If you think you have bed bugs, these are the essential dos and don’ts.
If you suspect there are bed bugs where you sleep, don’t begin sleeping in another bed, on the sofa. Do not go to stay with someone else. The bugs may follow you to your guest room or sofa, and then it will be much harder to get rid of them. They may hitch a ride to your relative’s home, and you can cause them to become infested. (All of these situations have happened to Bedbuggers we know.) Also, staying outside of your home means the bugs may become dormant. We’re told they may live without feeding for up to 18 months. When you come back, they can begin biting you again. So staying in your home during treatment, and sleeping in your usual bed, is the way to kill bed bugs. Read our FAQs, isolate your bed, and sleep there while you’re getting a Pest Control Operator (PCO) to treat your home. Once you are being treated, you must remain in the bed–you are the bait, attracting bugs to the poison and their deaths. If you isolate the bed, they need not bite you.
Do save any bed bugs you find. Do not part with these– you may need to show them to landlords, pest control professionals, and so on. Entomologists at colleges or science museums in your town may identify these, and a pest control company can too. Pick it up with clear packing tape, and tape it to an index card. Don’t assume you’ll see lots of them, some people don’t.
Do rule out other possible conditions, like folliculitis, scabies, and bites from other insects. The FAQs may help. Be warned, though, that many of us are told by doctors that we do not have bed bugs, and later find they are wrong. Many of them have never seen bed bug bites, or have seen only some patients with them. Bites can range from large welts to small red bumps, to scabby pimple-type bumps. See the photos in the left sidebar links on the blog (even Caryn’s bites look different on different areas of her body).
Don’t start throwing your bed and other furniture out. As per the FAQs, you can cover and isolate the bed. (You may wish to wait until a PCO has started treating before covering the mattress in an encasement.) Most furniture, including mattresses and sofas, can be treated by a PCO, and you can ask the PCO if throwing them out is a good idea. And he or she can help you do it safely, so as not to spread the bugs around your home or building, and so that others do not pick up infested items.
Don’t start buying a load of chemicals and treating yourself. We have FAQs about choosing a good PCO and about why doing your own pest control in lieu of a PCO is not a good idea. Yes, sometimes supplementing a PCO’s work makes sense, but only if you know what they’re doing, and what you should do. Remember, pesticides have different qualities (repellents, contact killers, residual killers, growth regulators, etc.) Bed bugs are probably the most complicated pests you’ve ever encountered at home. If you start spraying pesticides, you may disperse the bugs, and the professionals may have trouble treating them. You may spread them around your home. Get good professional help and follow instructions.
Do not, absolutely do not release a fogger or bug bomb. Do not allow your landlord to do so. Do not allow a so-called exterminator to do so. Bug bombs / foggers do not work for bed bugs, and in fact, will spread them. Your problem will be magnified. Trust me!
Don’t start bagging everything you own. With the exception of washed and dried clothing (according to specific instructions below and in the FAQs), do not seal up everything you own in bags. Some PCOs will want you to inspect, vacuum, and seal all your posessions in bags. Most won’t. Following their advice is crucial, since they know what they’re using on your problem. If you decide to bag things, you may be sealing away bed bugs– and this is only a way of dealing with the problem if you put these items in storage for 18 months, unopened. Instead, most PCOs will vigorously fight your problem, and bed bugs will be attracted out of your posessions and towards poisons which will kill them.
Do start dealing with your clothing and linens. Though you should not simply seal your posessions in bags (as above), it is probably a good idea to start working on clothing and bedding, since the PCO is going to tell you to do this, and it takes time. You should take clothing and other items, wash them in a machine on hot, dry them on hot for 1-2 hours. Remember, driers vary as to their strength and how long they take with what size of load. My personal method is that items should at least be dried on hot for 20 minutes after they appear to be fully dry and very hot. If you want to be cautious, go for two hours on hot. Dry cleaning is okay too. Keep in mind that pillows, comforters, down coats, and other thick items may take longer. Here’s the key: after washing and drying, bag items in sealed, airtight bags, and do not remove them until use. Our FAQs give more explicit suggestions.
