In most cases, no. At least not as a sole treatment plan.
I feel pretty strongly about this. We just heard from Nero, an intelligent and enthusiastic Bedbugger in NYC, in the “Son of Share your tales of bed bug woe” thread, and it sounds like Nero’s planning to do the family’s pest control. I posted about this in the comments there, but I am writing a new FAQ about it because I think people need to see this.
I would not want people coming here to think that we’re encouraging anyone to do their own pest control as the primary treatment plan for bed bugs. A few people have talked about doing so here (including BuggedinBrooklyn– who is working with a company that cleans for bed bugs, but is basically the only one applying pesticides) but I don’t think I know of anyone doing so as their primary option who is not experienced with pesticides (usually from a work-related experience).
Others here have supplemented the work of a professional, and many feel this is a good idea (some PCOs like Pest Away in NYC apparently give you a bottle of something you need to spray as part of the treatment plan). One or two Bedbuggers have frankly had to supplement the work of professionals who did not know what they were doing. You might say “get another PCO.” Well, yeah! But tenants are often at the mercy of landlord’s PCO choices. One person here lives near Yellowstone Park and none of the PCOs there apparently have seen a bed bug, and did not know anything about them. But these are exceptions, not the rule.
Everyone here should start with a licensed PCO who can detail their extensive experience with bed bugs. If the bed bugs are not gone in two weeks, you insist the PCO comes back. (And usually they are not gone in two weeks: the eggs hatch within 10-14 days of spraying, and you are suddenly running a bed bug baby nursery!) You repeat this process every two weeks until they are gone. In most case, at least a few follow ups within a certain time frame should be included in the original price– if they’re not, try to choose someone else from the start. But don’t assume the PCO is bad f you’re itching 2 weeks after treatment; this is not unusual and is not a sign that you’ve got a bad PCO. I can’t emphasize that enough. But they should come back in 2 weeks (not longer). And things should be improving from day one.
You should also ask your experienced PCO what you should do as far as preparing for treatment and supporting it (with vacuuming or not, spraying something or not). If you are working with someone good, and until you have had 2-3 treatments and still have bed bugs, or don’t see a significant reduction in them, I’d still assume it was someone good, do what they say.
Don’t freestyle with supplmental treatment: if you hear someone else on Bedbugger is vacuuming every day, don’t jump in and do that. Why? Your PCO may be using something that needs to stay down on the ground, for example. You may be sabotaging your PCO’s work! Similarly, don’t start spraying stuff you hear others use; your PCO may be using something that counterindicates it. You may even be using something with repellent properties, for example, when your PCO is using something to kill bugs when they’re drawn towards you. It won’t work, right?
I know there are bad PCOs (as PCO Sean will remind us, more often there are bad employees at good PCOs) out there, and you will hear complaints from some Bedbuggers about same. But please do not assume you can or should do this yourself. Most of us will be much better served with a professional. And a good PCO will be thrilled you’re willing to go the extra mile of de-cluttering, washing and bagging all clothes, and other steps. They may want you to spray something between visits. But do not assume you know more than a professional– even someone who’s not a bed bug-killing star probably knows a lot and has seen a lot more than you.
If you have a really good reason to do your own pest control (see above), and do decide to take matters into your own hands, please do a ton of research, ask people a lot of questions, buy a respirator (not goggles or a face mask, but a respirator mask). Read and follow directions diligently.
But I feel quite strongly that nobody should start this way. Nero, our young friend, living in NYC, absolutely should not.
- You can harm yourself, others, and pets.
- You can spread bugs to others in your building — and then they will come back, rendering your work pointless. (Never, ever use a bug bomb to treat bed bugs!)
- You can spend a lot of money but the problem can get bigger and harder to get rid of. Meaning, in the end, you saved nothing, and are suffering much longer.
- If you’re a renter, in most places your landlord is required to pay for and obtain a PCO.
