Best Bug Spray (2026), Tested and Reviewed

No 1 likes the feeling of insect repellent. I person vivid memories of being sprayed down with the worldly arsenic a kid earlier venturing into the woods successful bluish Minnesota connected household vacations and feeling similar chemic warfare was being waged connected each of my senses. I was consenting to endure it due to the fact that being covered successful mosquito bites is adjacent worse. Wearing repellent tin prevention your life, protecting you against West Nile microorganism and Lyme disease, conscionable to sanction a fewer of the pathogens mosquitoes and ticks tin walk on.

“Insect repellents are designed to impact insects’ senses and forestall them from uncovering humans,” says Sonja Swiger, a prof astatine Texas A&M University’s Department of Entomology. “The usage of these products provides extortion to humans that cannot beryllium achieved by thing else.” Essentially, biology mosquito absorption programs can’t wholly support you from the bugs. If you’re going to beryllium extracurricular for a agelong play of time, particularly successful areas wherever biting bugs are common, applying repellent is simply a astute idea.

The bully quality is that determination are mode much products with antithetic formulas disposable present than, say, erstwhile I was a kid. Protecting yourself doesn’t person to beryllium a wholly miserable experience. Here is everything you request to cognize astir assorted insect-repelling chemicals, however to take the close merchandise for your needs, and our apical picks for the champion insect repellents connected the market.

Check retired immoderate of our different outdoors-related buying guides similar the Best Tents, Best Sunscreens, and Best Day-Hiking Backpacks.

Updated May 2026: We've added caller recommendations from Avon, Off!, and Grand Tongo, and we've updated the FAQ, links, and prices.

Best Picaridin Bug Repellents

Best Dry Feel

With a wide, even, fine-mist spray, this merchandise is casual to use and doesn’t excavation connected your skin. It has a chemic odor a spot similar rubbing alcohol, but the scent is overmuch milder than that of immoderate DEET products I tried. On my skin, the merchandise feels a spot greasy and sticky, but again, overmuch little truthful than DEET. Overall, I was pleased with the lightweight consciousness of the merchandise and appreciated the locking lid connected the bottle. Per the label, this spray contains 20 percent picaridin and tin supply up to 12 hours of protection.

Best Spray

This tiny spritz vessel provided thorough coverage, but the merchandise did request to beryllium rubbed successful a bit. Despite its somewhat sticky feel, this “scent zero” spray didn’t person an overwhelmingly beardown insect repellent smell. The marque besides makes scented versions of the product, with options similar Night Sky and Ranger Orange. The 20 percent picaridin attraction volition springiness you 12 hours of worry-free clip outside, sans mosquitoes and ticks.

Best Lotion

I’d ne'er tried a lotion repellent before, and I was pleasantly amazed by however bully they felt and however overmuch little they smelled than the sprays. This 1 successful peculiar seemed to person an adjacent milder scent than different picaridin lotions, and near my tegument feeling much hydrated than oily. It feels similar it absorbs into your tegument alternatively than sitting connected apical of it. It contains 20 percent picaridin and provides up to 14 hours of protection.

Best Wipes

These wipes are large—9 by 5.5 inches—so you lone request 1 oregon 2 to screen each your exposed skin. They miraculously deficiency that emblematic bug spray smell, and alternatively person a bully light, powdery scent. The 10-percent picaridin look besides contains moisturizing vitamin E and aloe (hence the Skin So Soft successful the name); it feels similar a lightweight assemblage lipid erstwhile it dries. The scent and the texture marque this much similar a tegument attraction merchandise than an insect repellent.

After investigating astir 20 antithetic bug sprays (that beauteous overmuch each smelled astatine slightest a small unpleasant and chemical-y), this picaridin spray from Grand Tongo genuinely blew maine away. I don’t cognize however the marque managed to bash it, but this merchandise smells subtly saccharine and fresh, without a hint of harsh repellent smell. The marque besides offers a citrus and sandalwood scent, but the greenish beverage and mint was my idiosyncratic favorite. There’s a fragrance-free option, which dries down to person zero scent connected the skin. It feels similar magic! The wide, adjacent spray, shockingly beauteous bottle, and locking lid are bully touches. With 20 percent picardin, you should person 12 hours of protection.

Best for Travel

This tiny spray vessel is cleanable for travel—it’s TSA-friendly and tin easy descent successful a pouch oregon beryllium thrown successful a hiking battalion erstwhile you don’t privation to transportation a full bottle. Made with 20 percent picaridin and a lightweight look that dries fast, this repellent won’t permission a greasy decorativeness and really smells great. Grand Tongo is known for pleasantly scented insect repellents, similar the “best smelling” proposal above, and the orangey citrus positive sandalwood scent is simply a winner. You won’t get immoderate whiffs of bug spray with this product.

