How To Treat Chiggers With Bleach

If you are fond of spending time outdoors during the summer months, you have probably endured the wrath of chiggers. Chiggers are immature Trombiculidae mites that suck the blood of warm-blooded animals. Typically it is too late to treat chiggers once you begin scratching the areas where they've bitten you, but you can try and kill any remaining chiggers on your skin. Bleach is not normally recommended for contact with skin, but you can use it as long as you dilute it properly.

Step 1

Locate spots where the chiggers are likely to bite you. Chiggers normally like to bite areas of soft skin,including the areas around your ankles, groin, armpits and waistline. Look for small red spots, often raised and filled with serum.

Step 2

Mix one part bleach with 10 parts water. Stir the two ingredients together in a bowl to thoroughly combine.

Step 3

Dip a cloth or cotton ball into the bleach water solution. Dab the cloth onto the areas around the chigger bites. The bleach will not help any spots where you've already been bitten, but it will kill any chiggers that are still on your skin. Chiggers like to congregate in clusters, so where one chigger has bitten you, there are likely to be many others.

Step 4

Wipe the bleach solution around all the spots where you've been bitten or are likely to be bitten. If you wipe the bleach on the chiggers before they latch onto you, you will kill them before the can suck your blood.

Step 5

Take a long, hot shower. This will help remove the bleach from your skin, as well as wash away any chiggers you missed earlier.