Don’t assume bed bugs are only in your bed. While bed frames and mattresses and headboards are the most likely location for bed bugs, they can and do often hide out in sofas and other soft furniture, electrical sockets (behind plates), light fixtures, baseboards, floor crevices, and other crevices in the bedroom and living room. Bed bugs are occasionally found in kitchens and bathrooms. This should not make you panic: most cases, especially smaller ones, are quite concentrated, usually 10-20 feet from where people sleep (or where they sit for extended periods). However, if a PCO tells you bed bugs are not found in living rooms, realize that many Bedbuggers have infested sofas, computer chairs, and so on. Don’t believe that bed bugs only bite at night. They prefer a sleeping, stationary host who is fast asleep. But if they’re hungry, they’ll take what they can get. You can be bitten while in a chair, awake.
Once you get a PCO treating your place, don’t assume this will be solved overnight. If your PCO treats and you are still being bitten, this is normal. The bites should decrease and eventually disappear. If you see bed bugs or are bitten, do have another treatment within 10-14 days of the first. Do insist the PCO repeat treatment every two weeks until you feel no more bites, and see no live bedbugs or new signs of bed bugs (like bed bug feces stains in the bed). Do not assume you have a bad PCO because it takes three or four treatments to solve your problem. This, unfortunately, is common, even if you follow all the advice. However, do ask questions, from the first treatment on, and take notes: what is the PCO using? What does each substance do? Make a note of where each substance is applied, and how long the process takes. If a few treatments go by and you are suspicious, post a question here with these details– experienced Bedbuggers and reputable PCOs read this site and may be able to offer advice as to whether you’re getting good service or not. Stay on top of what’s happening, but be honest with the PCO about what you’re doing, and ask what you can do to support treatment. If they are good, they will welcome your involvement. Vacuuming every day in some cases is a good idea, in others, it may sabotage the work of certain substances left down to kill bed bugs. The same is true of bagging everything you own, as above. Never assume that you should do what someone online is doing, since they may be working with a different pest control protocol.
The following two suggestions came from Geof Day:
Do consider posting your infestation on The Bedbug Registry.
Do read “Can Information Spread Faster than BedBugs?” Add to it if you would like. (Note: you can add to it by signing up for the Yahoo bedbugger group at that link, and replying to that message.)
Editor’s note: Thanks Geof!
Comments for this page are now closed. Please post a message on our Bedbugger Forums if you have questions or need support. If you have suggestions for improving this FAQ, or other comments, please contact me.
Similar Posts:
- eliminating bed bugs from clothes, shoes, furniture, and other stuff
- Reader Question: how easy is it to spread bed bugs?
- Letter from a reader: 4 months after exposure and two treatments, bites persist
- University of Central Missouri (and other Missouri colleges) vs. bed bugs
- FAQ: I stayed somewhere that had bed bugs. What do I do to keep from taking them home?
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← Previous Comments
Hi,
Thanks for all the help.
Can Anyone recommend an exterminator for the NYC area???
Hopefuly someone who you had a great experience with??
Thanks
Hey paranoid, I recommend you seek a professional pest control inspection. It’s very easy to miss the signs of an early infestation. It may not be bedbugs. Your job is to be vigilant, yes, but you need help. Call some PCO firms in your area. Most inspections are free or low-cost. Read the other FAQs here, including the one about how to find a good PCO, and what the signs of an infestation look like.
If it is some kind of biting pest (even bedbugs) it may be something your daughter was exposed to outside the home. There are many possibilities, your home, elsewhere, bedbugs or other pests, and even a medical condition or problem. You need help to figure it out.
Get help in investigating this. Taking your daughter to the doctor might also be prudent.
If you need help after you read the other FAQs, you can visit the forum, the blue bug above.
I hope it’s not bedbugs, but good luck.
Thanks for your input hopelessnomo I REALLY appreciate it. My daughter has not recd anymore suspicious looking bites, and I’ve laid out some sticky traps just to see if I catch anything. I think I will seek out a professional inspection just to be safe….in the meantime I continue to monitor for any bites on anyone else in the family etc. I also continue to check around 3am for sightings….My friends and coworkers think that I am insane…LOL!!! I must admit I am a little paranoid, BUT I do at the same time realize there are worse things in life….I just imagine our poor ancestors who really had not much of a choice but to live with these critters!!!
