Allergy to the hammock fabric

[JaxHiker]

Well, this thread slipped away from me. As for the permethrin, it works like a dream. The "rash" I had was definitely a gazillion concentrated skeeter bites. Since treating the hammock with permethrin I have wonderful nights' sleep and haven't had the slightest problem with skeeters since.

Grizzly, thx for the link to those clips. They look pretty cool.

[speex]

I just had a similar experience to what was described in this thread, and wanted to share in case it might benefit anyone else.

Last night I spent my first night in my new Hennessy Explorer. During the night as I was experimenting with positions, I rolled over onto my stomach with my forehead supported directly by the hammock fabric, and slept in that position for a while. This morning, my Dad pointed out that I had a rash on my forehead, and sure enough I have a large number of small red dots, about the size of freckles, all over my forehead where it was pressed into the hammock fabric.

My first thought was that mosquitos had gotten me good through the fabric, but based on reading here, and some online research, I think the most likely cause is contact with some sort of irritant in the hammock fabric itself. Here's my reasoning:

I've had tons of skeeter bites in the past, and the rash I have looks nothing like my normal mosquito reaction. My skeeter bites are always raised, never red, considerably larger in diameter than the red dots I've got, always itchy for a few hours, and usually go away within a few hours. This rash is not raised at all but consists of small red dots, it barely itches at all, and it hasn't gone away (though it has diminished) over the course of the day. I don't think I've ever reacted to an insect bite in this way.

I'm not aware of insects other than mosquitos that would be able to bite me through the hammock fabric. Can no-see-ums bite through the fabric? That might be another possibility, if they can.. I'm not sure how I react to their bites.

The only parts of my body that have any rash at all are parts that were in direct contact with the hammock fabric. I noticed a few red dots if the same type on my forearms, which I had pushed into the hammock, but the rash is much less bad there.

Anyway, I went ahead and gave the hammock a good washing in the tub. Hopefully that will fix the problem for me.

Hope my experiences might be valuable to someone else.

[Knotty]

I'd recommend Atsko Sport Wash for technical fabrics. Walmart and many sporting goods stores carry it.

They are all about detergent that cleans and leaves nothing behind, including scent. There's some really good reading on their site. It will give you a whole new viewpoint on using something like Dr. Bronner's.

I must admit, despite what I learned from Atsko, Dr B's is still what I use in the shower.

[Ramblinrev]

I must admit, despite what I learned from Atsko, Dr B's is still what I use in the shower.

Please note: My USAF son was cautiuoned about using Dr. Bronners because of the level of Hemp Oil in the mixture. Seems it can trigger drug tests.

[Hawk-eye]

Please note: My USAF son was cautiuoned about using Dr. Bronners because of the level of Hemp Oil in the mixture. Seems it can trigger drug tests.

Try coming back from Bolivia after being given Coca tea for altitude sickness (nasty tasting stuff, tastes like the green goo under your lawn mower smells!) and then getting an insurance physical!

Yeah you guessed it ... had to re-test in 30 days.

[lar-i]

Try coming back from Bolivia after being given Coca tea for altitude sickness (nasty tasting stuff, tastes like the green goo under your lawn mower smells!) and then getting an insurance physical!

Yeah you guessed it ... had to re-test in 30 days.

Did it fix your altitude sickness?