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Hi nobugsonme,
ok. sure. I understand. I feel better because at least I can go to bed with lights on. thanks.
I completely understand…
I just found out that I think I have bedbugs, and
reading about them on the internet makes me very worried- it sounds like they are really hard to get rid of, and that after multiple (unsuccessful) treatments, some have resorted to moving and throwing out most of their stuff or at least furniture! I know some are successful with a treatment or 2, but for those for whom this doesn’t work, it sounds like this could get extremely expensive. Does anyone know if
typical renter’s insurance covers this? I have State Farm… Thanks.
id love to hear the answer to that question too. the bundle i could be reimbursed!
Marobia,
I have never heard of any renter’s insurance that would cover bed bugs. But check with the company.
As far as treatment, don’t panic. I think it’s extremely rare for people to be successful in 1 or even two treatments. There are statistics somewhere from PCOs that say 3-4 treatments is more common.
On the other hand, people who spend time writing about bed bugs are more likely to have been through more with them. So don’t panic that a lot of people writing online have scary bed bug stories. They can be hard to get rid of, but it depends on the degree of infestation, how good your PCO is, and where they came from (namely, do neighbors connected to your home also have them, so they can come back?)
I don’t know where you are but in many places, landlords are responsible to pay (look at the FAQS!). Make sure the PCO has bed bug experience, and comes every two weeks until there are no further bites or live bugs or other signs.
I have State Farm renters insurance. It does not cover pests of any kind. I have asked both over the phone and in person.
But call your rep, as who knows – maybe policies differ in different regions!
Marobia, My husband is an insurance agent and the answer is no. Insurance does not cover bed bug infestations. I think that besides getting in touch with a very qualified PCO, you should also read up on as much information as possible on this site, and on the internet. You must work as a team with the PCO, thus, the more you know, the more you can work along with them, and the better informed you are, the more you should expect of them. You have to search out all possible harborages in your home and treat them. Bed bug extermination is time consuming,costs money,and truthfully, there is no easy way around it.
Oh where to start.. I figured out my bed bugs by accident. I had been going to a dermatoligist for a rash/welts that my daughter started to also develop and only one Dr. said it was an allergic reaction to a bug bite. All the subsequent Dr.s though it was a food allergy and quite odd that my daughter had the welts too. They gave me steroids and my daughters DR. said it was dry skin. I have had fleas before and felt the itchyness may be another flea problem but my dogs did not seem to be itching- This went on for 2 months- anyway- my babysitter usu does my sheets and this one morning in early December I pulled them off to clean myself- do not know why- but that is when I saw them. Clusters of Bugs on my mattress pad and underneath my comforter THEY WERE HUGE and when they relized thew were being disturbed they started to move, run – it was horrible and I will never get it out of my head. I was disgusted and ashamed that I had these bugs in my bed! My friend called while I was finding them- i referred to them as bed bugs but did not know how true it was. I got everything in the washer and put my quilt into a plastic bag. I looked the word bed bug up on the internet and realized what they were and had to get to work. Two weeks earlier I saw one crawiling on my sofa, captured it and brought it to the vet- he threw it away and said it was a type of beetle. So not even vets or Dr’s know what they look like. This was in December. I did not tell my daughter- she is 8 and everynight would come into my room at approx 1-3 am to sleep with me. I realized from reading that it would be best to not disturb too much. I had alread dragged a number of them out of my apt and into the communal laundry room and alley… I felt horrible every night we slept in my bed and knew that she and I would continue to get attacked untill she went to MI to visit her dad. I did not want her to know how freaked out I was/am. When I dropped her off at the airport on 12/25 with her grandma I left and called orkin- I cried on the phone as they were the first people I spoke to about this. My sofa was picked up by the city- I sent my bed to the dump and washed and dried clothes for a week before and after work. The shame is immense and I have told people I work with that I have an infestation of termites. My mother, one sister and one close friend know.
I have not been able to sleep- I had felt phantom attacks but after the third treatment – and alot of money later- I went to bed and woke up slapping my face from an itch -this morning I found a little blood spot on my pillow- I called the pest control peops. and they are coming again in the morning. I have bites all over me. I do not know when this will end-I am so gratefull for this site- I need to hear that it will end- that I am not alone and maybe this will help dissapate my shame.
