EXTREMELY INTERESTING READ ABOUT DEET....WITH MOSQUITO SEASON HERE NOW..
How Something You Spray On Your Kids Can Melt Your Car’s Paint
Alex Lloyd
Alex LloydEditor at Large
September 4, 2015
How Something You Spray On Your Kids Can Melt Your Car’s Paint
It’s early evening: You’re working in the garage and swarms of tiny bugs are feasting upon your flesh. You grab the bug spray, coat your entire body,
and cackle something like, “Come and get me now!” Only when you wake up in the morning, you’re no longer laughing: The car’s paintwork is destroyed —
the bug spray effectively melted the clear coat.
How do I know this? It happened just the other day to my neighbor, Mo Almalag, a professor at Indiana University. And after hearing his story, I went
onto the Internet and discovered lots of unlucky people posting about the same issue. Apparently the DEET used in bug spray is known to melt car
paint.
Yeah, I know. Bug spray. Melts paint. And we put it on our bodies. Let that sink in for a minute.
Almalag bought the new silver Jeep Grand Cherokee parked in his garage a few months back. The incident occurred after someone in the family applied SC
Johnson’s OFF! family care insect repellant to children prior to playing in the yard. This nameless person or persons (we don’t want to start a family
or neighborhood war) did so in close proximity of the car, and evidently the solution went on both the left rear bumper and right side doors.
The next day, the dried repellent had turned white, as if a hooligan had made mischief with a can of spray paint. Wiping it down removed the white
residue, but left the color of the car’s paintwork considerably lightened — and the clear coat gone entirely, replaced by tiny bumps that looked like
teenage acne. Almalag tried everything to remove the marks, including your typical car polishes and even a Clay Bar.
The picture below is as good as it gets — after countless hours of buffing and waxing — without a costly repaint. (Note the streaks; although it
appears considerably worse in person as you can’t see the minute paint bubbles and other defects in this picture.)
image
What causes the marks? The DEET within the product — an oily liquid known as diethyltoluamide that mosquitos and other inspects intensely dislike.
DEET has been known to destroy the varnish on wooden tables, melt plastics, and even permanently mark TV screens. (One Internet goer claims bug spray
with DEET is the perfect solution for a quick headlamp restoration, which is telling to its level of ferocity.)
Auto expert and YouTuber who goes by the name of ChrisFix posted a follow up to this video, explaining why using bug spray to restore your headlamps
is actually not a clever — or long lasting — idea. The DEET acts as a solvent and effectively dissolves the plastic, and the oils within the spray
fill the pores in the headlamp covers, temporarily offering clarity. This effect will soon wear off, however, and in the video, ChrisFix warns of the
permanent trouble the solution causes when it gets onto the car’s paint or plastic bumpers.
“If a woman wanted to remove her nail polish, she’d use acetone,” ChrisFix told Yahoo Autos. DEET is a solvent similar to acetone, he said. But unlike
acetone, it keeps on dissolving the material it touches. “It’s very difficult to neutralize using normal household products — soapy water doesn’t
work, alcohol doesn’t work, nothing really works.”
We can see how accidentally leaving the solution to dissolve the car’s clear coat overnight can cause such vast damage, which can be costly to repair.
“The problem is most places wont want to just touch up the clear coat because there could be damage to the base coat or lingering bug spray which
would cause any new paint to bubble up,” Chris says. “Instead, they would probably try and sand down and repaint the whole panel.”
SC Johnson, the company that makes OFF!, issues a warning on its website: “Do not apply on or near: acetate, rayon, spandex or other synthetics (other
than nylon), furniture, plastics, watch crystals, leather and painted or varnished surfaces including automobiles.“
Still, few people realize the strength of the product and the damage it can cause — I mean, we spray it onto our skin. And onto our children. How bad
can it be?
The Department of Health and Human Services state that the side effects for using DEET on ourselves remains minimal, providing you don’t inhale or get
the solution in your eyes; rashes, blisters and other skin irritations are the most common issues. (It does, however, suggest people wash their skin
throughly with soap and water immediately upon returning indoors.)
An SC Johnson spokesperson told Yahoo Autos, "DEET is regulated by the EPA and can be used with confidence when used in accordance with the label."
The company continued, stating "avoiding mosquitoes is the best way to combat West Nile virus," pointing to the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention's recommendation to use repellants containing DEET.
image
Photo of the “chickenpox” effect bug spray can cause, via M Division
There are numerous cases online where people have inadvertently wrecked their vehicles fighting mosquitos: One E39 BMW owner sprayed himself in bug
spray and the next day found a large portion of his paint ruined, requiring it to be completely refinished. That owner described the marks as being
like “chickenpox.”
