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Containing Bed Bugs
Septus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I've had several nights of successive small red bits appearing on my body, two or three spots of which are small clusters or lines. I've not yet done a search for live bugs, and I'm going to put some vaseline on my bed frame legs tonight, but in the meantime, I want to know how to avoid their spread.
I tend to switch nights at my place or my girlfriend's apartment, and I can't think of whether all the bites have come from one place or the other. However, until I can identify them, what can I do to prevent spreading them?
Both of us just take small bags over to the other's apartment each night. It seems that standard washing and drying will do the trick for clothes, so we could do that for clothes, put our backpacks in the dryer as well, and then keep them somewhere separate. Will we have to go get plastic sealed bags, or are there certain surfaces/areas that we could stow the clothes and bags?
I'll need to check my girlfriend's mattress as well, but hers is on the floor, so I can use bed frame legs to check. Do I have any other option other than looking really carefully? She hasn't reported any bites, so I don't know if that's a good sign, or does not indicate anything.
I tend to switch nights at my place or my girlfriend's apartment, and I can't think of whether all the bites have come from one place or the other. However, until I can identify them, what can I do to prevent spreading them?
Both of us just take small bags over to the other's apartment each night. It seems that standard washing and drying will do the trick for clothes, so we could do that for clothes, put our backpacks in the dryer as well, and then keep them somewhere separate. Will we have to go get plastic sealed bags, or are there certain surfaces/areas that we could stow the clothes and bags?
I'll need to check my girlfriend's mattress as well, but hers is on the floor, so I can use bed frame legs to check. Do I have any other option other than looking really carefully? She hasn't reported any bites, so I don't know if that's a good sign, or does not indicate anything.
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I had bedbugs last year and they are a HASSLE. I tried lots of DIY remedies, and ended up calling exterminators anyway. they say don't spray that Hot Shot stuff (poison) unless you pretty much do the entire infested area. They are tough little buggers and apparently that will just shoo them into other rooms.
I would also suggest that you and your GF stay at your respective apartments until it gets taken care of, otherwise they will spread to whichever apartment they aren't already in.
Of course, she was planning on moving in with me at the end of the month, so if it's my place, then her stuff would be "infected" anyway, and if it's her place...well I guess we'd want to exterminate that as best as possible before bringing it to mine.
I recommend picking up some diatomaceous earth, either online or at an eco-friendly store. It works in a physical instead of a chemical manner (think dehydration, shredding) and the bugs can't develop an immunity to it.
As a precaution I lined the outside of the door and walls of my own room and put it on the legs of my bedframe; you could do the same thing here.
(Don't inhale the dust though; though it's non-toxic it's probably not too good for your lungs.)
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fun fact! Bedbugs can live at least 6 months with no sustenance (we tested this - caught one of the suckers and kept it in a ziploc bag until it died.)
If you really want to go for the granola option, start collecting house centipedes. I've heard that they are supposed to be a natural predator of bedbugs.
Best of luck with it.
I don't sleep over anymore, and I won't until he can finally get his landlord to cooperate and exterminate them for good. He puts his things in a plastic tub when he comes over. So far no new bites.
I had a small infestation myself a awhile back- unrelated to his entirely. I washed every fabric thing I owned and lived out of sealed plastic tubs and ziploc baggies for a good three months. I also bought a mattress cover and ironed my curtains. I put a fine layer of DE around my bed (anywhere the cat could conceivably get to) and in my bedframe where that cat could not go I sprayed poison.
I never saw their poops and I only saw bloodstains where I had deliberately squished one. I did find a nest though, they were on my suitcase- I had evidently brought them home from a trip to puerto rico. I bagged the whole thing in a double layer of plastic garbage bags and threw the sucker out. Now I have a hard shell suitcase and I am never going back, even if it is a pain in the ass to pack.
I have been bedbug free for just over a year now. Kill those little bitey shits! Oh, I hate them.
I got rid of an infestation last summer using diatomaceous earth and a mattress cover. Actually, I have covers on my pillows, on my mattress, and on my box spring, but in the case of the box spring, it looks like it wasn't infested, because the vinyl cover I used for that ripped within a few days, and despite that, I haven't found one bed bug bite on my body since I put on the mattress cover.
Actually, bed bugs and their eggs can survive without any sustenance for up to 12 months, so after you put on the covers, leave them on for at least 18 months, to be sure (and immediately wash your bedsheets, pillowcases, and bedclothes, in hot water, as that should kill any bugs or eggs left on there. Leave some diatomaceous earth around the legs of your bed for a few months (I would also spray some on the wall(s) where your bed comes close, in case they can crawl up the wall and onto your mattress.
If your building is infested, the diatomaceous earth will prevent the bugs from getting back into your bed, but your landlord might still need to get involved if the other tenants also have them.
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Look around the edges of mattresses, box springs, and frames with a flash light. They usually gather in clusters but you might see a straggler or two. Alcohol will kill them but it might scare some of them off. Even if you find them it's not worth chancing spreading them by sleeping in a different area. They make traps that use CO2 I believe. I think you can also use dry Ice and craft your own. They're attracted to it and the may end up there. Just a way to see if you have them.
I had trouble with my landlord over after I let them know I had them. I wanted to have them check other apartments to see if me having them exterminated in my unit would be in vain. They pretty much refused. I called the health department and a nice inspector came out and spoke with my neighbors and got permission to inspect their apartments. The unit next to me turned out to have them in a real bad way.
He called my landlord and let them know that the law stated that because it was a dwelling with at least four units and more than one was infested they had to get exterminators in there.
Find out if you have them and take all the precautions people mentioned. Washing and Drying with heat. Seal pretty much everything up for a year or two. Diatomaceous Earth is definitely something you will want to look in, but only after talking to an exterminator. They may not want to spray if you've laid that around and they also may not want to be liable for anything. Almost a year after my problem and I still use it, though.
If you do have them make sure you let your landlord know and educate yourself on what is required of them. If it turns out you're the only one with them you'll have to bite the bullet. If others have them you might be in the clear in terms of paying for exterminators.
Good luck either way. If you have them you're in it for a while. They're nasty little buggers.
If I do have an infestation, is there anything I could even do about them getting into my sofa and padded chair, other than throwing them out entirely? They're across the apartment now.
i don't react to their bites either, so i probably didn't notice until the infestation had gotten pretty bad. It was VERY obvious what the issue was in my case, but if yours are a small enough colony they might be hiding well or something.
I would definitely look into free inspections from a reputable exterminator like Frenchenstein suggested. Unless you spend a lot of time sleeping on your sofa and chair they should be fine with an exterminators help. After they finish up you could always look into getting your hands on a non-vapor hand steamer and use that on your furniture. Not really necessary but it does kill them and their eggs easily.
At this point finding out if you have them is the most important thing.