Update - 5 Years Later - No BedBugs!
I hope I helped people through their bed bug infestation.
The things to keep in mind is this:
-Bedbugs most likely live in crevices of your mattress and box-spring. Not hiding across the room or on the ceiling. Although they can potentially live in the your baseboard.
-The way to get rid of bed bugs is to ensure the mattress AND the box-spring are in a zipper tight mattress cover.
-Put sticky tape around the feet of your bed posts to ensure that if they are living outside your bed (unlikely), that they can not climb up your bed post.
-Wash your sheets and pillows in the hottest setting and dry on the hottest setting.
-OR, you can use this as an excuse to get a nice pillow top mattress, box-spring, and bed frame. Get a king size and shop carefully as mattresses can get *heavily* marked up. The softer the pillow top, the better. Don't get springy. If you do this, you will still need to put sticky tape around the legs and keep them there for at least a year. This method would be the easiest if you are being psychologically scarred from bed bugs and want mental assurance there's no bugs in your bed. Also new sheets would be in order too. I recommend satin.
Even with a serious infestation in your house and bedroom, this will work. Don't let your covers touch the floor though.
The things to keep in mind is this:
-Bedbugs most likely live in crevices of your mattress and box-spring. Not hiding across the room or on the ceiling. Although they can potentially live in the your baseboard.
-The way to get rid of bed bugs is to ensure the mattress AND the box-spring are in a zipper tight mattress cover.
-Put sticky tape around the feet of your bed posts to ensure that if they are living outside your bed (unlikely), that they can not climb up your bed post.
-Wash your sheets and pillows in the hottest setting and dry on the hottest setting.
-OR, you can use this as an excuse to get a nice pillow top mattress, box-spring, and bed frame. Get a king size and shop carefully as mattresses can get *heavily* marked up. The softer the pillow top, the better. Don't get springy. If you do this, you will still need to put sticky tape around the legs and keep them there for at least a year. This method would be the easiest if you are being psychologically scarred from bed bugs and want mental assurance there's no bugs in your bed. Also new sheets would be in order too. I recommend satin.
Even with a serious infestation in your house and bedroom, this will work. Don't let your covers touch the floor though.
posted by Mike David at
2:04 AM
51 Comments:
Glad to hear you are still bed bug free 5 years down the road.
I like your practical yet inexpensive tips for keeping bed bugs at bay!
treatmentforbedbugs.com
By
talon, at 6:24 AM
Bed bugs are such a bad problem still, I firmly believe that we need to educate people more about them, the more people know the quicker and easier it will be to prevent full on infestations. http://bedbugslocalcontrol.blogspot.com/
More on bed bugs.
Darren@ essexpestandbirdcontrol.co.uk
By
DarrenEPB, at 7:12 AM
Bed bugs are quite sneaky little critters. I invested in some bed bug protection for my home. I find it that it will be easier to prevent bed bugs then deal with a full on infestation.
By
Blog, at 12:12 PM
Hi Mike,
We just moved to our new house 2 weeks ago from an apartment. The house is fully renovated and no one lived in it for about 7 months. It's been 4 days since I'm going ballistic over bed bugs. They love my daughter's blood! When I first noticed, I thought the rashes were from mosquito bites she got from playing outdoors. It was on the 2nd day of new rashes (morning itches) that I suspected a bug in her room. Since I never had bed bug issues before I didn't know what I was looking for. I looked through the gaps (baseboard) and asked my husband to spray insecticides. We vacuumed and shampooned the carpet but the "feeling of the problem is still there" never left me. On the 3rd night, I decided to change the sheets and when I was about to pull out the bed skirt -- there they were, a family of bedbugs! I immediately asked my husband (who was so engrossed watching the Bruins vs. Canucks) to come up immediately. We threw out the box spring after spraying on and crashing the bigger bugs. I spent the next few hours, inspecting the mattresses. We googled some solutions (we didn't have any idea of it will work or not) and ironed steam the carpet covering the bed, blow dried (high heat) the baseboard, and ironed the sheets on top of the mattress. We let our daughter sleep in our bed that night. Yesterday we got the covers for the mattresses and box spring. We put back the freshly washed sheets on a plastic covered mattresses. No bites last night. Then I came across your blog this morning -- thinking that we should be doing more. Somebody had suggested a bed bug expert (with a dog) but the cost will buy us new bedroom sets for the two rooms.
So where did we get it? We suspect that we got the bugs from a bedroom chair sold in a yard sale. My intention was to re-upholster it rather than buy a new one. It's a nice sturdy chair. What I didn't know was that the "itchiness" I had when we transported the chair to our apartment were from the bugs. I thought the itchiness was caused by some dusts in the seat cover.
