Everything Can,
Ken Do.

Every mosquito article on the internet lists the same ten tricks and pretends they all work equally well. They don't. Here is the honest ranking for a Singapore flat, from most to least effective.

01 Get rid of standing water Free · attacks the source

Nothing else on this list matters if mosquitoes are breeding in your flowerpot plates. Aedes mosquitoes need only a 20-cent coin of water and about a week. Tip, flip and scrub anything that holds water. This is the single most effective thing you can do, and it costs nothing.

02 A strong fan, pointed at you Cheap · works while it's on

Mosquitoes are weak flyers. A fan on full blast makes you a difficult landing strip and disperses the carbon dioxide they track you by. The catch: it only protects whoever sits in the airflow, and only while it's running.

03 Mesh screens on windows and doors One-time · works while you sleep

A physical barrier is the only thing on this list that works 24 hours a day with your windows wide open. Fresh air in, mosquitoes out, nothing to switch on, nothing to reapply. Fixed screens need drilling; magnetic ones don't, and they peel off for washing.

04 DEET or picaridin repellent Proven · but you must wear it

Genuinely effective and backed by decades of evidence. The problem is compliance: it works only on the skin you remembered to cover, wears off in hours, and nobody applies repellent to sleep in their own bedroom.

05 A bed net Effective · in bed only

Excellent at what it does, which is protecting a sleeping person inside a one-metre bubble. Less excellent when you want to watch TV, cook, or exist anywhere else in your flat.

06 Mosquito traps Mixed evidence

UV and CO2 traps catch impressive-looking piles of insects, but studies keep finding most of them are moths and midges, not the Aedes mosquitoes that bite you at dusk. A supplement at best.

07 Coils, citronella and plants Mostly smells nice

Citronella candles, pandan leaves, lemongrass pots: the effect is real but measured in centimetres. Coils do repel in still air, at the price of breathing smoke all evening. Pleasant, traditional, and the first thing to stop working on a breezy corridor.

The honest summary: empty your saucers weekly, run a fan where you sit, and put mesh on the openings. Everything else is a garnish.

NEA's Mozzie Wipeout works, but only if somebody actually does it. Pick one fixed slot a week (Monday before work is ours) and run this list. It genuinely takes about ten minutes.

• Flip every flowerpot plate and scrub it. Eggs stick to the sides and survive dry spells, so wiping matters more than pouring.
• Change vase water and rinse the plant roots under a tap.
• Empty pails and watering cans, then store them upside down so they can't refill in the rain.
• Clear the balcony gully trap and sweep fallen leaves. Leaves cup rainwater beautifully; that's the first spot everyone forgets.
• Loosen hardened soil in potted plants so water soaks in instead of pooling on top. That's the second spot.
• Check the air-con drip tray if you have one.
• Going away? Cover the toilet bowl and floor traps, and ask a neighbour to do the plates.

Do this and you've stopped mosquitoes breeding inside your flat. The ones your block's construction site or your neighbour's balcony produces will still commute over, which is where a physical barrier on your windows earns its keep.

Haze season and cooking grease will slowly grey out any mesh. The whole point of a magnetic screen is that cleaning it takes five minutes and zero tools. Here's the routine; once or twice a year is plenty for most rooms.

1. Peel from a corner. Lift one corner and pull gently along the edge. Don't yank from the middle of the panel.
2. Rinse in the service yard. Cool water from a tap or shower head, back and front. For kitchen screens, add a drop of dish soap and a soft sponge. No brushes, no jet spray.
3. Shake and drip dry. Ten minutes over the floor trap is enough. Never sun-bake the panel; heat is harder on the mesh than dirt ever will be.
4. Wipe the frame strips on the window with a damp cloth while the panel dries. That's where the dust actually accumulates.
5. Snap it back on. Line up one corner and let the magnets find themselves. If it doesn't sit flush at the first try, peel and re-seat rather than dragging it.

Three don'ts: no washing machine, no bleach, no drying in direct afternoon sun. Any of the three shortens the mesh's life for no benefit.

If a panel has stopped gripping or the mesh has torn (pets, mostly), the frame strips usually survive; only the panel needs remaking.