Insects & Pests · 1 hour + weekly · Basic
Mosquito Barriers: Nets, Screens, Fans and Standing Water
Sleep under netting, seal your screens, and dump the water that is breeding the next generation a few feet from your door.
This is for educational purposes only. Not professional medical, electrical, or safety advice.
Warning
Mosquito netting is a fire and entanglement hazard: keep it away from candles, cigarettes and open flame, and secure it around young children.
- 01
Net the bed
CDC recommends nets when you sleep outdoors or in a room without screens. Choose netting long enough to tuck under the mattress, check it for tears, and don't sleep pressed against the mesh. CDC describes netting with 156 holes per square inch, and says permethrin-treated nets give more protection than untreated ones.
- 02
Keep flame away from the netting
Mosquito netting burns, and loose hanging netting can entangle a small child. Keep it away from candles, cigarettes and open fire, and secure the hanging so a child cannot loop it around their neck.
- 03
Fix the screens
Repair tears and gaps in door and window screens. A frayed edge or a popped-out frame is an open doorway to every mosquito in the yard.
- 04
Run a fan
Moving air makes it harder for mosquitoes to land and to find you. It is a help at a sitting area or a sleeping corner, not disease-proof protection.
- 05
Kill the nursery
Once each week, empty and scrub, turn over, cover, or throw out anything holding water: buckets, tires, toys, planters, birdbaths, trash containers. That one habit removes most of the mosquitoes that will bite you next week.
- 06
Skip the gimmicks
Ultrasonic devices are not proven to protect against mosquitoes. Vitamin B1 supplements do not prevent bites. Bug zappers don't stop mosquito bites and kill mostly harmless insects. Citronella candles have limited, short, localized effect at best — none of these replace a registered repellent, a net, or a screen.