If hiring a licensed, experienced PCO is a barrier because of money, remember:
- If you’re a tenant, your landlord probably is liable to pay for a PCO. They may deny that. Find out your local laws (start with our FAQ on that, and remember to let us know if you discover your local laws on this!)
- If you own your home, or rent in some locality where you’re sure the landlord is not liable for this (and you should get this verified by a city official, not from the landlord’s mouth or a friend), then this will be expensive. Make no mistake. However, it will be more expensive if you do not get rid of it fast: you will lose more stuff. You can spread it around your home or to neighboring units (in a condo building). This will make it infinitely more expensive.
- If you’re liable to pay, you may balk at putting a $400 or more for a PCO visit (or even 3 or four of same) on a credit card you can’t afford, but trust me, if they get into all your furniture, your car, your workplace and so on, you will pay much more both financially (in PCOs and in lost objects) and emotionally. I realize I am assuming that if you have a home, you have a credit card, but in most cases this is true. If not, maybe you have a close friend or relative who can step in and help. This is akin to getting help with a health-related expense, because this can wreck your mental health, affect your job and relationships. You can even become physically ill from allergies to bites or from lack of sleep and stress.
- Cutting corners with PCOs is as dangerous as going it alone (maybe worse). If the PCO wants $60-100 a visit, especially in NYC, you should guess they are not licensed and are definitely not going to get rid of bed bugs. (We heard one case like this on the yahoo group.) Choose someone with a reputation for killing bed bugs. (If your landlord hires someone unlicensed to do pest control, in NYC at least, they’re breaking the law.)
As always, I welcome discussion, and dissent!
But I feel pretty strongly about this, and I definitely don’t want people to stumble in here and think we’re encouaging them to do their own pest control as a sole tactic against bed bugs. In most cases, it’s not a great idea. In some, it’s a terrible plan. Even as a supplement, know what you’re doing: make sure what you’re doing does not conflict with your PCO’s strategy.
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oh i should prolly add that while the bites fit the profile to a “t”, i cannot find ANY evidence of the bugs themselves. no droppings, no blood, no sheddings.
am i just being paranoid (please say yes)?
ew-icky,
You need to determine whether you actually have bed bugs and THEN work out how to deal with it, IMHO. There’s a faq on finding a sample. This can be hard if you have few bed bugs (which may be the case) but you need to learn to search for them and do so until you can confirm them.
If money were not an issue, a bed bug dog would be a big help, but unfortunately, this can cost hundreds of dollars.
I suggest going to the forums where you’ll likely get additional perspectives:
http://bedbugger.com/forum/
please email with some product names that may help me to control bed bugs…
Between the kids,pets, & hubby ,i barely afford
to breath every 2 weeks.(happy hour )
Thanks,
Joella
joella,
I would not advise against Doing It Yourself (DIY) if I thought that getting rid of a bed bug infestation was as easy as dealing with other home problems like cockroaches, flies, or a broken toilet.
Please read this FAQ again — I do not personally have advice on do-it-yourself sprays.
If you live in rented accommodation, it is worth finding out if your landlord is liable for treatment. You have the best chance of success with a knowledgeable professional doing the bed bug killing. (And if neighbors are infested, whether or not you or they know it, this can keep your DIY program from being successful, per the FAQ above.)
If you must do self-treatment, it will take research, persistent treatment, thoroughness and some good tools. It is possible to do a lot with dry vapor steam and some of the references in our links section (such as the Australian Code of Practice and the Armed Forces guide to bed bugs). It’s important to take precautions when doing so so please read the FAQ and do your research.
Treatment of clothing and other items using a hot washer and dryer would also be necessary. And if it were to have a chance of being successful, you would likely have to steam your home and furniture repeatedly in a strategic fashion. Even then, this may not be enough.