I am curios if there is anything in a scent or type of ingested food or vitamin that repels these horrid blood sucking sleep stealing insidiously hideous shame making little buggers.
My feet and calves are burning from the last attack!
Kelly
Kelly, Has Orkin treated your electrical outlets, all window moldings, baseboards, and smoke detectors. Have you read all of the information on this site? What are you sleeping on, since you threw your bed away? Have you followed the FAQ’s on this site? Are you using products on your pets…The pet stores have lots of useful products . You have to lean on your PCO, they need to hear that you are stressed out and they must do all they can to get the job done….When they come to treat , go over every possible harborage with them..including turning all furniture upside down..and spraying every little screwhead !
Kelly,
I know this is easier said than done, but you have no reason to feel ashamed. You may have reason to feel stressed, anxious and grossed out – you have been traumatized, after all – but you truly have NO REASON to be ashamed. You have done nothing wrong. You did not start this problem. But YOU will end this problem. You will end this problem through lots of work, lots of things you never thought you’d do. It sounds like you’ve already started down this path. But the best way to combat stress is through action, and the best way to combat fear is through information.
One more time. The best way to combat stress is through action, and the best way to combat fear is through information.
Read this site. Read all the FAQs. Don’t think “But these suggestions are outrageous, surely I don’t need to do all of this work!” That’s what I thought, and I wish I had gotten over that sooner. Wash all your clothes and seal them up. Order encasings and isolate your bed. Get involved in what Orkin is doing, and tell us exactly what they are using so we can verify that it will work. Eventually the power scales will tip, and you will be more in control than the bugs are. And eventually, eventually you will beat them.
In terms of repelling them – which is not a permanent solution – I don’t think anything is foolproof, but I’ve heard many suggestions. Some say lavender oil, sprinkled about the bed, will keep them away. Or tea tree oil. Somebody slept with a dryer sheet pinned to her shirt collar, saying it masked her exhaled breath for about a week. Some people sleep with pants tucked into socks, shirt tucked into pants, gloves and a hood. Some sleep with the light on. I just take Tylenol PM and it zonks me out. But the best immediate protection is to isolate your bed, following the instructions in the FAQs.
Keep us posted. You are not alone. At last count, there were over 300 members of the bedbugger yahoo group. This site gets thousands of hits. So keep in mind, you are not alone. This isn’t your fault. You have no reason to feel ashamed.
wow. all my stuff is bagged up. my wife is freaking out, and i am starting to as well. i don’t trust anything but my naked body. we’ve vaccuumed, we’ve bagged. i don’t know where my socks are and i don’t know where my gym clothes are. i’ve done more laundry in the last week than i did in the last 6 months or more. permanent bags under our eyes and constant itching. we are trying to find a new apartment. we just signed the new lease on our current apartment about a month ago. we hope our landlord will let us go. there is at least two other apartments in our buildings with the bedbugs, and the landlord has never said a word. there could be more. we are debating on whether to take any furniture with us at all if we move. i don’t feel that i can go to any friend’s apartment because i don’t want to be blamed for anything. i only want metal and glass furniture from now on. may the force be with you all.
Thanks to everyone for the insurance answers. That’s a shame, though. I wish they did. Oh well, such is life…
I just moved into an rented apartment in the bay area (california) in January and soon (1-2 weeks later ) I found adult bed bugs wandering around the walls. Though I didn’t realize it at that time.
I had bought all my furniture, including my mattress, only after I had moved in here – I had only my clothes and a chair brought from my old place, which had no signs of bed bug infestation.
I found multiple signs of bed bug infestation on the walls near joints with adjoining walls and near the edge with the carpeted floor. I have seen so far about 40 BBs randomly wandering around the walls and hiding in the past 6 weeks. But till now, I have not seen a congregated site of bed bugs. My new mattress is a bit safe, for now. I have isolated it from the walls and the floor. I do not know if they made my way into my clothes yet.
The management responded to a request for pest control by saying that I had to do it myself.
At this point, I am trying to figure out what to do.
Should I call for a PCO? Should I do self treatment (washing all clothes, isolating my mattress and couch, caulking and applying DE?).
Since my lease requires me to stay for another 4 months before I move, I am unsure of what to do.
