How to Handle a Tick Bite
Different Types of Ticks
Tick Attachment Time
Tick Testing: Find Out What It Carried
Lyme Disease Is in Every State
Cistus Incanus
Lyme in Pets
Disclaimer: Rise Above Lyme makes no claims about any possible benefit of using any product mentioned within this site. Always consult with your doctor before adding anything. The information shared is based on personal experience, years of accumulated researched resources from Lyme Literate doctors and polls conducted within Lyme groups from actual patient experience using these solution ideas.
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