OFF = Awful
Written: May 14 '01 (Updated Jan 07 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It works most of the time.
Cons: Hazardous to your health; very difficult to read the label.
The Bottom Line: After 1,239 words I cannot recommend OFF! It is too harmful for me to tell you to use it.
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| jo.com's Full Review: Deep Woods Off! Insect Repellent |
UPDATE: I bought a new Off! while in the Everglades recently. Perhaps the mosquitoes there are immune to insect repellent, but this product did not work on these insects. I do acknowledge that we were in the woods and in a swampy area, but according to the bottle it says Deep Woods. Spraying this directly on them didn't even kill these bugs. When I bought it, I had forgotten that I had reviewed it already and stated below that it works most of the time. I wanted to update this to say that it did not work at all this time in spite of being covered with this spray from head to toe and covered in clothes.
I am going to start this review by telling you two stories.
1. When a company does the right thing I think people should know. Last summer I had bought OFF! Insect Repellent and brought it to the beach when friends were visiting because it was biting fly time in Massachusetts. It didn’t work. It didn’t work at all. I felt terrible because we had to go back to my house. There is a 1-800 number on OFF! to call with questions or comments and I did just that. I told them the above and they asked me to read a number off the container. As it happened it was an older repellent and should not have been sold. There should be an expiration date on OFF! but there isn’t, only numbers on the bottom. Although it wasn’t their fault that the store had them on their shelves, they sent me a coupon for another OFF! for $5.00. I bought Deep Woods Off for $4.99. It is a Johnson Wax product and this one came through for me. It works. Does it keep every bug off of me? No. Is there a product on the market that does? Perhaps. I, like you, will have to read others’ reviews on different repellents.
2. This review will be, hopefully, as helpful to you as it was to me. I thought of rewriting the review after I came to the end because it ended very differently than it began. I changed my mind, though. I though it interesting to see “a review in progress” and that is exactly what this was. I write in the second paragraph “I do use this. I don’t hesitate.” How many of us use products that we haven’t researched or about which we haven’t read reviews? This review shows us all how important it is to do both.
•I do use this product. I don't hesitate to even though the persistent mosquito is going to get me. It claims to afford “long lasting protection from mosquitoes, ticks, biting flies, gnats and chiggers.” The mosquitoes and flies are my biggest problem and it does provide long lasting protection for the most part.
•OFF! also claims that it won’t stain, that it resists perspiration and that it isn’t greasy and all that is true. It has a feature that allows you to spray it upside down. You don’t have to do anything just hold it upside down and it will spray. This comes in handy when you are spraying your legs, for example. If you have a spray bottle handy try to spray it right side up, I think you will see that holding it upside down is more comfortable and easier to use.
•One problem with bug repellent is the smell and OFF!'s smell isn’t horrible but it isn’t wonderful either. Perhaps they need to use fragrance in it. But again, I have used worse.
•There are cautions with this product: It can cause a skin reaction, obviously it is harmful if swallowed and you want to keep it out of the reach of children. You must avoid contact with your eyes and lips. Those are obvious precautions. I would hope that no one using any type of bug repellent would swallow it or spray it in their eyes on purpose. However, you must be careful that when you spray a little one isn’t standing next to you into whose eyes it might get. The spray container is very easy to push down on making it great for people with arthritis, for example, but also making it very easy for children to use if they get their hands on it.
If it gets in someone’s eyes rinse them immediately with water and you may want to call the doctor. If it is swallowed call the doctor and poison control. These treatments and recommendations are on the can.
•This is a flammable product. You don’t want to use it next to a barbecue grill that is heating up or in temperatures over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. You also don’t want to puncture it because it is under pressure and can burst.
•I didn’t know it is a violation of Federal Law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling, but it is. So follow the directions! To use it, hold it 6-8 inches from your skin or clothing. It shouldn’t be sprayed in an enclosed area. You have to remember this is a potent chemical, which kills things. Breathing it is not a great idea. In fact it is suggested that when you come inside you should wash it off with soap and water. Don’t keep in on any longer than necessary.
•You cannot spray it on or near: acetate, rayon, spandex and other synthetics and don’t spray it on wounds, cuts or sunburnt areas.
•This is an aerosol can and can be recycled in many communities. If your community allows it, please do. If not wrap it up and throw it in the trash.
•I purposely bought the unscented variety but perhaps that was a mistake given I would like something that smells better. The active ingredients are: diethyl-meta toluamide and related isomes. It is a 6-ounce can.
In summary, before and when I began writing this review I was prepared to give the product 4 stars because it does work. However after writing this and thinking about it, I can’t. It is so harmful I will never buy it again and will go to the health food store for a more natural repellent. I am including most everything about this product in the harmful category. Other than being able to use it upside down, being affordable, and working most of the time, the negatives outweigh the positives, in my opinion; thus I am rating it 3 stars. I know that is somewhat non-committal but if you don’t mind the negatives, it does work.
I also have to say that in spite of my age, 49, and the lessening of my abilities to read small print, this print is so small,(and written on a dark can making it even more difficult to see) I can’t imagine many people being able to read it easily. There is a lot of information on the container and not everyone using it is under 40 years old. Again even if you are 20, I think you might find the print tiny. For me, it was a major undertaking to write this review attempting to read the container. Perhaps it is done on purpose because if I had read it in CVS, I may not have bought it, bringing my rating down to a 2 because I think the warnings, hazards and precautions should be in big print even if it means packaging it in a box with the above on an insert. I will tell you, though, that if you like this and want to buy it and want to read the container, take it off the shelf and bring it near a window. It is much easier to read in bright sunlight.
For my second summary: I am not going to recommend OFF!, in spite of the fact that it does work much of the time. There are too many negatives and I am now angry that I had so much trouble reading the container and had to go outside to do so. Please note: I rated it a "very easy to use" and it is if you can read how to use it.
Thanks for reading. If you have any questions about this product, please feel free to e-mail me.
Recommended:
No
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jo.com
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Member: Jo
Location: On a bluff overlooking the ocean.
Reviews written: 1673
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About Me:
On the road again until mid-January. Happy New Year!
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