Bedbugs. Any Suggestions?

[pressbox69]

I mean that will not cost a ton of money. They are driving me crazy.

[TexasBushwhacker]

1. Steamer

The kind with a narrow nozzle so you can shoot steam into seams and crevices. Good luck.

[Downtown Hound]

4. I went through several of those during my infestation

They cut down on the population, but they don't get rid of them. Every time I steam cleaned, there would be a brief pause in getting eaten alive every night, but it would always start up again. They are good for managing bed bugs. But they're not good at eliminating them.

[Downtown Hound]

2. Sorry to break it to you, but you're fucked

I battled a bed bug infestation about nine years ago. I tried everything. Mattress covers, steam cleaners, bed bug spray, the traps you put on the legs of your bed frame that supposedly keeps them from climbing up to you (they don't work, the bugs just crawl up the wall, onto the ceiling and drop right on you), and finally, a $2000 professional heat treatment.

NONE OF IT WORKED.

I finally got rid of them by tenting my house and having it fumigated. That worked. But as you guessed, it's expensive. Fortunately I got a good deal on it and it was only $1500. Not cheap but surprisingly cheaper than the heat treatment. But that was a special offer and fumigation is often much more than that.

Wish I had better news. But I wasted a lot of time and money trying to get rid of them on the cheap like you're trying to do, and I really wish someone had just told me the straight up truth from the beginning, fumigation is the only true surefire way to get rid of them.

Just save yourself the trouble and wasted money and fumigate your house. In my battle with bed bugs, I probably ended up spending close to $10,000 and suffered through a lot of awful shit, whereas if I'd just forked over the money for the fumigation right away I would only have spent $1500 and been rid of them much quicker. To quote Ellen Ripley, "It's the only way be sure."

Good luck.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

7. Thanks for sharing your story!

I've never had them, thankfully!

Now I'm even less likely to stay in hotels, even when this pandemic is finally over.

[SheltieLover]

14. It's not just hotels

Movie theaters are #1, from what I've read.

Not that any of us are going there these days.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

15. I've been avoiding them for years too.

Thanks for that info. I was given a cinema gift card in 2012 for winning a trivia contest at a company picnic, and that's the last time that I went to any theater.

Drive-ins are still an option!

[SheltieLover]

17. I've not been in years either

I miss going to the movies.

But not worth covid or bugs.

Trying to recall some of the other places that were mentioned ij thar article. Maybe restaurants? I'll try to look for it. I recall it was a local Memphis article.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

18. Pretty much any place with carpeting, bedding...

... and upholstery makes me leery.

[SheltieLover]

20. Just found this one

Although, it only addresses ride sharing.

But then, public transportation, too.

Anywhere humans are where there is upholstry or carpeting I think.

https://www.localmemphis.com/mobile/article/news/nation-world/can-you-get-bed-bugs-from-ridesharing/522-5463e005-960d-475f-bd0e-bc12fa7ad025

[Buckeye_Democrat]

21. Thank you!

[SheltieLover]

23. Yw!

Awful stuff for sure.

And difficult for people because we are herd mammals. Yet, nature seems to be telling us repeatedly to stay away from others.

[PJMcK]

9. Ripley: Nuke 'em from orbit. (n/t)

[lapfog_1]

3. new mattress and sheets

gel foam

wash all your clothes

throw away blankets and any bed coverings

sorry

[Downtown Hound]

6. Bed bugs don't just nest in your bed, as I learned.

They can be anywhere. Getting rid of your bed won't get rid of them.

[Delmette2.0]

22. This is what I had to do.

Get all new furniture. Bed, night stands, dresser.

Pull off the baseboards, spray. Replace with new wood. Don't forget behind light switches and wall scockets.

Thankfully no carpet, but hands and knees scrubbed the floor. Throw away clothes that were worn for this or wash and dry on hot.

The closets and contents all need cleaning

Drapes, curtains, blinds. Do not trust anything.

I learned that they can move from floor to floor.

