I have been investigating a lot about these things and want to try and prevent another infestation. I don’t want to assume they have been eradicated, but rather prerpare that a couple are going to tag along. Obviously as with anything, there are no guarantees with any method of treatment for these suckers. But without an infestation, what is the likelihood some sort of DE will be effective in preventing a further spread? For the record, I’m moving out of an apartment into the basement suite of a house. It’s been just under a month since the first treatment, and a little over a week since the second shot. Other than my clothes sitting in plastic bags in storage since prior to the first application, I have moved very little… most of it is still sitting in the apartment. Almost all of the furniture was treated by the PCO.

Also, the home I’m moving in to has birds. What I’ve read about DE, it sounds like added precautions should be taken for their safety at the very least during application. If DE isn’t the ideal for this kind of situation, is there something else I should be looking at? Again, I’m not trying to treat an infestation at this point, just trying to prevent one in the event that a couple of these suckers tagged along for the ride. It seems like there’s too much information and it’s hard to decide what to believe. Makes one second guess their efforts… of which there have been a lot. That’s probably the most stressful part of it… thinking you’ve done everything you can only to find out you haven’t. The company who did the treatment didn’t recommend much more than laundering clothes and emptying drawers.

“Since you should not be inhaling DE, you don’t want it somewhere it will be disturbed. Similarly, putting it on soft furnishings like mattresses and sofas seems like a dangerous idea. Did you ever sit on a dusty sofa? You do not want DE in your lungs, not even freshwater DE.”

Is that too much?

[*one says they're calling an exterminator, the others seem to have their heads in the sand]

A new post on New York vs. Bed Bugs today examines the following study:

Journal of Medical Entomology 46(3):572-579. 2009
doi: 10.1603/033.046.0323
Addition of Alarm Pheromone Components Improves the Effectiveness of Desiccant Dusts Against Cimex lectularius

Joshua B. Benoit, Seth A. Phillips, Travis J. Croxall, Brady S. Christensen, Jay A. Yoder, and David L. Denlinger.

This article notes that

The efficacy of diatomaceous earth seems to depend somewhat on the formulation; sometimes it works and sometimes it does not (Allan and Patrican 1994). Resistance also seems to be an issue with diatomaceous earth (Korunic and Ormesher 2000, Rigaux et al. 2001). Previous studies concluded that Dri-die seems to be superior to diatomaceous earths (Allan and Patrican 1994, Appel et al. 1999), and that is what we observed in this study during short-term exposure. Two key points that may alter the effectiveness of Dri-die and DE are the duration of bed bug exposure and the residual effects. Indeed, future studies are needed to test these two aspects for C. lectularius.

Like Renee,

The only thing I did know was, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not, clearly, but I thought the problem was with application and the difficulty of ensuring exposure, not resistance. Resistance never crossed my mind. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard “bed bugs cannot develop resistance to DE” more than once.

It is important to take note of this, and consider that it may account for why DE does not always work for people (even if they apply it properly, even if bed bugs walk over it, even if they allow sufficient time).

I am re-opening comments on this FAQ, due to this additional information.

I have seen several post regarding DE damaging vacuum cleaners – use a SHOP VAC -we purchased a small one for under 60$ and the suction is much greater than you will get with a regular vac. Just make sure to get the filter bags so that you can throw out the bugs and eggs that you vacuum.