Insects & Pests · Reference · Basic
Tick Defense: Permethrin, Pants Into Socks, and the Tweezers Rule
Keep ticks off your body, find the ones that get through, and pull them out the way CDC actually says — not the way the internet says.
This is for educational purposes only. Not professional medical, electrical, or safety advice.
Warning
Permethrin products labeled for clothing and gear must never be applied to skin. Fabric treatments are not skin repellents.
- 01
Treat the clothes, not the skin
Use a labeled 0.5% permethrin product on clothing and gear, or buy items already pretreated. Fabric permethrin must not be applied to skin. Put a registered repellent such as DEET or picaridin on exposed skin, following that product's tick label.
- 02
Dress to be seen
Long sleeves and long pants, in light colors so ticks show against the fabric. Tuck your shirt into your pants and your pants into your socks. Walk in the center of trails and stay out of brush and leaf litter, where ticks wait.
- 03
Shower within two hours
CDC notes that showering within 2 hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce Lyme disease risk — it rinses off ticks that haven't attached yet and gives you a chance to look. It will not remove a tick that is already attached.
- 04
Check the whole body, every day
Do a full-body tick check after exposure and daily while exposure continues. Look under the arms, in and around the ears and hair, the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs and in the groin, and around the waist. Nymphal blacklegged ticks can be about the size of a poppy seed.
- 05
Pull, don't cook
Use fine-tipped tweezers. Grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible and pull upward with steady, even pressure — no twisting, no jerking. Then clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. Do not use petroleum jelly, nail polish, or a hot match to force it off.
- 06
Kill ticks in the laundry
Tumble dry clothing on high heat for 10 minutes if the items are already dry; damp items need more time. If you wash first, use hot water — cold and medium-temperature washes do not kill ticks.