Best DEET Bug Repellents

This merchandise has the chiseled chemical-y, bug spray odor of DEET, but the consciousness is nicer than astir DEET sprays. It’s not wholly weightless, but it dries down truly nicely and feels brushed and lone somewhat greasy to the touch. The spray is even, but the deficiency of a locking lid makes maine wary to battalion it for a hike.

This DEET spray goes connected evenly successful a good mist and dries down to a nice, lone somewhat oily finish. The locking lid stayed successful spot adjacent erstwhile I hauled the vessel astir successful a backpack for a day. The odor was chemical-y, but not highly strong. The merchandise claims to beryllium sweat-resistant, and it didn’t easy melt distant connected my hike oregon adjacent aboriginal erstwhile I wiped it disconnected with a bedewed washcloth. With a 25 percent attraction of DEET, it provides up to 10 hours of protection.

The DEET stink is inactive there, but the lotion look feels much pleasant and little greasy to maine than astir sprays. This merchandise successful peculiar contains DEET (at a 20 percent concentration) that’s encapsulated successful a slow-dissolving protein, which means the DEET is released implicit a longer play of time, providing up to 11 hours of protection.

These pocket-sized wipes are a spot bedewed and messy, but that besides means 1 hitch goes a agelong mode successful presumption of coverage. The odor is little aggravated than different wipes; it reminds maine of rubbing alcohol. These are perfect for throwing successful a hiking container oregon getting done TSA. They person a 30 percent attraction of DEET, and the bundle claims up to 7 hours of protection.

Going for a tally successful a buggy country is genuinely the worst. Insects are attracted to sweat, truthful you truly request an effectual repellent if you don’t privation to walk your workout swatting them away. The Off! Active Sweat Resistant Insect Repellent is made to enactment enactment done workout similar hiking, running, and kayaking, and I recovered that it held up good during sweaty jogs astir Denver. It sprays successful a wide, adjacent mist, and you tin adjacent spray it upside down, which makes it casual to use rapidly connected the backmost of your body. It dries to a soft, nongreasy decorativeness and has a somewhat saccharine albeit chemical-like scent. I was impressed by however airy the scent was fixed it’s a DEET product.

Best IR3535 Bug Repellent

Of each the sprays I tested, this was my favorite. It felt genuinely adust to the interaction aft a fewer minutes, dissimilar immoderate of the DEET oregon picaridin sprays. It was besides astir wholly odorless, which won large points successful my book. The spray isn’t arsenic adjacent and good arsenic I’d similar it to be, but it wasn’t a immense obstruction to application. Overall, I was truly impressed by this one’s lightweight, barely-there feel.

Best Oil-of-Lemon-Eucalyptus Bug Repellent

This merchandise uses a combo of p-menthane-3,8-diol and lipid of citrus eucalyptus, with a 30 percent concentration. It’s precise oily and does excavation connected the skin, truthful you request to truly hitch it in. It besides has a precise beardown eucalyptus scent that’s beauteous off-putting, but it does slice implicit time. It has a locking lid, and the packaging says it provides six hours of protection.

For a tiny spritz bottle, the spray is adjacent and fine, and I lone needed to hitch this merchandise successful a small earlier it dried down, leaving a somewhat greasy finish. The odor is little aggravated and much pleasant than different lipid of citrus eucalyptus sprays I tried—once it dried, it was much caller and citrusy than eucalyptus-forward. With a 30 percent attraction of lipid of citrus eucalyptus and 65 percent attraction of p-menthane-3,8-diol, you should get six hours of extortion from mosquitos and 4 hours of extortion against ticks.

How We Tested

I utilized 27 products connected hikes, runs, and nights extracurricular adjacent Denver, Colorado. All of them were effectual successful preventing bug bites, but fixed the adust clime wherever I live, I don’t brushwood swarms of mosquitoes precise often. In my probe for this article, I’ve learned that an insect repellent that is considered effectual for 1 person, successful 1 environment, won’t needfully beryllium effectual for a antithetic idiosyncratic successful that aforesaid environment, oregon a antithetic idiosyncratic successful a antithetic environment.

Essentially, mosquitoes and different bugs take who to wound based connected wide smell, assemblage heat, and sweat, and are evidently overmuch much prevalent successful bedewed and lukewarm parts of the country. So standing these repellents connected their effectiveness against bugs (based connected my experience) doesn’t truly springiness you overmuch invaluable information.

The lone mode to cognize if a repellent volition enactment for you is to effort it connected yourself successful your environment, against your bugs. (And support successful mind, a merchandise that works good for you astatine location mightiness not bash it against antithetic insects connected vacation.) If your repellent isn’t working, you request a higher attraction of the repelling chemical, oregon a antithetic repelling chemical. But, arsenic I wrote above, starting with a little attraction is the move—there’s nary crushed to exposure yourself to much chemicals if the little level tin supply alleviation from biting.