I'm off to get the ammunitions you suggested and install them ASAP. We would be out of town this weekend to we will spray all over the house.
I will update you as to the progress of my war against these nastry creatures.
By
G-Mom, at 10:18 AM
Thank you for this positive comment. I really mean itm after 5 years you haven't got any of these pests. I just ordered 110 dollars of bedbugs powder. We got infested it has been 2 months ago.
By
n4ann, at 5:45 AM
What was the powder you purchased? Out of interest, hope it works for you
By
DarrenEPB, at 9:06 AM
Hate to be the bringer of bad news or to make people any more paranoid or what have you,but these things definitely hang out in more than just beds. I had an infestation a few months ago, was being bitten for a few weeks before I found one crawling on me in the middle of the night and instantly realized I had the classic breakfast lunch dinner patterns to a tee. Luckily (and probably as cause of the problem) I was living in a pretty rundown, youth hostel-type building at the time (cheap, got me through college) and was not partial to the building anyway, so I had no qualms about just informing the landlord (who already knew) and moving the next day. I threw nearly everything out, most clothes, books, etc, hot-washed and hot-dried the few clothes I deemed indispensable, and moved into my dad's house while I apartment hunted. Allow me to back up: I threw out and cleaned everything but my laptop and keyboard, which I had always used on my bed, at all times.
Of course, living at my dad's I was now bedbug free. I kept the laptop and keyboard sealed in a garbage bag for over a week, just in case. I did some research on bedbugs and laptops and electronics, and found a lot of people saying "bedbugs don't get into plastic things such as that/ can't survive the heat of a laptop" etc., basically, not to worry about electronics. So after almost 2 weeks, I pulled the laptop and keyboard out from quarantine, and used it in my bedroom. Turned out the lights, went to sleep.
Long story short, the bedbugs that hitched a ride in my laptop and or keyboard (I believe it was the keyboard) were quite. Hungry. After all those days being sealed up. The entire side of my neck was screaming with bites. I was humiliated at work "What is that!? Ew!!! A rare African disease you have!?" and of course, had to help my dad pay for all the exterminator fees, etc.
At any rate...keep this in mind, folks. Oh, and the other thing I learned...these bites can really be pretty damaging. It can be FAR worse than "Oh, just an irritating little bug bite, is all." For instance, I got one bite in my ear, which muffled my hearing for several days and had fluid collecting in my ear. Another near my eye, which rendered my eye blood shot and made my vision a little blurry. I think I may be allergic to their bites to a degree, to be fair, but really...I refer to them as nano-carnivores, or nano-vampires. They're really no joke at all, and it can be like being hunted by a poltergeist, or some such. Good luck to all.
By
Jason, at 10:01 PM
Hi Mike!
I have been bitten once 3 weeks back and since last week, I've got about 20 bites and my daughter got couple of bites too but my husband has been spared and has no bites at all.
Went to the doctor yesterday, he mentioned bedbugs but was not sure. After chatting with my colleague, I thought of inspecting the bedsheet that I had taken out for cleaning. Guess what, I spotted 1 trial that was pretty long and few brown spots here and there. So putting that sheet for cleaning in hot water, I checked my bed. My husband and I found 2 small places on the sheet covering box spring. Put that in hot water. Next we inspected our mattress and luckily no sign of bedbugs. Next we took out the box spring and we found 2 big ones running which we killed with RAID for ants and roaches out of panic. We found 3 places where eggs and small ones were hiding. Sprayed them with RAID. We sprayed the box spring with RAID on all sides.Not sure if it will help. But for now, we have moved to another bedroom. I was thinking of calling Terminix but after reading your blog, I am thinking of giving your approach a try. First thing in the morning, I am getting bed bug protection for mattresses and pillows for all beds.
By
Ncha, at 6:37 AM
What kind of sticky tape did you use? I would appreciate if you could respond asap to my note. Thanks!
By
Ncha, at 7:05 AM
I think people should be equally concerned about bed bugs living in the walls and in any cracks near a bed, not just the bed itself.
By
angelo, at 5:12 PM
Ncha and others... Please be aware that the bedbugs will follow you to another bedroom (or living room) or whatever room you choose to move to.One website I looked at said that moving rooms is the wrong thing to do (because they'll follow you.) That was my first mistake..