I suggest going to the forums where you’ll likely get additional perspectives:
http://bedbugger.com/forum/
Sup…..I’m 13 and I have bedbugs. My whole family is P.O.’ed since every night we bet at least 2 bites. We already got a steamer and wanna know more about Drione Dust and if it affects allergenics if we need to stay outta the house (if so, how long???). Also, HOW DO YOU TELL MOSQUITO BITES FROM BEDBUG BITES?!?!? I have no idea how to tell them abart. My mom looks at them for hours and can’t tell them apart.I go outside and play Football, Baseball, and my High School Marching Band so I get bit a lot. HELP MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
Sleepstight,
Thanks for your message. I am sorry, I can’t advise you on how best to use pesticides. Even steam must be used with caution to avoid mold and other problems.
Pesticides can cause problems for some people and as the FAQ above explains, the best idea (if possible) is to have bed bugs treated by a professional with experience killing bed bugs. If you are renting, in some places, the cost may be covered by the landlord.
It is not really possible to be sure you have bed bug bites based on the appearance or feeling. (Most who have known they were bitten by bed bugs did feel they could distinguish them, but that’s another story.)
Do you know for sure that you have bed bugs? Have you had one identified? I encourage you to have your parents come to our forums if they would like to learn more about bed bugs: http://bedbugger.com/forum/
Oh darn….I thought you could tell em apart….guess not… but Ya, I’ve seen a few bedbugs, alive and dead in my house. My sis spent hours into the night on this website researching bedbugs…learned alot of new things from here. My dad already got the drione dust today and I didn’t even know about it. can you give me a website concerning drione dust?
please i need help i cannot sleep because of bed bugs same as kids always checking day and night if those little devils are there please help any budy there who can help
Sleepstight, sorry I missed your message about Drione. We don’t have information on that. But you can google “MSDS drione” and should get the safety information.
–
merlies,
If you have bed bugs you will probably need a knowledgeable professional to help get rid of them.
You will find support from people who understand what you’re going through in our forums. Please click this link and post there: http://bedbugger.com/forum/
You know, this “get a PCO”, “use pesticides” business makes me very unhappy.
I have pets, and I am chemically sensitive. Sure, the pesticides will kill bedbugs, but what use is that if I’m broke and too sick to work because of pesticide poisoning?
There has to be better. When termites can be treated naturally, why can’t bedbugs?
Ravan,
You have other options. Thermal treatment is good, and dry vapor steam coupled with dust is labor intensive (must be repeated) but can work. Good PCOs do work with people who are chemically sensitive, often using steam and other methods.
If you actually read the post above, it is advising people not to spray their own pesticides (a much more likely source of medical problems than having someone who knows what they’re doing treat, via any methods).
Check out my response to your other comment here:
http://bedbugger.com/2006/11/25/dont-think-you-can-fight-bed-bugs-without-pesticides/#comment-14027
So… I guess this is where I’m going to cut in and share my bed bug story, along with the progress I am at right now with it all.
*big long sigh, checks the ground to see if anything is attacking her mid day*
So… Basically I found this beautiful 2 bedroom apartment, I thought I had lucked out. Yay starting my 3rd year of university with a quick way to get there and a beautiful spacious apartment to study in.. So I thought…
I was living in my new apartment, with even a damn mattress on the ground, nothing… Untl perhaps, 3 months in I started getting these itchy little welts.. I had no idea what it could be… new detergent? mold? what the hell am I allergic to? Ingrown hair on my toe? I dont think so…
So this kept on, it wasn’t annoying or constant enough to really clue in yet, but I was getting 5 bites a month on average..
I started going on the internet, wondering if maybe I could google my worries away.
I saw that bed bugs give these welt like symptoms, but I had never ’seen’ one so where could the harm be?
This went on all summer, til about.. around 3 weeks ago.. I was just putting my crumby plate of the most amazing cheesecake on the ground beside my bed.. yes.. I eat in bed… sometimes.. but the bugs dont like my cheesecake, I know this.