Does anyone have any good recommendations on a good PCO in NJ??? Not sure if I have them, but I would like someone to do a good job checking….
Hi Paranoid! You should go to the forum and post a message there:
http://bedbugger.com/forum (or click the blue bug at top right).
Bed Bugs really suck!!! Does anyone know if there are any city or state health departments addressing this issue on a more wide-scale level?
Hi —.
Cincinnati has a Bed Bug Remediation Commission with a hotline for discarded mattresses and furniture. I think they are working on legislation.
San Francisco and the State of California have guidelines. (See links at right.)
NYC has a fact sheet on its Housing (HPD) website and Boston, Cincinnati, and many Canadian cities have them on their Health Dept. websites.
Not much, really. Not yet.
Help… I have not gone home and have been exposed to bedbugs. Only for like 15-20 minutes my daughter had her stuff in my car. She got them from a sober living home and was staying in a hotel I picked her up and she told me the story. I sprayed my car with NIX but there was a cranberry small jelly thing in the front seat and it scared me bad. I dont want to go home and take them with me Please tell me what to do.
Tamy, I’m not sure if you found your way to the forums where you can ask all kinds of questions. Click the blue bug above.
I understand your concern but I would speculate that incidental exposure is not as big a risk as actually sleeping somewhere where there are bedbugs. So, your daughter’s risk is probably greater than yours. Containment of the situation might involve laundering and drying all clothes, inspecting and cleaning all personal effects, and cleaning the car (vacuuming and steam cleaning if possible). There are FAQs here that deal with exposure to bedbugs during travel and they will be useful to you. I suggest you read them now if you haven’t already.
But consider that ‘transmission’ is not automatic. Some people manage not to acquire infestations even when they are exposed during travel. The most important thing is to learn to recognize bedbugs and their signs. At home, sometimes even professional inspections can’t find signs of an early infestation, so judicious cleaning and inspecting are the best things to do in the beginning, I think.
Encasing the mattress and box spring is also a good idea. Then you monitor the situation but try not to drive yourself crazy. If there are any signs, you call a PCO as soon as possible.
I’ve had bed bugs for so long now over 8 months and had the bug guy come and spray like 3 times its kinda annoying…….well really annoying! we’re getting eaten alive! does puting everything in storage for 18 months really help? Can they severly hurt u or babies? I”m really curious beacause i’ve gotten to the point where I just want to move out of my place throw out everything and start out fresh. I live in a bachelor apt with my daughter and boyfriend so its cluttered and theres not much I can do about the clutter. what can I do please help me!!! I don’t know what to do. I left my apt and went to my relatives and now i’m readind that i shouldn’t have done that.Please contact me soon I want my baby to be safe
bugged,
The health community has not confirmed any diseases that they can cause though they do cause allergic reactions which can get worse in time. In rare cases, people have had to go to the hospital with life-threatening allergic reactions.
You can’t just put up with them long-term because they will get worse. Staying with friends is dangerous as you now know, and it is hard to move without moving the bugs too.
Did your landlord hire the Pest Control Operator and did the PCO inspect neighboring apts on all sides, above, and below? If not, this must happen. If you are a tenant it may be covered by the landlord too. Look at the other FAQs, and if you have more questions, ask on the relevant FAQ or go to the forums (button above).
The Pco did not check any other apts.Apparently its a huge problem in the building and one of my neighbours does have them he just got his place sprayed once and he still has them and he does not want to get it done again. Am I better of moving and starting out fresh?
Where are you, bugged? NYC?
i’m bugged in canada
In many places, the landlord must pay for extermination of pests. We have a FAQ on which links to this information. Look here: http://bedbugger.com/faqs under “who pays for treatment”. We have links to information relevant to cities and provinces in Canada.
Unfortunately, if you move, you may take them with you–it is surprisingly hard not to. In many places, they’re so common you can even move into a second apt. with bed bugs, even if you do not move your own. So the best idea, for many people, is to try to get the landlord to solve the problem for the whole building, with tenant cooperation.