Sathish…San Francisco has specific bed bug laws that require the landlord to pay..the law is posted on this Blog under the FACT SHEETS colunm…please go to the top and look for the link…the landlord is entirely responsible…you MUST know your RIGHTS….until you hook up with a capable PCO you should take whatever steps needed to stop them from breeding..go onto the FAQ’s and read up on everything…there is a lot of valuable information on this Blog..please read up and then ask any questions you like…First thing is to call the local Dept. of Health…and then clean as much as you can and vacuum and toss the bag out..but please contact the health authorities and get your landlord to act !! deb
Hi – I was instructed to leave my post here to get a larger selection of answers. My tale starts back in Aug 06′ when I returned home to LA from a trip to NYC. The first or second morning home, I awoke with 5 or 6 severe bites on my hip that itched like hell and lasted for about 2 weeks! I assumed I had fleas. I have had fleas before, when my cats had gone outside, but now they were only indoors and it seemed strange, but this was my only conclusion at the time. A friend of mine suggested bedbugs as a possible culprit, but I had looked at some websites and read that people can see them and thought it couldn’t be bedbugs as I hadn’t seen anything. So I treated my apartment for fleas from August until January 07′. Yes, I bombed 4 or 5 times, I tortured my 2 indoor cats (Wilma & Betty) with alternating doses of Frontline and Advantage as well as regular baths and grooming trips to the vet. I exterminated for fleas twice with professional exterminators,.. I used Flea Busters powder, Borax and Adams Flea sprays constantly and all over everything I own. I established a nightly routine of bagging all of my clothes worn that day and leaving them in the bathroom, washing or drying my bed linens before bed every night and taking a shower and at least wetting my hair as I knew you can drown fleas. Still nothing. I was still being eaten alive…. I would sob occassionally and call my vet and she would just say it was a really bad flea season, but also that she didn’t see any flea residue on the cats. Was I sure it was fleas? Hmm.. Still the biting and crawling feelings continued. So in January I decided to do a “triple threat” against the fleas. First I threw out all of my area rugs. This did seem to help a little. I treated my house with Borax. I bombed again. I took my cats to have a bath – again. And then I had the 2nd of two exterminators come back for another stronger treatment and to treat my couch because this one spot where I was getting bitten. He finally said, “I don’t see anything jumping, I don’t think you have fleas, I think you have mites. Do you feel a crawling sensation”. I said yes, that’s it – I have mites. I definitely haven’t seen any fleas and people see fleas, so it must be mites. So since January I’ve been trying to catch and identify any sort of mite. I can’t find a damn bug… all I find are these black specks in my bed. I’ve called the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health, LA Westside Vector control. I went to the dermotologist twice! She wants to treat me for scabies… But I think that is a bad idea based on the fact that I don’t feel the bugs on me when away on a business trips. Well I might feel one the first night away, but then after that – nothing. I told this to the entomolgist at the Dept of Health in LA and she said, “Well things that bother people at home, tend to not bother them when they are away.”. Translation, “It’s in your head”. Basically, this is the answer I’ve been getting from all of the professionals – except for my own therapist who is a big fan and believes I am not making things up or havine delusions.
Finally, I have come around to the fact, that I think I really do have bedbugs. And after reading many posts, a lot of my questions about whether or not I have them, have been answered. In fact, I was actually ready to move apartments prior to reading the posts on this site. It would be helpful to get some more verification from the ‘bug gallery’ on what I am experiencing… Any answers appreciated..
I believe it is bed bugs for the following reasons:
* I get bitten mainly in my bed, within an hour or two before dawn. Or I should say, I feel the bugs crawling on me at this time and wake up later with bites.
* The bugs I feel crawl across me very quickly.
* The bugs do not discriminate where they go. They are literally everywhere… my legs, toes, hands, arms, waist, armpits, under breasts, in my private parts. They also crawl up my nose and in my mouth on occassion. I have even been bitten in my ear, which was VERY itchy.
* Although I have never seen a bug, I do have black pepper specks in my bed often when I wake up looking for bugs in the middle of the night with a magnifying glass, that I recently purchased to identify something. (I feel like a nutcase!)
* I feel the bugs bite me during the day particularly crawling in my shoes and then they make it up to my underpants after I sit at my desk or on my couch for an extended period of time. They seem to crawl on me after I have been stationary for a short period, whether that is in the bed, on the couch or at my desk.
Reasons for why I am not sure if I do have bed bugs:
* I have never seen one, I think. I do have some specimens that haven’t been identified yet.