I saw a little spec on the ground, and with me being my *smacks her leg, god dammit what was that, that better not be a bed bug in my damn pants*, anyway that spec on the ground, Im a little obsessive compulsive, and I was like ew, I gotta give this place a clean…. but then… it moved. I launched out of the bed, smacked the light on and took a squat right near it so I could see it better. It was a little flat mofo, brownish red.. yah basically if your on this page, you all know what a bed bug looks like.. My worst nightmare had come true, I have those creepy little bastards coming in my bed and getting me in my most vulnerable, comfortable, self relieved state.
So now what I do?
I go on a bloody rampage, I took that mofo, stuck him in a journal with tape so I had some proof. And took my room apart. I started cleaning vigorously.. took the sheets off my bed to examine my beautiful new memory foam mattress…. there are little pepper specks on it, not moving… nothign really moving whatsoever, but I did find a 2 sheddings from their shell… it must be… unless someones been picking their old scabs and sticking them under my sheets.
Great great.. So this is all my evidence? one live one and a few little scraps? Then I move my dresser, start bagging up all my clothes and washing them in boiling water, only to rebag them in new bags and stick them at the front of my apartment away from those mofos.
When I moved my dresser, I found great.. one DEAD one.. one big FAT dead one… he was a good size.. missing his legs.. been decomposing for a while no?
Stupid jerks!
SO I take everything apart, and I know I should not have done this. but since my bed was apart, I had to sleep on the couch. and there was nothing, no bites for 5 days, not even after… but when I awoke that morning.. around noon because I had been up to 4 trying to fend them off my boyfriend just incase – I saw one, sitting in the corner behind my TV, the biggest one Id seen yet… and he was live, and trying to ram his fat arse into a crack in the wall. NOOOOOOOO THEY ARE FOLLOWING ME ! BLast it!
SO this is where the phone call comes to the land lord, pest place and all.
And this is where I am now.. I had the place sprayed last week, the guy came in and inspected my place at the same time and gave me a detailed report – because Im a bug creep and I asked him to- and he found absolutely no live bed bug activity. he sprayed, flushed, and inspected. He said all he found was some old shit they had left on the runners of my bed as a thankyou for my amazing, vitamin-rich blood. How caring of them.
So where do I go now? Basically the guy is coming tomorrow, I havent been really living in this place since the first spray, I come during the day, hang out and sleep at my boyfriends.. however we are going to sleep here tonight…. I know I know.. I should stay in the same room, the bed and wait for them…. but It is way too much for my poor mind to handle.
I havent seen any, and what I think could be little nymphs, are dead.. and full of blood, they have really hard circular body and its blood red and thehy have antennas and 6 legs.. meets the description.. but I dont know if they are bed bugs, unless that is them full of blood and dead.
*checks the ground for about 30 seconds*
So anyway..
He’s coming tomorrow to spray my place, and the apartments above and below me.. ALl i want to do is put my house back together… Could it be that they arent even breeding and living in my place, but coming down from the messy cluttery guy upstairs who keeps his apartment nice and hot? I would like to think its not me, but I know these mofos can hide like no other and you wouldn’t suspect a thing. He’s getting his place sprayed… and I hope they tell me that they found an infestation in his place, cause there would be -if one – a very small one in my place from the amount of bites and evidence.. but then again.. you never know….