Can anyone help me. I have had some bites on the bottom of my legs and ankles and i only seem to get them at night. This started about 2 days ago. I remember though around this time last year it happened then and then stopped and now it has started again. My partner does not get bitten but i do. Also when i am sleeping i have to have my feet out of the blanket as i get to hot and this is where i am getting bitten. DO I HAVE BED BUGS or is it something else?
Becks, keep reading the faqs, like this one: FAQ: What are bed bugs? Do I have them? What else could be causing this?
If you have pets you should suspect fleas. You need to do some investigating. Unfortunately, we can’t help you rule out bedbugs from the appearance or location of bites alone. But a visit to a doctor or dermatologist might be helpful.
The faqs describe the type of evidence you might find. You should read on so that you know what to look for.
Good luck. (Further questions will be better addressed in the forums.)
i have guitars that i do not want to get rid of as they are really expensive. these can’t be put in storage for 18 months cause changes in temperature will ruin the wood. Any ideas? All I can think is having the PCO spray inside the cases, seal them up for a few weeks in plastic bags and hopefully the poison will kill them?
This is one for the pesticide experts. Some PCOs read this and experienced ones may have advice. You might also visit the bedbug resource, run by PCOs. And do let us know what you find out.
Did the weather just get colder? You might just have winter itch. It doesn’t sound like bed bugs.
In addition to my comment yesterday. I do not have any pets. I have looked on the Bedbug Website and the Fleas website and they both say that each bite in lines and in a cluster of maybe 3 bites. So i am a bit confused now. When i moved in to my house nearly 3 years ago now it was very dirty and covered in dog and cat hairs. I have tidied to the best of my knowledge to get rid of all these. It seems to be at night when i am getting bit. I am wondering because it is winter and my radiators are now on constantly and the house is always really warm have i disturbed something or woken something up? PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!
Can i add that yesterday i had a look round the edge of my matress and could see no signs of anything, no pepper marks or nothing i am really confused and not sure what to do.
Becks, many people see little or nothing, especially early on. As I’ve said elsewhere on this bed bug website, bed bugs OFTEN leave single bites. Many of us rarely get multiple bites.
I would suspect you have bed bugs but not that you had them for three years. You need to have your home professionally inspected and probably treated. Go to the forums to ask any questions you have. Click the blue button at top right.
Hi all!- Although I’ve known of this site and recommend it to people often this is my first foray into replying on it. First off, to anyone using Drione PLEASE follow the label directions to the letter! It does contain pesticides, the main ingredient being pyrethrin, and should be applied where air currents cannot move it around to unwanted areas. It can cause dermal, inhalation, eye, and oral irritation and while not extremely toxic, it’s not something you want to be in bodily contact with on a regular basis. We use gloves, respirators, eyeware protection and other special equipment when applying it and only to the proper areas. In the state of Massachusets it is illegal to apply unless you are a state registered pest management proffessional (PMP). This applies to other states as well.
On of the main conducive conditions of bedbug is clutter, not filth! Bedbugs have been found in the finest hotels and homes in the country. The clutter factor gives them a mind boggling number of places to breed and hide and makes it almost impossible for a proper treatment. So when your PMP asks you to do the almost impossible- it’s for a good reason. He wants to do a thorough and proper treatment and solve the issue not just really put you over the edge, in fact if we treat a premises that is not prepared properly we will let the financially responsible parties know that they are just wasting their money, we’ll be glad to take it, if they don’t want to help themselves, their’s not much we can do.
Hey everyone -sorry I ran out of space. I got so into trying to educate people about this scourge. To the person in Canada, I think it was buggedangonecrazy, if the entire building has issues then the ONLY way they are going to be eradicated is to treat EACH and EVERY unit in the building, and not just once but probably 3+ times with followup inspections. Not only that but FULL cooperation for ALL tenants is crucial as is proper preperation by everyone.I know this sounds like an impossible task but it is the only way to eliminate them. Nobugsonme is correct in finding out who is responsible for treating them. Call yuor local board of health if the landlord won’t respond. In some communities it is the landlord’s responsibility to provide a pest free environment however the pests came in and he can be sited and fined if he does not respond.
