The joy of spending the bright summers doing outdoor activities is absolutely priceless. Nevertheless, if you are living in a tick-infested area, it makes it very difficult to enjoy outdoors without suffering from tick bites. Unlike flies or mosquitoes, ticks don’t stay on your skin for seconds.
They crawl on your clothes and get into your skin, only to latch on to your skin for a few days until they have sucked enough blood. In most of the cases of tick bites, you will start experiencing the symptoms only after a week or so.
One of the common questions that you may have in mind is about the ticks that are found on your clothing. How long do they live and how to get rid of them permanently is something that you are dying to know, aren’t you?
Ticks usually live on clothes for 2 to 3 days. It stays on the clothes for a minimum of 24 hours at least. We all know that some of the ticks carry deadly diseases such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Fever with them. Therefore, it is our responsibility to clean our clothes thoroughly so that they are free from ticks if any.
What to do to remove ticks from clothes
Some of the common ticks that can enter your clothes are the Dog ticks, Deer ticks, and Lone Star Ticks. Each of these species remains on your clothes for varying periods. It is almost impossible for you to identify the species of tick that has got on to your clothing.
So, how can you be sure to remove these permanently, regardless of their variety? The simple solution is first to dry your clothes well before you wash them. Yes, we understand that we are advising you to do the process in the reverse order, but that’s how it works for the elimination of ticks.
You need to put your clothes in a dryer and let the machine run for 15 minutes if you are using a gas dryer and 20 minutes if you are using an electric dryer. Once you have dried your clothes thoroughly, proceed to wash them. When you follow this step, you can be sure that you have killed all the ticks on your clothes once and for all.
Before stepping outdoors, it is highly recommended that you tick repellents on your exposed skin and clothes so that you can avoid tick bites and entry. These repellents should contain a minimum of 20% of DEET and 0.5% permethrin – two chemicals that are highly effective in keeping ticks at bay.
When you are using this repellent on your clothes, you need to focus on the fabric on your shirts, shorts, shoes, and socks, as these are the areas through which ticks easily crawl on to your clothes.
When you keep the areas surrounding your home clean and dry, you can be sure of keeping ticks away permanently. Ensure that you check on the growth of weeds and grass in your gardens regularly. Dense grassy areas and overgrown weeds are the main dwelling places of ticks. Following these simple prevention tips and using tick-repellent clothing can help you get rid of ticks on your clothes forever.