“The actual paint has bubbled up and the clear coat has been destroyed!” the owner said online. “I spent hours buffing, waxing, claybar — didn’t do
dam thing!!!”
The same fate befell a Harley Davidson owner, where the spray dissolved the paint on his cruiser’s tank. Then there’s this guy who vented his
frustration online having been working on his truck, sprayed himself with bug spray, and soon after found his motorbike covered in irreparable “little
bumps.”
In the case of the Jeep, the OFF! bug spray contained just 15 percent DEET, which is on the lower end. Many contain around 30 percent, and some hardy
outdoorsmen even use 98 percent DEET, although research suggests that is overkill. So don’t assume that because your bug spray is low on DEET you
won’t face this same issue.
We reached out to Vertellus, the makers of DEET, regarding whether it was aware of the damage the product can cause to car paint; the company did not
respond.
Almalag currently has two options: Leave the damaged clear coat and hope he gradually becomes accustomed to the markings, or repaint the car: “I
haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet,” he said. “I had no idea bug spray could do this much damage.”
image
If you do use bug spray containing DEET (there are non-DEET options on the market, although their effectiveness remains debated), make sure you do so
a safe distance from your vehicle, and if an accident does occur — whether to a car or other painted, varnished or plastic surfaces — try your best to
clean it as quickly and thoroughly as possible using soapy water to minimize the damage. Like many of us, insect repellant can be a savior when
working in the garage or hanging out in the backyard. It doesn’t take much, however, for a few drops to land on the wrong surface, and by the
following morning, you’ll awaken to a nasty surprise.
And seriously, we actually coat our skin in this paint-melting stuff? No wonder the mosquitos can’t stand it. ehall - 9-5-2015 at 07:15 AM
Strong stuff. We had to quit using it at work because it made our flame resistant clothing ineffective. It seems to be the only good repellant out
there.David K - 9-5-2015 at 09:35 AM
It is great to clear the foggy glaze of headlights.ncampion - 9-5-2015 at 12:06 PM
I don't see the problem, don't spray bug spray on your car and don't put car polish on your skin.wessongroup - 9-5-2015 at 05:44 PM
SF 16+ ... What he said ^^
This may help ... not sure about going around others while protected
Here's something else .. which may be a little better
"The winning products used picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus as the active ingredients. Both are chemically synthesized ingredients but more
similar to natural compounds than deet; they also come with fewer side effects. Best in show were Sawyer Fisherman’s Formula, which held mosquitoes
and ticks at bay for eight hours, and Repel Lemon Eucalyptus, which protected against ticks for eight hours and mosquitoes for seven hours."
Didn't see any numbers on what drinking alcohol would do .... to the effectiveness of Sawyers Fisherman's nor the other ... use at you own risk ...
[Edited on 9-6-2015 by wessongroup]Zola - 9-5-2015 at 11:21 PM
There were swarms of mosquitos in San Juanico this summer, especially at dawn and dusk. I used one of those eco-friendly organic insecticides bought
in the US, but only indoors. it seems to chase them out of the house but I don't think it kills them. What worked the best was that I was FANATICAL
about keeping screens sealed and in good repair and keeping all doors closed at all times, but with screens. I snapped at a few visitors who lingered
at the door. Also, if I saw a mosquito I would not rest until I hunted him down. For four straight months I did not lose a night's sleep over
mosquitoes. But we did have giant c-ckroaches for a time, which unnerved me, as well as a tarantula, a scorpion, occasional wasps, those giant flies
called mascones, and a growing family of frogs whom I didn't have it in me to remove from the front porch.
[Edited on 9-6-2015 by Zola]Zola - 9-5-2015 at 11:28 PM
But the downside was that in San Juanico I could not enjoy our yard at night: There were too many mosquitoes. I would last maybe for 15 minutes or so,
at most. i think there are far, far fewer mosquitoes along the beach. I live in town.
Here in Point Loma (San Diego) we have more flies and garden spiders, but almost never any mosquitoes, although I do not know why.Chupacabra - 9-9-2015 at 10:57 AM
DEET has been safely and effectively used by millions and millions of people since the 1940s. I'm pretty sure that's more than enough data to show
that it's relatively benign.
Here in Point Loma (San Diego) we have more flies and garden spiders, but almost never any mosquitoes, although I do not know why.
Nor is there the common house fly, very few winged insects along the socal coast. Thank goodness.
Just stocked up on OFF with 25% DEET at Walmart for the upcoming winter at Bahia Concepcion. Ankle biter no seeums in the sand around sunset and
sometimes in the morning.
[Edited on 9-10-2015 by SFandH]Ateo - 9-9-2015 at 09:45 PM