wish me
LUCK
Hi Jannavieve,
I responded to your other comment. I encourage you to come to the forums also, for more support and info.:
http://bedbugger.com/forum/
So, I’ve been reading a lot on this website and it is very helpful. I understand that most people are against self-treatment but here is my problem. Before x-mas, I started itching. I thought I had dry skin, and bought some cream which I applied regularly. When I went away for x-mas, the itching stopped. However, upon my return 10 days later, it started again and after examing my legs, I saw what looked like 5-6 little zits in clusters of 2-3 on my legs. These bites tend to itch about 2 days after they appear. After some internet research, I realized that I have bed bugs. I have been getting about 4-6 bits a night. My husband, that lucky devil, either isn’t getting bites or doesn’t react. My husband thinks we can treat this ourselves, but I was sure we needed to bring in a professional. So, I brought in a highly recommended pest control company (I researched them on Angie’s List and they have a bed bud division). They came yesterday and could not find any bed bugs. They said that they will ont treat until they find evidence of bed bugs. The only option they gave us was to bring in dogs that are specially designed to sniff out bed bugs, but they want $250 for that type of inspection. The whole treatment of our upper floor (where I think the bed bugs are–I have not been bitten on the 1st or 2nd floor) is only $850 so this seems ridiculous. Have anyone tried using these dogs to detect bed bugs? Also, since they will not treat our house at this time, I have agreed with my husband and ordered the pest control products (the pest control company recommended using Mother D and Steri-fab), as well as the matress and box spring cover. I really feel like I don’t have another option. I have begun washing and bagging all my clothing and putting them on the second floor, away from any possible infestation, but I’m not sure what bags to us. Recommendations? Also, I’ve seen varying estimates on how long items have to be placed in the hot dryer for–is it 20 minutes or 2 hours? All the information out there makes it very confusing.
Don’t forget Food Grade DE to kill them. I am going to treat on my own to because I live in a SFR rented but I know that I did not have BB until my roomie moved in. She stayed in a hostel for a week before coming and that I believe is where it came from. But I think with diligence and a lot of DE, we can do it on our own. One post talks about the professional visiting 5 times but I think she just got recommedations, such as diligent hot laundering and DE spread everywhere, as well as lots of vaccuuming. I bought a $99 dollar steamer b/c I can’t afford the $1500 dry steam variety. I think if steam needs to get to 212 degrees, it can kill the bugs. Good luck.
Hi Bay Area Bo,
The FAQ on steaming has suggestions and links to resources which explain how to steam properly to kill bed bugs, and how to do so safely. Even if you’re not using a dry vapor steamer, I would read the information provided.
I do want to note for others reading this that the steaming FAQ does provide suggestions from readers and PCOs about dry vapor steam models starting at $399. I know that will be too much of an expense for many, but it is important that $1500 is not the base price for a dry vapor steamer. There are both the Ford Focuses and there are the Lexuses of the dry vapor steam cleaner continuum.
The FAQ on DE may also be helpful.
Hello, I am a college student who has moved to an apartment. I have been living here since september 08 and have been treated for bed bugs. For me I have a problem because of my bed. It isnt really a bed but a futon(no mattress) with a bunch of mattress toppers on top of it. I put the toppers in a vinyl zippered mattress cover and it seemed to help. I got sprayed twice since this time but now it seems like the problem has started up again. I havent actually seen any since i got sprayed but I have gotten a few bites( some seemed like they went away within an hour) so are they bed bugs?The thing is I have noticed a blood stain on my pillow and decided to recover them with white ones to make it more visible. This morning i woke up and there were 3-4 blood stains!!! I am really busy with school and I do not have time to do the bug prep for bugs with PCO( which the landlord gets terminex). I live in apartment complex and the landlord always schedules the appointment during busy times of the semester. what could I do until the semester is over? Having this problem is making my grades suffer because I dont get enough sleep and cant stop thinking about them! By the way is there anything to treat bed bug bites?My past bites have turned black and is really bothering me ( image wise). Thanks.
Hi College Student,
Bed bugs can be living in the futon mattress, the bed toppers, the futon frame or base, or any other futniture in the room. They can also be living in the walls and floors.
For this reason, encasing bedding is just the tip of the iceberg. Bed bug treatment can be very effective, but ONLY if you participate 100% with prep AND if the PCO is aggressive and thorough and treatment is repeated in all infested units until all bed bugs are gone.
It’s important to get treated properly or they will just keep breeding and biting.
Please come to the forums if you need more support; you will get more responses there: http://bedbugger.com/forum/
thank you for replying.
“Bed bug treatment can be very effective, but ONLY if you participate 100% with prep AND if the PCO is aggressive and thorough and treatment is repeated in all infested units until all bed bugs are gone.It’s important to get treated properly or they will just keep breeding and biting.”
