why do dryer sheets repel mosquitoes?
Jun.13, 2011 in
Fleas
I want to know the scientific details if anyone knows? Is there a chemical in them that does the job?
I want to know the scientific details if anyone knows? Is there a chemical in them that does the job?
June 18th, 2011 at 7:34 am
yes
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June 23rd, 2011 at 9:34 am
I didn’t know that they did. Thanks for the tip.
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June 28th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
Dryer sheets are gauze-like tissues about the size of a Kleenex, put into clothes dryers to eliminate static cling, soften clothes and add artificial fragrance. They are sold in small boxes or plastic “pull-up” dispenser bottles, generally found near the laundry detergent in any grocery store.
When clothes tumble inside a dryer, friction causes an exchange of electrons on the surface of the materials. Some of the electrons are positively charged, and some are negatively charged, causing the materials to cling to one another. The electric charge, which by some estimates can be as much as 12,000 volts, is commonly referred to as static cling. Dryer sheets are coated with positively charged substances that rub off on the clothes in the dryer in the presence of heat. With the clothes positively charged, there is no static cling.
Other chemicals in dryer sheets help to soften clothes and make them wrinkle resistant. Finally, dryer sheets include fragrances that make your clothes smell fresh.
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July 4th, 2011 at 10:33 am
I have tried these drier sheets as a repellent (Bounce was the specific brand mentioned) and do not notice that they repel mosquitoes yet. I will keep trying to see if I can notice at least a lessening of them. Has anyone done a controlled experiment on this with a scientific method design to see if there is anything to this, like mosquito’s in glass test environments so you can count results seen? I don’t think the repulsion has anything to do with the cling energetics. My hunch-hypothesis is that some of the mosquitoes are repelled by the specific fragrances in Bounce, but not all of them.
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July 15th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Both chemicals and static electricity
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