Thanks for the warning on Drione, Bostonbugboy, we’ve seen many people say that they’re a bit intimidated by it.
We usually recommend food-grade DE which is about as safe as you can get with DE and DE-like products. And we tell people to consult their PCOs before supplementing with anything on their own.
Hi Poe! Please tell me what you found out about guitars! I am dealing with the same issue right now. I’m completely clueless about what to do with my guitars (esp. since I found what look like dead bedbugs in one of my cases that I rarely use). I have not found anything about this online, other than your posting/question. If ANYONE can shed light on the situation, please let me know soon. They’ll be here in the morning (which is really only a few hours from now!)
thanks!
randi
I am beginning to lose hope that I will be able to beat my bedbug problem! I moved into my current apartment with my boyfriend on Sept. 1 of this year, and about 3 weeks later I started waking up with multiple bites all over my body, but since the weather was still really hot and humid and our windows and screens aren’t impenatrable, I assumed they were mosquito bites. I am pretty allergic to mosquitoes, and I seemed to be having the same reaction (extremely itchy, red swollen welts) so it seemed a logical conclusion. After several nights of this, I originally suspected bedbugs but they tapered off so I never did any further investigation. Then on Oct. 13 I actaully found a bedbug crawling on me! Since then it has been an uphill battle. I notified the landlord that night, and while he has contracted an exterminator for the whole house (it is a single family home with 5 apartments total, including the landlord’s), I don’t think the exterminator is doing the best job. The exterminator is a friend of a friend situation and is probably cutting my landlord a deal for this, but I am very suspicious as to whether or not he’s doing everything that should be done to treat bedbugs.
We’ve removed our clothes from our dressers and closets and bagged them all. But otherwise, that’s it. The exterminator came the Monday after we discovered them, but neither my boyfriend nor myself was present (due to the daytime appointment), so I have no idea where or what was sprayed or what chemicals were used. The next morning, I woke up with 15 bites! They tapered off a little after that, but we continued to see them and get bites. I requested that the landlord immediately schedule the exterminator to come a second time, exactly 2 weeks later, but he was not able to come until one day after that two week window. When he arrived, I asked him to spray specific places, and he did it pretty begrudgingly. He seemed reluctant to spray behind furniture and along baseboards and mouldings, or to wait while I moved stuff around so he could get to these spots. I think he may have spent 15 mins at most exterminating. I asked questions about the chemicals he was using, etc., but he seemed annoyed and the only question he asked me was if I had seen them or if I was just getting bitten. I then immediately requested of my landlord that he schedule another appointment in exactly two weeks, and left specific dates/times when I or my b/f would be available. The second two week window ended yesterday, and I have not heard from the landlord as to when the exterminator is coming next. I still get anywhere from 1 to 5 bites a night.
So I guess my question is:
1) How necessary is it to stick to the 10-14 day window of subsequent treatments? Will the situation get worse if the exterminator comes 15 or 16 days after the previous treatment?
2) What exactly should the exterminator do when s/he gets to your apartment? What constitutes a thorough extermination?
3) I haven’t seen any bugs in our living room/kitchen area, but I am pretty sure that I have been bitten at least once while sitting on the couch. At what point is it recommended to have the exterminator treat other areas of the apartment?
Any feedback would be HUGELY appreciated!
1) How necessary is it to stick to the 10-14 day window of subsequent treatments? Will the situation get worse if the exterminator comes 15 or 16 days after the previous treatment?
This is not a big deal. Even three weeks should not be an issue. But we generally hear of PCOs who aim for two weeks as ideal (except in Denver, where apparently the humidity level means 3 weeks is apprpriate; we’ve heard Orkin’s policy in Denver is 3 weeks due to the climate. I’d assume 3 weeks is ideal in similar places like New Mexico and Arizona.)
2) What exactly should the exterminator do when s/he gets to your apartment? What constitutes a thorough extermination?