By
Charcoal, at 4:17 AM
Okay people ,
I am freaking terrified, horrified, mortified , and straight up disgusted by these piece of crap sneaky mother f***ers !!! I don't know where they came from ! My kids started getting bit and waking up every morning with huge welts all over their bodies especially my daughter! So I googlled it and found out the symptoms matched bed bugs! so I didn't know what to do I threw the beds away in the kids room and shampooed the whole house And bombed the room with raid bomb for bedbugs , in the mean time my kids started sleeping in my room on a separate bed from mine and not even a week later I have huge welts all over my body , so now I'm really freaking out because I have a nice new cal king bed and don't want to throw it out!!
I ended up covering all mattresses and calling an exterminator to spray, and washing everything over and over. This has been such a complete nightmare and I honestly feel like they're still here ! One more thing in all the flipping and throwing away of mattresses and even searching with flashlights in the night , not once did I actually see one of the SOBs!!!!
By
norah, at 3:40 AM
Wow...I feel for you, I carry out these treatments daily and know the distress they can cause.
You have checked everywhere yes? Furniture, wardrobes, around plug sockets, skirting boards, shelving, clothing, draws of untis.
Washed all clothing at him temp?
Sometimes they can be difficult to locate, other times not so, for instance I did an infestation last week where they were literally forming huge nests on the outside of the bed, I posted the video on tube, bed bugs infestation its called, by dalgroves10. Have a look at that and you will probably feel better about your own situation!
Good luck with it all.
Darren - essex pest and bird control
By
DarrenEPB, at 3:52 AM
Dr. Bed Bug™ is the world’s first travel size Micro Bed Bug Detector. It fits in the palm of your hand and is ideal for detecting bed bugs in theaters, airports, malls, hotels and other public venues.
By
Ad Lib Unlimited, at 2:04 PM
Help! I'm infested, on ssi, foodstamps and live in an apartment complex! The land.lord refuses to help and says its my fault. Im stuck on a lease for another 8 months. If I leave hell take my to court. If I stay I am doomed! I cant afford the mental toll I must endure. Exterminators refuse to aid for fear of slander (reputation) "if we are gonna do it its gonna be done the right way. We wont help you because it will make the infestation worse. Bascally if we help you we will push the bedbugs into other surrounding appartments. We cant afford to let thats happen it would ruin our reputation" rochester extermination. Problem is this statement is unanimous among pest control companies! NOW WHAT! isnt there a loophole? Im broker then a mallet with no head.
By
nannightvampiresammitch, at 10:15 PM
I just found out that I brought home bed bugs. Yuck! I have not had a good night's sleep in three days. The exterminator comes today, and I will be sure to employee the tactics you shared. Thanks so much.
By
Unknown, at 11:54 AM
BTW, I also saw this website posted on another blog: http://www.bugkill911.com/index.html
The videos were unsettling.
By
Unknown, at 11:56 AM
Bed bugs are one of the most irritating creatures on the planet. They are little insects that suck human blood for their survival. Though the commonly accepted is that they are too tiny to be seen, it's not entirely true. These insects often come to life in our homes at night, therefore making it all the more difficult for us to spot a bed bug infestation.
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By
Mishi, at 11:10 AM
You won the war?
You almost have.
All you need is to make traps.
You know CO2 attracts them, attract them into your bowls.
Use CO2 generators. It's not enough to become bedbug-free, you must become bedbug-proof.
CO2 bedbug traps are sentinels against reinfestation.
Inexpensive they are homemade. Less than 10$ of supplies will get rid of the bedbug nightmare.
Google video :
CO2 Bedbug Trap --- the Recipe
Good night, in a trap, bedbugs can't bite.
Le Trappeur
By
Le Trappeur, at 12:12 PM
When contacting a pest control agent that specializes in using canine inspection for bed bugs you first want to make sure that they are fully licensed and insured for the state you are located in. You may also want to ask for references. When dealing with pest control a lot of their customers, including you, may want to remain anonymous. If this is your case, ask if these bed bug experts are discreet in their service. Good, discreet pest control means that they show up in an unmarked vehicle and that they don't have any obvious uniforms on that advertise their service.
Bed Bug Dog
By
vance, at 5:37 AM
Beware of buying a new mattress. I think my infestation came when I had a new mattress delivered from Ikea. They offered to take away my old mattress at the same time.
My theory is someone before me had got the delivery guys to take away their old bedbug ridden mattress in the same truck as my new one was delivered in, allowing mine to be contaminated.
By
Northmoon, at 3:56 PM
nice blog!