[LiberalArkie]

25. Since I have fleas at times, I started a long time ago nuking the entire house. 1 flea, tick, bedbug

bomb in each room in the house. Every place 1 bomb in the laundry. Sheets and bedding in the laundry room with a load washing and 1 drying. Small 600sq ft house I used way too many, but the fleas, ticks and bedbugs were gone for about 6 months.

[left-of-center2012]

5. JT Eaton 'Kill Bedbugs Plus' aerosol

Bedbugsupply.com
They ship FedEx UPS or USPS and in a non-discreet packaging. The above link is the cheapest place I found online.

Kills bugs and eggs on contact and residual kills up to 12 weeks.

I used it to get rid of a problem.
Google it and read the reviews. The above link is the cheapest place I found to get it with free shipping, around $14 per can. One can more than did my bedroom.

A similar product 'bedlam plus' (?) Also works well but the residual killing is only for about four weeks.

Also of course laundry sheets etc

[Kahuna]

8. I had an infestation in 2017...

Last edited Sat Jan 16, 2021, 05:52 AM - Edit history (3)

I lived in a 4 room apartment and after trying many solutions I finally found the items below on Amazon. The spray I bought at Home Depot didn't work. I ended up going through 3 or 4 gallons of the Amazon spray before they were eliminated. I also bought some vacuum bags and put my clothing and linens in the bags and left them in the bags for a month to deprive them of oxygen even for the eggs yet to hatch. While the clothing and linens were bagged, I vacuumed the closets, sprayed then put the powder around the edges. I emptied my dressers and sprayed them down. Then I treated the drawers with the powder.

Also frequent vacuuming and leave the powder linked below in the vacuum cleaner to kill any bugs and eggs on contact. But most importantly, empty the vacuum outside and dispose of the contents. If I had done this sooner I could have contained them much sooner. I put the powder into the crevices of my upholstered furniture which luckily is leather so it was easy to clean up the residue.

I heard of a steamer after I got rid of them. Maybe you can research that.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011S1GYZO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BRJWWY4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[LSFL]

10. Burn it. Burn it all.

Jk. We used a combination of all the methods mentioned above. Steam and pesticide seemed to be most effective. As desperation set in, we progressed to unrecommended levels of pesticide. Diametrious earth (sp?) seemed to be effective as we got the infestation under control. It also worked as flea treatment for our pets.

[judesedit]

11. Food grade diatomaceous earth

Research it. Great stuff has many uses

[voteearlyvoteoften]

13. Came here to suggest DE powder

Cheap and effective. Also vacuum and declutter.

[Duppers]

16. THIS ⬆ + Permethrin spray

You can find the Permethrin spray at your local drugstore, most likely. (Ours carry small cans of it.)

I don't advise breathing the fumes, so after you spray, leave the room for a day, then wrap your mattresses in plastic.

Wash all bedding in very hot water & buy new pillows.

Good luck.

[torius]

12. There are things called

bed bug heaters that you can put your belongings into. I’ve never used one. They would only help with otems that fit in them, such as clothing, not things like furniture or mattresses.

[hlthe2b]

19. I for years have backed everything I traveled with and left for days in direct sun during the summer

in the back of my car. Bag up items and even my luggage and literally don't remove them from the car once home for several days. Of course, I had a bedbug inspection kit to search mattresses and bedding in hotels prior and my luggage never touched the carpeting or furniture but rather remained on the tile in the bathroom. Carried a flashlight and plastic garbage bags with me, in case an item might have inadvertently come in contact with areas possibly contaminated. I never let anything I'd traveled with come back into the house until it had been so "treated" unless it was something inert (laptop).

Now, I essentially do the same with my work clothes (HCW) for COVID, though they go directly into the laundry instead.

People have no idea the devastation and near (but not total) impossibility of getting rid of bedbugs until they "take a chance" and end up infested.

To the OP: If you do hire professionals but opt for cheaper measures than the full premise fumigation, then you might inquire whether they have trained dogs to inspect afterward. Specially trained beagles have been found to be very accurate in detecting even the lowest level infestation.

I wish you the best of luck and you have my empathy.

[area51]

26. I used Bedlam Plus (mentioned by a poster upthread)

and it worked very well.

[pressbox69]

27. Thank you all

for your very thoughtful advice.