Is Your Soap Attracting Mosquitoes In Minnesota + Wisconsin?

Looking to ditch those pesky mosquitoes this summer? If you are reading this from Minnesota or Wisconsin, you know just how hard that is. If we aren't dealing with an awful winter, we are dealing with obnoxious mosquitoes.

You may be in luck this mosquito season because a recent study says it could be your soap that is attracting mosquitoes. At the very least, this information could help you attract less mosquitoes (which counts for something around here).

A study, which came out last month, says that your soap could be attracting mosquitoes depending on which scent you use! I won't get into all the science behind the study, which was done by researchers at Virginia Tech.

The biggest finding from the study is that floral scents are the ones mosquitoes seem to flock to. Therefore, if you use a floral soap and find you are always being swarmed by mosquitoes, you may want to switch things up, especially if you are planning on being outdoors.

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Why is this? In simple terms, mosquitoes like plant-nectar so any scent that imitates that even slightly, could cause them to flock to you. It could also "confuse their decision-making" meaning they could mistake your scent for plant-nectar itself. Yikes.

So what should you do if you want to avoid mosquitoes altogether? According to the study, you should opt for a coconut scented soap! In their study, all the fruity and flowery scents made someone more attractive to mosquitoes. The coconut scent is the only one that decreased attractiveness. I am going to go buy ALL the coconut soap now.

Mosquitoes may not seem like much but if you live in this area, you probably already know they are not only dangerous but they are also incredibly deadly! Mosquitoes carry life-threatening diseases like Malaria and Zika Virus, along with many others.

There are things you can do aside from just switching out your soap. You can avoid wearing certain colors, which also seem to make you less attractive to mosquitoes. You can also wear long sleeves, stay indoors and use bug spray when necessary.