This varies a great deal. The California and SF guidelines (in the sidebar) give some ideas about what should be done, as do Stephen Doggett’s Australian guidelines. But finding someone who will actually do all this is nearly impossible. Plenty of people get rid of bed bugs despite this. The most important thing to you is to keep following up at 2 week (15 day, etc.) intervals until you have no bites. Being bitten a lot the first night is not unusual if the PCO used a flushing agent. Many people need 3, 4, or 5 treatments, and some even more. Don’t stop and don’t lose hope as long as the bites are decreasing overall. And if you’re in a multi-unit building, make sure the landlord had a good PCO inspect neighbors and treat if necessary (on all sides, above, below). Since your landlord and the PCO sound a bit iffy in this regard, I’d talk to the neighbors myself. Make sure they know they may have them and not see them or not even react to bites. If neighbors have them and are not treated, you will never get rid of them.
3) I haven’t seen any bugs in our living room/kitchen area, but I am pretty sure that I have been bitten at least once while sitting on the couch. At what point is it recommended to have the exterminator treat other areas of the apartment?
Always. I think the entire home should always be treated. Except in the earliest stages, maybe, where people think they picked up bed bugs last week on a trip and have had one or two bites at home, in which case the bedroom might be the only problem. In most cases (and yours definitely sounds more serious than that), the entire home should be treated. Infested sofas, chairs, etc. are commonplace. And bed bugs live in the home, not just the furniture. Entire homes must always be treated, also, if you moved things to other rooms upon discovering the problem.
I hope this helps and if you have new questions, please come to the forums! Button on top right.
Hi.
I live in a tiny 1 bedroom but my bed is in the livingroom and my roommate is in the bedroom. We found 1 bug on her bed yesterday.
I have not had any bites yet or found any bugs on my bed.
she has already made the ‘mistake’ of moving from her bed into the futon in my room.
I think what I am doing is mostly preventative because I have not experienced any bites myself… but I do want to take all precautions.
the PCO (POC?) person is coming in 2 days and I am leaving to go home for a 10 day break on the day they do the treatment.
One question- can I wash my clothes and dry on hot and then bring them back to my place- which is untreated so far- if they are in plastic bags or in rubbermaid containers?
I want to leave everything prepared for treatment and am working on that – I still dont know what to do with BOOKS and SHOES and I need to find a place in Manhattan that will do our dry cleaning.
Can I just put the shoes and books in bags in the middle of my room so that they get some chemical treatments or do I need to brush them out one by one?
I also want to make ABSOLUTELY SURE that I don’t bring the bugs home with me when I go.
I am planning on buying a new suitcase and filling it with clothes fresh out of the hot drier, I have already washed my purse and book bag- is there anything else I can do to prevent their coming along with me? like in my shoes or something?
I have never dealt with this before and am kind of at the end of my rope about it so any friendly advice would be great—
The best bags to store laundry in are Ziplock XL bags. The key is that they are airtight and you and see through them. You can find them at Target. They are cheap and large (maybe a bit too large).
Wash and dry your clothes at the laundromat and put them directly into the Ziplock bags. Maybe two gallon bags are also a good idea for shoes.
I would also consult the travel FAQs which include entries on how not to spread bed bugs.
I THINK THAT I HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY A BED BUG BITE BUT HOW EVER THE BITES APEAR AND DISAPEAR, IS THIS NORMAL??
randi – i was told by a pco that if the area around them is treated, then the bed bugs will come out and get killed when they are hungry. has this worked? i don’t know yet, it’s too early to tell. it seems that’s the only way to handle any non-washable object that can’t be placed in extreme heat, except putting it in storage. he said if you spray the guitar it will damage the wood.
mary said:
November 27th, 2007 at 11:43 am
We stayed at a hotel last weekend. My sons bed was infested because when we woke in the morning there was blood all over his arms hands, neck , sheets and pillowcase.
When I pulled the blanket off the bed there were numerous bugs crawling all over the bed. I aws horrified!!!! I have never seen bed bugs before, but after investigating this and other websites, I am 100% sure they were bedbugs.