* My bites last only 1 – 6 hours and you can hardly see them. They look like miniture misquito bites. You can see them better after I itch them and they form a scab.
* I have had two exterminators look with flash lights at my bed and bedroom. They couldn’t find anything. (however I did read that many bug guys aren’t that familiar with diagnosing the problem yet.)
* I feel the bugs in my hair occasionally and I read they do not like to be there, however I do not get bites on my head.
* I have two cats and they seem to be like little mops that pick up the bugs around the house. When I put a cat on my lap or in my bed, I seem to feel more bugs crawling on me. The cats don’t itch, but I do see them biting at their paws every now and then. I heard bed bugs mainly feed on humans.
* I have sticky bug traps around my house and I don’t think I’ve ever caught one. The traps I turned into the exterminator after two weeks, didn’t come up with anything.
* Other people that have stayed at my house for one night, haven’t felt anything. Nor have they taken any bugs with them. Of course I cleaned, a lot prior to their arrival. My guests did sleep in my bed, but it was only a few weeks after my intial bites in August.
Your opinion here is greatly appreciated. at this point I was ready to move, but then I read your website.. Any advice on catching a sample would be good.
Thank you,
I feel compelled to comment again. Your initial story is so incredibly like my own that it’s scary. I was being bitten, but saw nothing. I had my dogs groomed, bathed, frontlined, the works, same as you! The vet saw no evidence of fleas. My ex boyfriend determined that we were being bitten by invisible “mites”. I threw out (donated) gorgeous antique rugs, (boo hoo), removed and destroyed a Herman Miller desk chair (while at my desk where I am this very moment I would be bitten, so it “had” to be the expensive chair, right?), bathrobes, tee shirts, jeans, sweaters, socks, sheets, towels, bedding, so much was just THROWN OUT. Dermatolgists gave me cream (Temovate is EXCELLENT, ask your dr.). I cleaned, rinsed, boraxed, puracleened, bombed, THE SAME as you…. and finally when the boyfreind was gone from my life and I was still being bitten— LIGHT BULB! It had to be bed bugs…and then, I found THIS SITE that I am writing on…and my life got better.
Hang in there.
You have a long road, but if you follow the faq’s and stay active with questions you will learn alot and you will not feel alone
YOU ARE NOT GOING NUTS. It was an excellent idea to get the magnifying glass (I don’t have one all this time and I should have gotten one). Good luck .
WMSB, did you eventually start to see bugs, once exterminators started to treat?
AGBM, thanks for moving the discussion here from the FAQs. I wonder if you had black specks in your bed when the Pest Control Operator came? When the PCO comes, you should not have cleaned to the point where evidence is lost. You should in fact go several days without picking up those black fecal specks, so when they come, they can see them. (Some may be lint, so make sure they look at a few.) That may be your only evidence, but PCOs who know bed bugs should be able to work with that.
Do you ever get small rusty stains on your sheets (from little specks of blood after being bitten–look closely) or larger ones? Use white sheets and again, do not change them when the PCO comes.
If you did not have the black specks, I would say you probably had something else. The fecal specks are key. Scabies does not cause them. You’re not the only one who does not see the bugs, but that does not mean you are delusional if you have other forms of evidence.
Nobugs, NO. I never saw bugs—not before during or after the treatment. I once saw a cockroach and one time a silver fish. Flies. But that is it. Never saw a bed bug. I believe I have seen moult. And I definitely saw blood 2 blood drops, 2 times on my sheets. And usually see black pepper grinds (about 4 specks each time I find them, like every other day on my white sheet). I recently hired that Bed bug dog by the way. She barked at only 3 places in my home. NOt in my kids’ rooms (thank g*d) but only in mine. She barked at 2 chairs (that have some upholsery) and at my bed. I destroyed the two chairs and bagged them up and sent them to the trash. During their careful destruction, I did not find excrement, blood or bugs. Clean as a whistle. I cannot remove my bed frame (in my mind) until I get another one…so…I don’t know. Have I been sold a bill of goods? Is it the Emporer’s New Clothes? Am I prancing naked beliveing I am wearing a golden suit? I don’t know, but I want so badly to believe this dog was correct and that all I’ll need to do now is destroy the wooden platform bed (which by the way has beeen steamed — like the chairs were, and treated MANY times). I can relate to people who want to buy the “Snake Oil” even when they know it’s a hoax.
