Comments on: Lavender oil won’t do it: do any “natural remedies” work for bed bugs?

By: aballen

aballen — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:02:17 +0000

The very same night that I introduced bed bugs into my home on a blanket that I had used on vacation, I slatered my neck and upper body in Lavender Oil in order to induce relaxation and sleep. I woke up with about 25 bed bug bites, most of them in the area with the Lavender Oil. It was also the area of my body exposed, not under the covers. So, they had nooooooo problem with Lavender Oil on my body.

By: hopelessnomo

hopelessnomo — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:22:04 +0000

Luci, the FAQs may be of help in answering all your questions.

After you have read at least the basic FAQs, please visit the forums for help from others currently also suffering from bedbugs. You can repost your questions there. But I suggest you read the FAQs first.

By: luci

luci — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:42:52 +0000

I’v washed all my clothing, and dried them….. but possible not at the HOTTEST setting …….. so doesn’t drowning them in the wash water work?

has anyone had success (after the funigators have come 2 times already — my landlord is paying for it) with using double sided carpet tape….. at least to detect how much bugs are left , and to catch a few more?

and the alchohol….. would it work to wash floors with alchoh and soapy water…. jsut for cleanliness and to get rid of crumbs/ ect that they feed on, or do they simply need blood?

can they crawl up metal/ or wooden cabinets/ shelving? once I’v cleaned my containers and inspected cardboard boxes/ replaced old boxes with new ones, and inspected objects whjile transfering them to the new ones….
should I be able to see them, even if they are partically transparent… or are they as tiny as a pin head, or tinyer?

thanks

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:21:14 +0000

Everything P-N-B said, and just to be super clear: when you wash and dry the clothing, SEAL them in a clean plastic bag in an airtight manner. It is possible to seal a garbage bag in an airtight manner, but you have to take care (one single knot into itself works, if you know what I mean. Most of us use ziploc XL bags which are HUGE and have handles. It’s an added expense but they can be reused: clean for clean. Bag any dirty clothes and shoes you used to move–everything must be discarded or washed on hot or dried from dry on hot. See the FAQ PNM recommended.

By: persona-non-bugga

persona-non-bugga — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:57:11 +0000

Hi Aaron, there’s an FAQ about how to eliminate bedbugs from clothes and other items on the blog. It might be very helpful to you.

http://bedbugger.com/faqs/stuff/

The most common advice I’ve seen is to wash clothes & bedding on the hottest setting. Then dry the clothes & bedding on the hottest setting for 20 minutes beyond the point when they’re bone dry. This will kill them.

My advice is to launder them directly on the way to your new home. Don’t launder and then bring them back to the shelter where they’ll get reinfested.

What will you be transporting your clothes in? Bedbugs hitch rides in suitcases. Do you have other belongings - like books or small furniture? All crevices are potential hiding spots. The FAQ has advice on how to deal with that stuff, but I think it will be quite challenging to eliminate them from anything that’s not washable.

91% isopropyl alcohol is a contact kill. It has to make direct contact with the bug to kill it. If one is hiding in a crack somewhere where the alcohol can’t reach, then the bedbug will survive and live to bite again. But if something is non-washable, you can try drenching and saturating that item in 91% alcohol. No guarantees though, so proceed carefully.

If you try the alcohol, I wouldn’t treat any belongings in the shelter only to get reinfested again. I wouldn’t treat these items in your hotel suite either. That’ll give them a chance to hop off and set up house at your new place. Better to spray them outside in a parking lot or some other relatively safe location.

BTW, if they’re on you, the bedbugs are most likely biting you. You’re probably not allergic to them.

Congrats on getting out of the shelter. Good luck with the move.

By: Aaron Taylor

Aaron Taylor — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:55:17 +0000

Hi,
I’m moving out of a shelter, into a hotel suite that I am renting. Every bed in the shelter has bedbugs in it. I have found them on my clothes durning the morning shortly after leaving the shelter, but I have not recieved any bites. Does washing and thoroughly drying my bedding and clothing kill bedbugs, or is that not hot enough. Please let me know as soon as possible. I am petrified of bringing an infestation into a new building if I don’t have to. Also, I have no money right now. Is there any affiliation who will support me with funds to fumigate, or choose a more invasive form of pest control.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration,
Sincerely,
Aaron.

By: willow-the-wisp

willow-the-wisp — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:25:28 +0000

Melatonin is a naturally occurring biological substance in many creatures–including us.
Just a reminder that if you take more than the 2 mgs as suggested on the label — or is it three, I cant recall off-hand, then you can do your body a serious disservice.
Really … heed the warnings on the melatonin labels. They are there with good reason. 99.999% of the time more is not better, where pills are concerned. Melatonin most definitely falls into that category. It is a very effective sleep aid. This is so, so true. I took it for a few years–a few years back, on and off. I never went above the prescribed limit. DidnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t even feel a need to try TAKING MORE AS, it is that effective if taken in the prescribed dose.
Heated milk for those of us who are not lactose intolerant can try this too–the release of L. tryptophane, an essential amino acid–also helps.
However, they took the L. tryptophane pills … off the market … as people were doing serious liver damage by popping them like candy 24/7.

I knew a person who fit into this category … when they took it off the market
Poor case he was … you could see him drinking milk 24/7, trying to get his L. Tryptophan “knock-out dose.” He was a nervous wreck to begin with … that got worse, much worse…

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:16:39 +0000

updated to direct people to more information on thermal, cold, and steam.

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 04:16:13 +0000

Yes, I take it back. Shoes are a perfect natural remedy for bed bugs. The only problem is fiding one to hit. And being awake to catch it.

By: James Buggles

James Buggles — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 04:02:23 +0000

All true, but they are no match for your shoe — not that you’ll ever get that oppotunity. See: http://www.angelfire.com/vamp/shoopshoop/cockroach.html