BreakTheChain.org
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Lemon-Fresh and DeadlyDate Added: June 26, 2002
Frugal and creative people constantly find alternative uses for everyday household items. Thanks to the Internet, these home remedies are no longer limited to family secrets - everybody is Martha Stewart. Pass this on to anyone who likes being out in the evening or is having a cook out Here is a good thing for the summer, for those who like to sit enjoy the out of doors, but don't like those pesky mosquitoes. It was given at a gardening forum: Put some water in a white dinner plate and add just a couple of drops of Lemon Fresh Joy dish washing soap. Set the dish on a porch or patio. Not sure what attracts them, the lemon smell, the white color, or what, but mosquitoes flock to it, and drop dead, or fall into the water, or on the floor within about 10 ft. Works just super! Enjoy the mosquito free summer!! There seems to be a thin line between cleaning and pest control, as this chain and an earlier missive about alternative uses for Bounce Dryer Sheets demonstrate. But, is there anything to them? Well, if by "anything," you mean scientific research and proof, the answer is "no." My searches turned up no evidence that this actually works. We're left to trust an untested theory from an anonymous source. A spokesperson for Procter & Gamble, the makers of Lemon Fresh Joy, told BreakTheChain.org that the company cannot endorse the product for this purpose: "We haven't tested Joy for this purpose, so we don't know if it will in fact have any effect on mosquitos." Casey
That a lemon-sented dishwashing liquid would attract insects is easy enough to believe, as Chain-Breaker Geri points out: "When I was a teenager I used a lemon scented body splash. I stopped using it because I had gotten more bug bites when I did use put it on. Have you ever seen a lemon stand not have a bees, gnats and other bugs? I never have. So if you want to attract bugs...go ahead and use anything with a nice scent. This is what attracts the bugs. As for the "Lemon Joy"...I'll use it for my dishes or to get stains out of my whites." But it's the second part about the bugs dropping dead on contact that should get the most skepticism. Chain-Breaker Kathy tested the hypothesis: "I tried the Lemon Fresh Joy thing to kill mosquitos and it does NOT work. I gave it a 3 day trial with heavy mosquitos outside and not a single one was in that plate." Nonetheless, while this tip seems harmless, using household chemicals for uses other than those recommended by the manufacturer is always risky. For example, a plateful of dishwashing liquid may be a hazardous attraction to pets or small children. Break this Chain! References: None |