Yea- thats what i figured but i feel my complex I live in which has hundred of units are infested. The last time terminix came they sprayed for all kinds of bugs- mostly cockroaches and bed bugs but I have a feeling they didn’t change any sprays of anything like that.
College student,
I understand. Well, if you want more feedback, please do come to the forums. Few people read the comments on the FAQs besides me.
I have been told that bed bugs crawl inside peoples mouths and defecate; thus creating “morning breath”. Is this true?? please answer at the eve1041@hotmail.com email address
I generally do not respond to comments via email, but to allay your fears, I did in this case.
No! Bed bugs defecating in your mouth is not the cause of morning breath.
In the many thousands and thousands of emails and bed bug comments and forum posts I have read, here and elsewhere, I have seen probably one comment where someone said a bed bug crawled in their mouth and bit them.
I suspect it is extremely, extremely rare. It is not something to worry about. If you have bed bugs, you need to get rid of them, in general, but this is one thing I would not lose sleep over!
If you want to learn about bed bugs, this may help.
My husband and I live in Manhattan and we found bedbugs this past Friday. We suspected we had them as we were noticing bites for a couple of weeks, but we couldn’t find any evidence. Also around the time we noticed the first bites, we didn’t have an air conditioner in our apartment yet and were cooling the house with open windows and fans, so we also had mosquito bites.
We know someone who lives here who had bedbugs before we moved here (last winter) and we are pretty sure that they came from him. We knew that it was a possibility that we could get them since this is a close friend, and we have him over a few times a month as well as visiting him.
We sleep on a sofa bed and so far it’s the only place we’ve seen them. On Friday we tried using tape around the cracks that had evidence of them and only caught one tiny one. Saturday my husband was taping it up again and happened to stick the tape into the crack. It came out covered in eggs, babies, and one big adult. We went into battle mode and pulled apart the couch (it’s from Ikea so it unscrews easily), and we taped up all of the ones we could get to with one of those rollers that’s designed to get pet hair/lint off your clothes. The tape wasn’t quite sticky enough to hold all of them down, some of the smallest babies were crawling around on it, and we ended up smashing them as we taped them. As each roller sheet got full we peeled them off, folded in half, and dropped them in a ziploc sandwich bag which was sealed unless we were putting more in. Once they were all hiding in tiny crevices, my husband pulled them out one by one with a pair of tweezers and we taped and bagged those ones too. Eventually we couldn’t find anymore and washed the area with a scrub brush and hot water to remove any eggs. We flushed the water down the toilet.
That night we still got the same amount of bites, so on Sunday we did some more searching and fond out that they were hiding in another area of the couch. We did the same thing in that crevice, which was close to the wall. This wall is brick and does not attach to our neighbors. The bed bugs were building a nest between that wall and our couch. These two areas had much less bed bugs and we got as many as we could using tweezers, tape, and scrubbing. We had killed a lot at this point but we still got some bites that night.
Today my husband brought home a small hand held steamer. It was about $40. We can’t really afford anything else right now. He found a couple of bed bugs roaming around and looking for hiding places, blasting them with the steamer does kill them. We used it in all of the cracks and crevices in our couch and around the wooden baseboards on the brick wall our couch touches. We’ve also pulled it away from the wall. We did wash all of our laundry, bedding, etc. in hot water and dry them on hot.
We’re still planning on getting a PCO in, but we really want as many of them gone as possible as soon as possible. Now I’m wondering if we did too much. Will they scatter and cause more problems later? Spread to our neighbors? We tried to make sure we got them all but who knows if a couple managed to get away. We don’t think we can totally get rid of them by ourselves, but we do want to kill as many as possible so we won’t get bitten so much!
I had a PCO come in and those bugs came back after 6 months or so.
I used diatomaceous earth and havent had a problem since. just an option for those who cant afford a pco.
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