I recently
Hey WMSB,
I think your comment got cut off!
Wow… how frustrating. Again, were it not for the black specks, you’d have NO idea what you were dealing with.
Which bed bug dog service was this? I don’t know much about any of the NYC ones, but I do know they’re not all the same. Did the BBD handler say the dog could sniff eggs as well as live bugs? What about distinguishing molten skins and dead bugs from live ones? (As I understand from the BBD guys, this has to be part of training).
It’s a new field, obviously, and a bit of a gold rush for some, vs. a serious profession for others.
Anyway, I think getting rid of that stuff before it spreads (I mean, they can always move), sounds promising. And remember, you will be bitten until you’re not bitten any more. What I mean is, I’ve gathered from the stories of others that we don’t always know when they’re almost gone, until they’re gone.
You might want to remove that stuff as well as getting a few more treatments. (I can’t remember if that was your plan.) Or they might be coming from next door? (Shudder.)
Not sure how that partial phrase appeared at the end of my comment, It was a boo boo. Anyway…your suggestions and questions Nobugs are terrific. With the BBD guys, and i was very trusting, then skeptical afterwards. I think the dog sniffs and finds anything bed bug related. Not eggs or skins or dead or live, but any scent that was/is connected to a bed bug. I found nothing in those two chairs when i removed the upholstery and searched them. The company is Advanced K-9 Detectives. I found their link or something that lead me to them somewhere on this site, actually. They were Very informal, quick .
According to the bed bug dog guys I’ve spoken to (our readers) they have told me the dogs can be trained to distinguish live bugs from dead bugs and moltings. But they have to be trained for it. The bed bug dog professionals should be telling you exactly what the dog is trained for.
I have said it before and I must say it again. The “educated” consumer, is the best customer. We must ask lots of questions…of anyone we or a landlord hires who is involved in the extermination process. I think the bed bug dog is a good tool and wmsb you used a very reputable one. He has a reputation to protect, as he does a whole lot of business in NYC. But , that said, I would phone him and ask all the questions you must that will help give you as much peace of mind as possible. It’s your right. As nobugs says, they should be telling you, but unfortunately most will only answer the questions that are asked.
Yes–implied in my statement is that customers must ask questions.
Wow, bed bug dog – what will they think of next! Sounds like it is a good idea, though.
I have 3 questions:
Does the PCO treatment work? I mean after 3 tries, per the FAQ instructions on “finding a good PCO” – have you all virtually elimated the bugs using a PCO and doing the clothes washing/drying deal?
Also – has anyone ever heard of the enzyme sheets sold at the catalog CUDDLEDOWN? They claim to eliminate bed bugs from your home completely by just using the mattress and pillow covers!???
And lastly, has anyone ever tried the HEAT treatment where your house or apartment is heated up past 140 degrees to kill anything in it?
To NoBugsOnMe: Yes, I’ve only had two or three very small spots of blood on my sheets & pillow since August. I have off white sheets, so I can see pretty much everything. However, I do use a black cotten blanket, so I’m going to get rid of that to make sure I can get a positive result on the black specs. Thanks
Hej (that’s swedish for… hi)
Thanks for all the “positive vibes”. I guess these days that’s all that still keeps me going, knowing that there are people still there for me.
(
To hoplessnomo’ – thanks for the tip. From what I could understand, though, they only sell the smaller kind, which I have managed to get hold of. But, of course, if you want to store a full set of clothes… Obrigado, de qualquer modo!