By
unix rab, at 3:23 PM
Main thing you need to do is keep room clean, further details on our site :
Bed Bug Dogs
By
FIMS, at 5:39 AM
i think i picked them up from a hostel or either the eurorail and brought them back to my host family's home in paris. they don't understand the problem and i literally had to beg them to call an exterminator. i will definitely be going shopping for these do it yourself methods!!!!
By
laurabunny, at 4:37 AM
Bed bugs are very difficult to eradicate from your home. With the help of an experienced Pest Control Vancouver WA company, it will be much easier.
By
Unknown, at 11:59 AM
Mike, I love the site and wish there was one like it for the situation I am in.
I moved to Europe about a month ago. Before finding a permanent place, I spent a few nights in a hostel. On the day I was leaving, I found a bedbug in my room. Since I now had a room in university residence type deal, I didn't care, and hoped they hadn't gotten into my stuff.
Three weeks later...they're here.
I'm only in Europe for another 3 months. I have no vacuum (all tile floor in my place), and clothes that can't be washed in hot water (wool pants, sweaters, winter jacket, etc.) what I'm going to need as winter approaches.
You won the war on home turf. I have to win it on foreign soil.
By
dxmusick, at 8:20 PM
Check out www.bedbugslasher.com. It has suggestions on how to get rid of bed bugs at a bare minimum cost.
By
Bed Bug Slasher, at 12:03 PM
You can stop them through effective bed bug treatment pesticides, specially organic pesticides.
By
Ken, at 2:40 AM
How about exposing your pillow, mattress and sheets under the heat of the sun, do you think it will also eliminate those bed bugs by doing that? Is this ideal?
By
Val Patrick Danganan, at 9:35 PM
Wow...its like an advertising board here!? May as well point towards my website with videos of bed bugs that may be useful to some people, just go to the videos page on Essex Pest and Bird Control website!
essexpestandbirdcontrol.co.uk
By
DarrenEPB, at 9:34 AM
I suspect that I may have bed bugs but I can't afford a new mattress and box spring (at least not in the size I want). If I replaced the box spring with a new one and put my mattress in a mattress topper, would that hold them off for while?
By
Robert, at 10:24 PM
Robert bed bugs are not always confined to the bed frame and mattress so if you replace one or the other without treating the room it is likely it will just be re infested. They can also live in cracks, crevices, skirting boards, behind wallpaper, wardrobes. See my website for more information on them, it may be some help to you. There are some good things on there for bed bugs, bed bug info, videos ect.
essexpestandbirdcontrol.co.uk
By
DarrenEPB, at 6:30 AM
You must treat your bed Robert to fix your problem about bed bugs.. You can use organic pest control product so that, it will not harm your health. Try to visit my blog to help you further information http://organic-pestcontrol.blogspot.com/
By
Ken, at 4:44 AM
Thanks for your great post! Congrats on being bedbug free finally! Five years...that's a super long time. Why did it take so long> Did you try pest control? Thanks for the great advice. Look like I might be getting some new sheets soon.
By
Unknown, at 7:34 PM
Hey, I have a bed bug problem that I am taking on right now. I'd like to talk to you about this site if you can email me: "Mneubauer15@gmail.com"
By
Fire72, at 2:13 PM
Getting rid of bed bugs can always be done naturally or in a toxic-free manner. Find ways and information on how you can kill and get rid of bed bugs without imposing any harm to your health and the planet.
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By
bed bug, at 3:56 AM
Hi - so glad to hear you've beaten the bugs! We're battling bed bugs in my building at the moment, and I'm trying to collect stories from people in the same boat...
Would you be interested in sharing your story, both to help me and help my new website www.bedbugsbiteme.com ?
I'd be really grateful if you would! Thanks! My email address is on the site.
By
Blogger, at 9:57 AM
Thanks for informations. Here in Montreal, we've got lot's of problems with the bugs... I've found this site with lots of informations: How to get rid of bedbugs I'm now free of bedbug to but i Still check my matress every month. Good Luck!
By
James, at 2:18 PM
Its good to see so many people succeeding in their fight with bed bugs, this is a pest that is on the increase world wide not to mention here in London, we are carrying out more and more treatments every month, I am sure we will win the battle though.