These are my questions:
1. My son was bitten Sat/Sun, but the but the symptoms (bumps and bite marks with itching) did not show up until 5-6 days later.On waking and seeing the bugs, he immediately took a shower. After showering, there was not a mark on him nor was he itchy after showering!!! I kept asking him for the next few days if he saw any bite marks or had any itching. There was none until the following Fri/Sat. Then he woke COVERED in bite marks on his hands, wrists, neck and ankles that were VERY itchy.
Does anyone have any informaton on why he was obviously bitten many times but had no reaction to the bites until several days later?
nobugsonme said:
November 27th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
Yes–this happens. Some people react immediately, some hours later, some up to nine days later (we’re told). Several days seems common. Did you take any steps to avoid bringing them home? Please consider writing a review on tripadvisor.com and also reporting the hotel on the bed bug registry (see sidebar at right: “Report Infested Addresses.”
mary said:
November 27th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Thank you “nobugsonme” for the reply about reaction time and info. The hotel manager refused to believe the bugs were from the room, despite the evidence, so I am relieved that there is somewhere I can write a review and report this incident. Perhaps I can save someone else from this grief.
Since I had no experience with this issue, I tried to do what I thought would be preventative. The minute we arrived home (12-14 hours later) we all showered and put all clothes were wore during the trip in the wash(and dryer-for long enough, I hope). Any remaining bags, luggage, etc, I left in the car in bags until I could empty them outdoors, shake them out and launder them. In retrospect, this may not have been ideal, since now, I realize that my car may now be infested.
I purchased mattress covers as recommended on this site and covered his matress, boxspring. I have washed all bedding, blankets, daily. I have relaundered all clothing we wore or packed for the trip, including coats. I have not waSHED
shoes yet-
Im not sure what to do about shoes.
Im not sure what to do about the CAR.
Can any one give me suggestions about what to do with the car,???? (besides vaccuming it, which I will do tomorrow)
I have vaccumed our house(floors, carpet and couches) and shampooed the carpet with a small portable Bissel unit we own.
I am considering buying a small steamer to steam our couch, because everyone in the family sits on the couch, often immediately after getting out of the car.
Its only been a week, but I feel like I am loosing it already.
Am I doing too much or not enough?
Do any of the “natural products” work as a preventative measure while I sit and wait for bites?
Thank you for any advise !!!!!
mary said:
November 27th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
And what about pets?
We have a dog, cat and parakeet.
We have kids so we have tons of toys and books around the house. Is there any way to salvage or protect these? I really dont want to loose them all.
Hi Mary,
I said this in the other thread, but just in case, please copy and paste your message above into the forums.
http://bedbugger.com/forum
There will be more replies there.
It’s part of the same site, so you can login with the account you created here.
In stead of attempting to eliminate
the bedbugs I have, I think I am just
going to keep them.
My building is full with dirty people,
so it seems just hopeless.
My aim: keep it at a minimum.
Shrug my shoulders.
And focus most on not spreading it to friends.
So, what do you think ?
Please give me your opinions.
What would be against just having double-sided
tape around my bed to slow-’m-down,
frequent vacuum cleaning and other
symptom treatments ?
I just do not want this to become a
neurotic thing. Life comes with unwanted stuff.
Currently, life comes with occasional bites.
Oh wel . . .
gr,
Tristan
(
)
Tristan,
I seriously warn against this. Your building may be infested (though it has nothing to do with whether neighbors are “dirty people” or not–dirt and clutter does not breed bed bugs, it only helps hide them.
Leaving bed bugs to breed in your home can lead to extremely severe problems.
If you want to discuss this further, please come to the forums! Click the blue button at top right that says “forums.”
My heart really goes out to terrifiedtosleep, I hope by now you are doing better. I am going through the same thing.
traumatized,
I hope terrifiedtosleep got help in fighting his/her bed bugs. You can beat this. Come to the forums for emotional support and practical suggestions. (Forums button at top right!)
