OFF!^® Frequently Asked Questions

Apply repellent whenever you are going to be outdoors. Be aware that mosquitoes often can be most active at dusk and at dawn. Always remember to read and follow the label directions on the package.

Choosing the right repellent depends on the situation. Generally, the higher the concentration of the active ingredient, the longer you will be protected. The following tips should help you determine which OFF!^® product is best for you in various situations:

• If you plan to spend a short amount of time outside, OFF!^® FamilyCare Insect Repellents and OFF! Botanicals Insect Repellents will offer good protection from mosquitoes and ticks.
• For long activities, like hiking and fishing, our choice is OFF!^® Deep Woods^® Insect Repellents or OFF!^® Deep Woods^® Sportsmen Insect Repellents.
• OFF!^® Gentle Insect Repellents use picaridin, another effective ingredient that fights mosquitoes.

All OFF!^® insect repellents can be used on your face. We encourage you to apply the product to your hands and then to your face, being sure to avoid your eyes and mouth. Do not allow children to handle this product. Do not apply to children’s hands. When using on children, apply OFF!^® repellent to your own hands and then to the child. Always remember to read and follow the label directions on the package. To learn more, view our article How to Correctly Apply Insect Repellent.

OFF!^® products can be found throughout Canada in the insect repellent section, lawn and garden section or sporting goods section of most mass merchandisers, grocery stores, drug stores, do-it-yourself stores and hardware stores.

Several OFF!^® personal repellents include products that contain varying amounts of DEET. However, if you’re looking for an active ingredient other than DEET, consider OFF!^® Gentle Insect Repellent I which uses Picaridin as its active ingredient, or OFF! Botanicals Insect Repellent which uses p-menthane-3,8-Diol as its active ingredient. To learn more about DEET or our other active ingredients, visit Active Ingredients.

Originally developed in 1944 by the US Department of Agriculture, diethyltoluamide, or simply DEET, is an active ingredient in many insect repellents. DEET is effective in repelling mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and many other biting insects. It works to confuse and interfere with the receptors on a mosquito’s antennae, which deters mosquitoes from landing on the skin and biting. To learn more, visit our article Using DEET: How Insect Repellent Works.

When applied correctly, DEET is appropriate for use on children. Products containing DEET can be used on children. Always read product label instructions, and when applying on children, spray on your hands first, and then apply to their skin.

Here is an overview. Remember, there could be some variability within your local area. For example, if you’re near standing water, you are more likely to experience mosquito activity than if you’re standing in the middle of a large parking lot. Be sure to consider these variables in addition to our guidelines.

• Green = Risk is Low. You're safe to go outside and enjoy the outdoors. Is it possible there might be a mosquito lurking about? Sure, but the odds are low and they’re probably not very active.
• Yellow = Risk is Medium. You don't have to be super concerned - yet. But the conditions are right for some mosquitoes to come out. If you are the cautious-type, then using some mosquito protection is a good idea.
• Orange = Risk is High. The mosquitoes are out and you will want to protect yourself. The weather is warm and wet enough for mosquitoes to become active and look for a yummy meal. Don’t be that meal - protect yourself.
• Red = Risk is Very High. Time to be even more careful because the prime conditions for mosquitoes have been in-place for several days – likely resulting in even more mosquito activity. Protect yourself before you go outside, and bring protection with you just in case you need to re-apply.
• Dark Red = Risk is Severe. Conditions have been perfect for (at least) the previous 14 days for mosquitoes to become active and breed, which means there are likely to be more of them. Be sure to protect yourself before you leave the house and remember to re-apply protection the longer you are outside; ideally every couple of hours.

• Why was the mosquito sad on Christmas? It was a bah hum bug.
• What do mosquitoes and relatives have in common? They both share your blood.
• What is a mosquito's worst fear? The S.W.A.T Team.

Ah yes, we would have loved to include our friends in Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories. We know mosquitoes bother you too. First, the good news…we’re working on it. You’ll soon be able to enter your Territory location and get your local Mosquito Forecast. We’ll announce publicly when we’re ready. Bookmark this page and come back for updates.

Here’s why we’re not quite ready – Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are different from the provinces from the climatic point of view. More specifically, the territories have longer cold season, which has direct effect on the length of mosquito season and their abundance. We are taking time to understand the weather and predominant mosquito species of these territories to make sure our Mosquito Forecast is reliable. That means it may require a slightly different model. We’re OBSESSED with “accuracy”. Our scientists are customizing our mosquito models to bring you the best Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories mosquito forecasts; stay tuned.

Well, there are so many…where to begin? Here are a few to get you started:

• Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on Earth.
• Mosquitoes have been around since the Triassic Period – 400 million years ago.
• They have been in North America since the Cretaceous Period – 100 million years ago.
• There are many different kinds of mosquitoes, about 2,700 species - approximately 82 species in Canada alone.
• Mosquitoes don’t weigh much, but they have a heavy impact on our lives – the average mosquito weighs about 2.5 milligrams.
• As a mosquito bites you and sucks your blood, they can also leave you with a disease and saliva that you may react to (which causes the itchiness).
• On average a female mosquito takes in about 5-millionths of a liter of blood during feeding. Only the females bite, males do not bite.
• Mosquitoes see you. Yes, they find hosts by sight (they see movement) - by detecting infra-red radiation emitted by warm bodies, and by chemical signals.

Mosquitos are most active early in the morning and late at night, avoiding peak sunlight hours. This is because direct sunlight can be deadly for the bugs, overheating and dehydrating them. If you're planning on being outside during these peak mosquito hours, protect yourself and your family with OFF! Repellent before heading out.

The afternoon is often the best time of day to avoid mosquitoes, but for those heading to woods or wetlands, try and steer clear of shady areas where mosquitoes are likely to be resting as they avoid the sun.

We created an accurate forecast by combining three inputs; knowledge about a mosquito’s lifecycle, detailed climate data inputs, and mosquito population counts from thousands of locations provided by VectorBase. But that's not all.

To test the accuracy of the tool, our team validated our Mosquito Forecast by comparing it to historical mosquito population data, going back to 10-20 years, depending on the data availability. These results confirmed that our mosquito forecast predictions matched the reality on the ground.

To oversimplify, temperature, precipitation and humidity are the primary inputs to create the mosquito forecast. However, it’s a little more complicated than that. For example, there needs to be enough consecutive days of warmer temperatures for mosquitoes to populate and become active. There are also days that are “too hot” when mosquitoes tend to lie low, and days that are “too cold” when mosquitoes are less active – kind of like a goldilocks effect. So, we automatically adjust our algorithm for those days. There also needs to be sufficient humidity for mosquitoes to be active and seek host (humans are yummy hosts, unfortunately). Pretty interesting, right!?! We ❤ learning about mosquitoes – especially how best to protect you and your loved ones from them.