By
DarrenEPB, at 7:54 AM
<a href="http://www.essexpestandbirdcontrol.co.uk/pest-control-videos" title="Bed Bug Pest Control Videos</a>
By
DarrenEPB, at 8:20 AM
hey im glad i came onto this site - i vacated my apartment two days ago because the bed bug situation because crazy - my roomate is immune so she thinks im nuts- its very hard to even get anything from my apartment because they come on to me so quickly. i just went to my place and i was there for literally 5 minutes - i took my bathroom materials in a plastic bag and my laptop wire threw them in my friends trunk ran to the washroom and used and soap and water to clean everything. now i feel them crawlign up my legs. i was in my apartment for literally 5 seconds. can they get you that quickly? i threw out the plastic bags incase they were infested. i noticed also that they dont come out of your pants. i put my pants in the dryer for abt 2 and half hours and they still itch. my shirts however are fine. and socks are hard to get rid of too. should i put my pants in for 4 hours? i only have one pair of pants i bought last night. i cant keep buying pants for 2 days and throw them out : ( please help me out u can also email me at ro88i411@gmail.com - thanks Robbi
By
robbi style, at 7:53 PM
can bed bugs jump on you and get to you within 5 seconds? i literally ran out of my infested apartment was there or abt 5 seconds to grab a few things and now my arm and legs are itching. also - they never come out of my pants. i put them in the dryer for 2 and half hours and they still itch. i threw away all my pants. my shirts survived tho. thisis driving me crazy. ive been sleeping every other night in different places. i had to vacate my apartment. ro88i411@gmail.com
By
robbi style, at 7:54 PM
is there anyway u can kill them on your body? i washed my legs for 2 hours one night and they kept reappearing. it was anightmare. i was in my tub and about 50 pieces of exoskeletons appeared on the surface.
By
robbi style, at 8:18 PM
Love the site. Glad you won the war! Have you heard about an application for iOS devices called "Bed Bug Locator" - a GPS-enabled mobile tap into the Bed Bug Registry that allows users to read and submit reports right from their iPhone. I am writing you to invite you to check out the app- I'd love to hear your opinion.
Bed Bug Locator for iOS
View in App Store
By
HardAndrea, at 3:44 PM
HellO. I having a bed bug issue also.. my friend has them at her home which I frequently visited..now there in my home2. I get frequent bites, but no sight of the bedbugs! GGgrrrrRRR!! I'm sooo frustrateddd because I have a phobia of insects!! I recently used a defogger..didn't work.. next I'm goin to defog again.. strip my bed down , spray & cover the matress with a plastic cover. I'm soo afraid that I'm going to sleep with the lights on2night and set my alarm for 5 am. So that I can possibly catch them in action! I need help! Single mom 23 yr old 1 child 1 dog... what can I buy thas cheap nd will surely wrk? I see posts saying u have 2 identify them first. Well I don't see. Them.don't kno wheretheir hiding.. its only been a wk going thru this... I nEEEDDDD to get rid of this problem asap!!!! Can someone help give me advice?... what can I use that will cover my entire apartment but cheap. I'm young and not cashy for exterminator nor bed bug dog.. etc *tear* I sat and cried tonight bcuz I'm afraid to go to sleep. Its now 1240am nd I have to wake up for 7am.. i m paranoid!!! & running up my light bill2! :(
By
YoUNG& independent, at 12:42 AM
Bed bugs have gotten bad! I've been reading a lot of material from http://www.pestmanagementinc.com material on bed bugs. You should check it out.Bed Bugs Dallas
By
parlie anderson, at 2:26 AM
nice kind of information and tips for the prevention of the cause.
to stay safe although its quite expensive but it is great too so everyone should try this way to stay safe from bed bugs.
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By
Michael Kohlmann, at 1:07 AM
Bed bugs are our enemies at home and its bites may get us sleepless at night. With this post, it gives you more ideas on how to exterminate those pests. Thanks.
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By
siryoz0, at 10:15 PM
There's a mattress encasement on Groupon right now that seems like a good value. Do you have any thoughts on it? http://www.groupon.com/deals/canadian-down-feather-ny?c=dnb&p=3
By
navine, at 7:09 AM
Congratulations on winning the war. My wife and I never had bed bugs until we moved into 85 Wellesley St. E and we discovered these critters on Jan 17, 2012 and signed an authorization for fumigation but the landlord (Wynn Group of Companies) ignored it completely. I started spraying myself and had to dispose our entire bed including frame. I started a bed bug blog too just today and posted my picks of my box spring. visit http://bedbugsintoronto.blogspot.com and feel free to leave comments as well.
I not only have the war of bed bugs under way but a war with Wynn Group of Companies.
Thanks for your articles as they are very helpful
By
Toronto Bed Bug Issues, at 4:54 PM
I'm dealing with the same thing!!! Call the health department! They will get cited and they are responsible when there are more than 3 apt. In a building. I refuse to pay my rent until the problem is resolved!!!
By
melissa, at 9:37 AM
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