I made 3 mistakes. 1st I threw out my bed (I sprayed it though). 2nd I used a fogger (o boy). 3rd I moved out my room and into my moms room (havnt had any bites in here). But there’s another room where my sister sleeps n she has gotten bitten 3 times. We used a bed bug spray (forgot the name) and they went away for a while and came back. My x boyfriend brought them into the house and didn’t tell me when he started killing them on his own. I didn’t know why my arms were swelling up and he didn’t tell me nothing. I thought it was mosquitos but it wasn’t. I found 1 black bug and about 5 red/ burgandy ones. I constantly have creapy crawly skin and I feel like my life is ruined. Its embarrasing to tell the landlord although my mom told him but he just said be careful getting rid of them. We don’t have money to get a pco and i tried to bag all my stuff n sprayed twice but i keep seeing pepper spots on my sheets and pillow cases when i sleep in my room. Some1 please help. This is driving me crazy and I really freak out when i see bugs. (bronx n.y)
Hi BuggedAllNight,
It’s okay. Everyone makes mistakes. Just no more foggers please.
You don’t have to suffer from bedbugs without help, not in NYC. Your landlord is very likely responsible for treating and eradicating the infestation. Left untreated, the infestation may spread to other apartments in the building. You should speak to the landlord again and ask for help. The landlord should hire a licensed pest control company to take care of the problem. Please keep reading the FAQs; there is also a FAQ that explains your tenant rights and where to go for help.
Please visit the forums here (see blue button in the upper right corner) to talk to other people who understand and can give you advice.
Good luck.
Hi bedbuggers,
i have problem goin to ur forum, it says “no posts match ur criteria”. I logged in but i cant go to forum.
Plz tell me how to get in the forum if u know whats my problem(besides BBs heh)
Vamp
Vampire,
Try this link:
http://bedbugger.com/forum/
Thx for helpin me but i get the same results, every links i tried on this site got me to this wrong page.
thx again
Vamp
Vampire,
It may be that you need to allow cookies (see your browser preferences) which keep you logged in.
It may also be that there is a conflict with your browser. Some people using IE7 are experiencing troubles and I am trying to find the source of them. A simple fix is to use the wonderful free browser Firefox, but I understand if you don’t want to do that. Please bear with me.I think the problem with links not working is now solved. Please do let me know if you have further troubles!
i have bedbugs i made a huge mistake by throwing my kids beds out and moved them to the livingroom i am losing my mind please tell me what i should do
Hi migdalia, the best advice is to get professional, experienced help, and not to move any more things around.
The other faqs can help you figure out what questions to ask and how to find a good PCO. Once you find a good PCO, they will have specific advice for you that you must follow. If you rent, your landlord should be notified and is in most locations responsible for coordinating treatment and inspection of adjacent apartments.
Visit the forums (blue button above right) to talk to others for support and advice.
Don’t delay. Start making those calls and try to keep calm and focused and you will be able to solve this problem.
Hi everyone,
Over the past week i have found two bugs in my bed, although I was pretty sure I had bedbugs because I’ve been getting bitten on a regulr basis since Christmas- I started revising for exams in a local library. Today I showed my mum and she flipped. She got really angry with me and says its because I’m messy (I’m 18) as they’re not in her room; I think this may be because they haven’t travelled there yet, also her bed has metal legs. I heard that bedbugs have a harder time climbing metal than wood?
she even started talking about moving out! This would mean I have to leave ALL my stuff behind even clothes.
for pretty obvious reasons I DONT want to move, but I am terrified of ALL types of bugs. For years I have had an irrational fear that any type of bug will lay eggs on/in my body.
Please tell me that bed bugs won’t do this as I really am scared to sleep in my bed. I want to sleep in my mums bed- I no I shouldn’t do this but how am i going to sleep knowing that things are crawling all over me?
so again please can someone give me some assurance that they won’t leg eggs on me/ crawl in my mouth
Thanks
Sarah,
Bed bugs do not infest bodies–they infest things (cracks in the floor, mattresses, sofas, etc.) They do not want to live in your body or lay eggs on you.
Your mum is wrong of course–they are not in your room because it’s messy (even if it is!)
They also will infest metal beds as well as wooden, and she could be bitten and have no response/not see bed bugs. Please get professional help ASAP to deal with this, but rest assured, they don’t want to infest your body.
If you have more questions, please come to the forums: http://bedbugger.com/forum
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