To jessinchicago – yup, that’s exactly what’s happening to me now. Can you imagine sleeping with a painter suit (Tyvek suit, I think that’s how it’s called), with socks over the pants, a t-shirt and underwear beneath? It’s really unconfourtable and, unfortunately, and, as in your case, I’m still getting bites. Not a lot of them, mind, usually 2/3 or so a day. As you are more than aware, it’s not the number (obviously, the fewer the better), just the fact that it means they’re still here. However, I never see any “rust” or black spots, blood stains, skins or whatever (the PCO checked also and he said he couldn’t find anything). No live or dead bugs that I could see, except in the very first night. Most people are saying that I am getting paranoid, having an allergic reaction to something or that it’s just “over and you refuse to believe it”. Right…
I’ll try to ask the PCO about the mattress cover and DE. Try as I might, I can’t find them on my own – once again, being a foreign student is really “complicated”. Maybe they’ll have some suggestion, I don’t know. I have put a layer of vaseline all around the bed and the legs (besides the cans with oil). My idea was to put some DE under the matress (on the supporting board) but, since I couldn’t find it…
I gathered some info for you, Nobugs. That’s the advantage of being a biochemist! Chlorpyrifos (Empire 20) is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. Right… This means that it keeps acetylcholine bound to the nerve receptors. This makes that the neurons are always “on” and, basically, the bug has seizures. My PCO says it usually works right but that he’s had cases in which they are resistant to it. That’s why he changed to a mixture of Demand CS (lambda-cyhalothrin, a pyrethroid) and Starycide SC (Triflumuron, an Insect growth regulator). You are already aware of Demand (it has a similar effect to Empire 20, actually) and Starycide inhibits the formation of chitin (the protein that forms their exoskeletons) and that makes that they can’t moult into viable bugs and then die. Or so they say…
I am going home for Easter. I fell myself breaking apart and I really, really need to go home for a while. Before that, they are coming next wednesday again and I will tell them to do whatever they want while I’m away. Burn the whole place, for all I care… I’m tired, my head is a mess and I have to keep on with my PhD. Especially, I’m tired of being tired, always being sad and feeling like a refugee when I come home. S**t, I didn’t come all the way to Sweden for this! Ah, forget about it… You’ve heard this song before, right?
I’ve started going to a BodyBalance class. It helps a little (even if the class is in Swedish but, what the heck…) at least for one hour…
One question: I have only three outfits now, the rest is at -20 ºC. I wash them and put them in bags, which I seal. However, I wear them for two days in a row, so, at the end of the day, I put them back in the bag. When I wash tham, I put the bags in the drier (static drier, at 90 ºC) along with the clothes, so they’re “safe” to put the clothes back. Is that OK? I know I should put “clean in clean” put I don’t have enough bags.
One last thing: I’ve been told and, from my weak swedish, I understand the newspapers are saying that BB’s are on a rampage here in Sweden as well. Amazing, considering we’re kind of close to the North Pole…
Best regards
Tiago
Hi
Sorry for making another post after that big one… Just needed to ask about this: has anyone had experience with freezing stuff? I have read diverse opinions and would like to know if anyone has tried that. I have stuff at -20 ºC (I think -4 ºF) and I plan to leave it there until I either have no more bites or… give up and move. So, anyone having tried that, I woul appreciate the knowledge!
All the best
Tiago
RE: CUDDLEDOWN—-
*I spoke to the people who MAKE the mattress pad for Cuddledown. They are a company called INDIKA ORGANICS, and they are located in Montana.
*Everything they make (they say) is from 100%natural products. They infuse raw wool with botanical extracts that repel or destroy the bugs (or both).
*I had a long talk with the representative. Most of their products are sold to Hotels, Cuddledown is the only company that retails it exclusively though. She sent me LAB results (done in France) and I tried to scan them in so I could post them but one or two pages were weak so, I will try again.
* Anyway however— here is what she said to me in an email which information does not appear on the INDIKA ORGANICS website:
” Indika’s Biolaine products are made of 100% pure French wool. The pillow covers include a 100% organic cotton fabric casing that is quilted to the wool to give it extra strength. When the wool is in its raw state, after it has been washed and cleaned, our natural treatment based on plant extracts is infused into the fibers. The treatment for our Biolaine Plus Anti Bed Bug line is derived from chrysanthemum petals and with proper care, the Biolaine Plus line will last up to 5 years eliminating both bed bugs and dust-mites from your sleeping areas. The treatment itself is safer than table salt to you and me, but is very lethal to the bed bug. The product works as the bed bugs come in contact with the product. The chrysanthemum treatment affects their nervous systems, which in effect prevents their ability to move, feed, and/or reproduce. All of our lab tests have proven to completely eliminate the bed bugs from the targeted areas within 24-48 hours.
The products will protect the area in which they are placed. The mattress pads and pillow covers will protect your sleeping area, which includes your mattress and box springs. The Biolaine Plus wool is also available in rug/carpet underlayment and is sold by the yard. The wool can also be used for furniture batting, etc for other areas of the house, and this will keep them from living and laying their eggs in these places. We have been working at great lengths to provide healthy solutions to eradicate this terrible problem of the “hitch-hiker” bug infiltrating in our homes.
