I have waist length hair. I don’t like how I look with no hair or a buzz cut, and I find longer hair easier to manage. I’m not dead-set on this length, it just seems the best config for my life in general.

When it’s not gardening season, I wash my hair 2x per week. I have a super low tolerance for greasy or dirty hair and this frequency works.

I rely on bug spray while gardening. I wear full coverage clothes and try and spray the clothes, but I need to spray the exposed skin on my face and neck. This leads to spray or the spray+sunscreen+dirt combo getting in my hair.

I have tried special clothes and hats (including with nets) but I get bit right through them. I want to avoid getting bit because of the risk of disease, but honestly I mostly want to avoid hearing or feeling them on my skin. Thermacell type products have not been useful.

Currently I try and pile my hair in a hat and today I am trying to wrap it in a kerchief first. The bulk isn’t great with the hat. My hair type is 1a, but I imagine people with more texture also deal with this challenge.

So I guess my questions are:

  1. Do you have tips/tricks for keeping long hair clean while using bug repellent?
  2. If your solution is a protective wrap of some kind, how to you keep the sun off your face/neck if the bulk prevents the use of sun hats?

Thanks!

  • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
    5·
    6 hours ago

    Not a problem I have, but generally, I hate bug spray because of how greasy and smelly it is (and the fact that deet damages synthetic fabrics), so I will go to a lot of lengths to avoid using it.

    I use long sleeves and occasionally a bug net if the mosquitos are really thick. They can bite through clothing, so I make sure it’s loose. I’ve actually been thinking about making a garment to wear under a long sleeve shirt to add another layer to my shoulders where gravity makes the fabric sit against my skin.

    I also use permethrin treated clothes if im going to be somewhere with a lot of bugs. I do try to minimize that to when I really need it because permethrin is harmful to a lot of beneficial insects, too. You could use a permethrin treated buff or something similar to protect your neck.

    Lastly, picaridin comes in a lotion that is not greasy or smelly, and it works just as well as DEET for mosquitos.