The active ingredients for Indika’s Anti Dust-mite GreenFirst line are Lavender, Eucalyptus, and Lemon essential oils. The GreenFirst line is proven to eliminate dust-mites with 99.7-99.96% proficiency by preventing dust-mites reproduction and suppressing the mildew, which provides their food. The GreenFirst line, with proper care will last for up to 10 years eliminating dust-mites.
Since the Indika mattress pads and pillow covers are made of wool, we do not recommend washing them, as shrinkage will occur. The pads should be placed directly onto the mattress and then covered with an additional cotton mattress pad or extra fitted sheet that may be more easily/regularly washed. We recommend professional dry cleaning at your local green cleaners or you may place the items in the dryer on “Air Fluff” only for 10-15 minutes with a damp sheet to “refresh” them once every 3-4 months.
All of our Biolaine Anti Bed Bug and Anti Dust-mite products have been lab tested to show their results. We have more literature on these products including lab results available upon request “
HI WMSB,
Interesting.
I’d love to see the lab results and get our entomologist friends to have a look. I’m still skeptical, but it would be interesting.
AGBM– people do have success but there’s no guarnatee it will be 3 visits from a PCO. It could be 3, 4, 5, or more. BUT you’re in a single family, non-attached house, right? That means it’s likely not to go on forever. People needing more than 4 treatments are often in multi-unit dwellings where the bugs can hide out in the wall or go next door, then come back. If you do go with standard treatment, make sure they come back at 2 week intervals until you have no bites and see no signs. Things should start to get better from the first treatment, but do not stop until it is GONE.
I hear good things about thermal treatment (done professionally) –one PCO I spoke with said it’s very promising. But as with anything bed-bug related, it’s a gold rush and there are shady operations. Get references and check on them. Also, another option is Vikane (which only works in single family homes or entire buildings if larger size). Gas is pumped in and kills them. Neither thermal nor Vikane have residual but in a single-family you should not need this, unless someone is bringing the bugs in (eg from a workplace).
Tiago–
What kind of bags are you storing the clothes in?!? You should have one bag for clean and one bag (replaced often) for worn once. Also, if the worn once is worn in the home, then they may be infested anyway. (You might want to have at-home clothes, which you change into when you get home. Lots of us shower and put the fresh clothes on before going out–so you have less chance of taking a hitchhiker.) If you’re storing the clothes in a cloth bag (it sounds like you are) then it isn’t probably sealed tightly enough. Remember bed bug nymphs are 1 mm. They can get in and out of a zipper, let alone a drawstring.
Thanks for the pesticide info and it sounds like the tank-mixing (of several pesticide types) is happening, though I’m not an expert, this sounds promising.
No bugs On me: thanks for the feedback! Actually I am in a large apartment complex, so I’m not sure how easy this is going to be.
One more thing – I am still, myself, not completely convinced it is bed bugs. I’m not sure that I’m hoping it is or isn’t at this point. Identification would at least make me feel better one way or the other.
I guess one of my big questions is related to the bites. The bites I see in the photos on the web are very obvious. Again, my initial first bite experience did produce those obvious bites. But ever since then my bites have been like miniture misquito bites that you really can only see at certain angles in the light, however I can feel the little bump. Every time I scratch an itch, I feel my skin for a little bump and it is always there. So I know I’m getting bitten. But again, they are so small, you really can’t see them until after I’ve itched them and the skin breaks and they bleed a little. In your experience does this seem like it could still be bed bug bites?
Also, the other thing that is weird is that they do prefer to crawl (or I have the crawling sensation) during the day or at night, in my shoes, or in my private parts. Of course when I look for something, I never see it. I do often get bites on my feet – but not in my private parts.. Also today, the buggers were up at 7:30am (which was really 6:30am yesterday) and it was light out. They seem to get disturbed once I move around in the bed, whether it is light or dark. But then they settle down after 10-15 minutes of moving around or (crawling senstation).
Do you think it could be mites of some sort or do you think this is still most likely bed bugs?
Thank you very much for your help..
Hi…
I’ve heard numerous stories about bed bugs, however I just shrugged them off because I’ve never had contact with them. I just bought a used bed frame, and while I was building it, I realized a spot that was placed against a wall (in the person’s room that I purchased from). Immediately, bed bugs popped into my head and I actually started spotting them in cracks of the bed frame (plus feces). I immediately dismantle the frame and SHOVED it to my front door. I cleaned everything I could possibly reasonably clean. How far should I go to ensure that I didn’t have bed bugs paradrop in my place? PLEASE HELPPP…
Hong…Let this be a lesson NO USED FURNITURE..Those days are over ! You must vacuum your apt. like crazy and wash your floors with Murphy’s Oil Soap and very hot water…You said you shoved the frame to your front door ?? These bugs crawl ! I hope you threw this frame far outside away from your place or anyone else’s. And I hope you bagged it and I hope no one took it. You must keep very clean keep washing your sheets and clothes and vacuuming, then to play it safe, you should isolate your bed ( read the Faq’s about bed isolation ) and then you just have to wait and see. Please tell everyone you know not to buy any used items. Deb
AGOODbugmeal: It still sounds to me like bed bugs. I too have felt those little tiny bites (probably from nymphs) and they fade to nothing very quickly. So quickly in fact that I begin to relax. Last week I received 20 BIG FAT bites from the grown up nymphs (nymphs should be more like nymphos because big bites mean they are ready to MATE and lay eggs). Beware and be aware. Don’t cross bed bugs off your list of possibilities. If in 3 to 4 weeks those bites get bigger it’s due to what I just said.
Closing this thread. Continue reading and leaving your comments and questions here.
Yeah, when I said shoved into the front door, I Shoved out outside of the house…however I can’t get it really that far, perhaps a sidewalk away or so. Thanks for the advice, are their any additional tips for what to scan for? I’ve inspected my mattress like 20 times (this was bought new), and I can’t find any bugs + feces…but I did put it on my “new frame” for about an hour or so during midnight. More advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much.
Hong..Please read all the FAQ’s on this blog…You should buy the zipper covered mattress and boxspring and pillow cover bed bug protectors, from Nat’l Allergy Catalog…and if you are in NYC you can go to Broadway Exterminators….I think they sell some bed bug products that you can apply…Some food grade DE spread around your baseboards would be helpful…and caulking around your baseboards and window ledges..but definitely cover that mattress& boxspring…and wash your pillow in very hot water….keep very clean and as clutter free as possible..and then go to the person who sold you the bug infested frame and tell them they will have bad karma !! Deb
Well, I got on the list to have the Pest guy do my apartment. Surprisingly, the building manager didn’t panic or blame me, since she was aware of how bed bugs have been spreading throughout the city. When I mentioned that I was barely functioning on one or two hours a night now, she said to sprinkle talcum powder on my bedsheets so they wouldn’t bite me. I was desperate enough to try anything and my son checked on the internet “bed bugs + talcum powder” and found that it, also medicated powder works even better. Since we have both, I sprinkled medicated powder on the bed, then later, to calm my nerves enough so I wasn’t feeling phantom crawlies, I rubbed talcum powder on my body, too.
It Worked!!! When I woke up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break I only had one small bite between my fingers (on the hand that hung over the edge of the bed) and I found one small whitish bug, which I squashed. I reapplied the talcum powder (which helped the sting go away) and had my first complete sleep in weeks.
I also taped the zipper ends on my mattress and pillow covers, which may have helped, too.
But to actually be able to go back to bed without being a nervous wreck was marvelous. My asthma wasn’t affected by the talcum powder either, so I’d definately recommend it for those who are still being bitten.
Hang in there, you’re not alone in this.
Jon, I had not heard reports of people having success with talcolm powder before.
Do others in your building have bed bugs?
When the PCO comes make sure you get a note telling you what he used. And read our FAQs–linked at the top. You might find some good ideas there.
Others in my building have bed bugs, but so far getting professional help seems to be voluntary.
The baby powder worked on me and my upstairs neighbour, soothing the bites and deterring nighttime visitors.
Just getting sleep is a big help for my mental health.
jon – do not think that you dont need to get a pco. a great nights sleep is all the powder will do for you. and as you wait, thinking that this solved the problem, just b/c you are not getting bit, the bbs will be multiplying and you will have a larger infestation to deal with which means more money, time and emotional drainage.
please – get a professional.
Hi All,
Please continue in the most recent “Tales of Woe” thread. I have closed comments on this thread.
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