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Theresa Braine’s bed bug-induced trip down memory lane

nobugsonme — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:22:18 +0000

Although options like the Packtite mean people don’t need to throw their potentially infested items away in order to get rid of bed bugs (and probably shouldn’t — at least not without rendering them bed bug-free), decluttering is often part of the bed bug experience or its aftermath.

A bed bug infestation at home forces us to carefully consider our possessions — which ones are important, and which we can live without.

There’s nothing like washing and drying thirty blouses or twenty pairs of trousers to make you wonder if you might be able to make do with much less. Underlying such thoughts is the sinister feeling that you may yet have to do all this again, and — God forbid – again.

Theresa Braine tells such a story in “Banishing Bedbugs Means Scouring Memory Lane.” She writes,

A bedbug infestation puts you through a mandatory encounter with every single one of your possessions–ready or not, here they come.

Many people go through them quickly or simply chuck it all. Others find ways to disinfect their things. I chose the life-examination route.

The next day I woke up ready to divest myself of my past.

(The Suzy Homemaker washer had to go, but the Gloria Steinem autograph and Camp Fire Girls memorabilia were keepers.)

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FAQ: What is a Packtite?

nobugsonme — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:57:47 +0000

Someone commented on an old post about this product today, and seeing much of the information was outdated, and we have so much more to say about the Packtite now, I wanted to bring it up to date.

The Packtite is a little machine into which you can place packed or unpacked luggage, stuffed animals, shoes, “unwashable” clothing, and other items. You leave your stuff in it for several hours while it heats up, killing bed bugs and eggs inside. You need to carefully follow the instructions and monitor the temperature at the core of your items, in order to make sure 120 F is attained throughout, and then leave the Packtite running for an hour after the temperature is reached.

Although the unit was originally designed so that frequent travelers could bake their luggage when they got home from a trip — for the purpose of preventing a bed bug infestation at home, people with bed bugs quickly saw the possibilities in terms of de-bugging items in the home.

Packtite measures measures 36l x 19w x 24h inches and looks like this:

The Packtite was independently evaluated by entomologist Sean Rollo of The Bed Bug Resource, who found the Packtite did reach the required temperature of 120 F, and said “In summary, I am happy with the unit.” On our Bedbugger forums, bedbugs78 asked if the item would melt plastic bags. David James, the Packtite’s creator, responded:

I can answer the plastic question, with our newly designed unit we tested cheap thin walled plastic bags to see if we would have any melting issues, these bags were tested by tying them directly to the metal frame inside and were positioned closest to the heat source- after 4 hours of heating we did not have any plastic melting issues. The inside of this unit reaches sauna like temperatures and is a good guide to use when considering what to put inside. We are currently including a digital thermometer with each packtite so that the user can monitor temperatures of personal items placed in the unit to insure they reach killing temperatures.

As Sean notes in the same thread, “It can be used to treat anything that can be heated to 120-140F. ” And Packtite creator David notes,

… we have a long list of specific safety instructions plus we are including a digitial thermometer with every unit so that our customers can track the heating process if they like. Each unit also has a timer so that it will shut off after 4 hours.

The timer is an important safety feature. People began to use the machine to get rid of bed bugs in all kinds of stuff which was previously difficult for individuals to treat. Bedbugger forum user Overwhelmed said,

I’ve treated a pretty wide variety of stuff: purses, books, shoes, mail I need to send to my roommate who is away at grad school, the footstool and removable seat of an armchair that lives in my bedroom, the carpet attachment to my vacuum, the wood-framed mirror that hung on a wall near my bed . . .

Adele tells us she baked a loosely packed box of papers.

Mangycur had some creative ideas also, including heating empty clean-but-used Ziploc XL bags, yoga props, and a cat scratching post. She asked here if we might compile a master list of items which could be treated in the Packtite, and David reminded us that the best practice is to learn to use the probe to monitor the temperatures, so we can judge whether any particular item has reached the correct killing temperature: David said,

The master list idea would be nice, but I think there will be just too many variables and might discourage use of the included thermometer to monitor ones progress. We could say x number of hours for sweaters, but the type of sweater, the size of the sweater and how tightly folded etc the sweater was put in would effect treatment time. I would recommend running the thermometer into the center mass of what you are heating and once it hits 120 give it another hour just to be sure. I love the different things you mentioned putting in the unit, who knew bed bugs could be into yoga?

Packtite owners must use their own judgment. Remember you are baking an item at 120-140 F. Even items which can usually be safely treated (such as leather shoes) may suffer effects in time. One has to use own’s own goog judgment.

Of course, if you have an infestation of bed bugs, you have to worry that even the cloth-covered Packtite might become infested while sitting around on the floor. Not to worry, David notes here,

… if you are worried about the outside of the unit being infested, you can remove the internal frame and put the canvas bag part in a dryer.

Thinking back on a short time ago when people used to put sealed things in storage for 18 months rather than keep potentially-infested items in the home after treatment, this is really quite a revolutionary option.

For people who are infested at work, or whose children are attending a school known to be infested, this may be a way of keeping bed bugs in clothing, backpacks and purses, from coming into the home.

You can see a video of Jeff White of Bed Bug Central talking about and demonstrating the use of the Packtite below.

Note: Bedbugger has an affiliate relationship with Packtite. If you purchase through the links here or via one of our other Packtite ads, part of the proceeds of your purchase go to help support the operating costs of Bedbugger.com, at no additional cost to you.

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FAQ: Leaving stuff out to freeze, walk-in freezers, etc: how cold and how long?

nobugsonme — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 23:14:44 +0000

So you want to de-infest a bunch of stuff, and you want to try doing it with cold?

Dr. Michael Potter covers that, in the article from January’s PCTOnline:

In colder climates, freezing might be a way to de-infest furniture and other belongings. Bed bugs and their eggs can be killed by very low temperatures, but it is difficult to achieve them without using a deep freezer. Temperatures below 0°F (-18 C) for one to two weeks are generally believed to be needed to reliably kill all life stages. Fluctuating winter temperatures which often extend above this level are probably less effective and are currently being studied by Dr. Steven Kells at the University of Minnesota. Overall and throughout much of the country, heating tends to be a faster, more reliable option than chilling.

Your own home freezer is not going to be cold enough, and even if it was, it would have to remain closed for the duration.

Relying on Mother Nature has failed for some. We’ve had some reports that “leaving things out in the snow for a month” did not work, and this is probably why. Add the fact that what you packed may insulate the bed bugs to a degree (just as a comforter can insulate them in a dryer) and you may be very disappointed.

If you have access to a below O Fahrenheit (-18 C) freezer (check the temperatures), book it for two weeks. It will probably work as per Dr. Potter’s words. Be sure and let us know.

Warning: I would not freeze electronic items. You can ruin the item, and you might even electrocute yourself later.

If you can offer below zero degree F freezing space, feel free to leave a link to your site in the comments below.

Updated 10/2007:

(The following was a forum response by nobugsonme, in this thread, to a poster whose PCO suggested sticking things in the freezer for a day to kill bed bugs.)

How cold does your freezer get? Do you intend to open it during the time you are freezing this stuff? How thick is the stuff?

No one can tell you what will work for sure with your freezer. How long freezing bed bugs takes depends on these kinds of factors.

Here’s something else to consider: entomologist Lou Sorkin froze bed bugs. He has a seriously cold freezer. This is what he said:

“I had them in a freezer at -29dF (-34 C) for 4 hours and some 1st instars lived. But [in] 5 days they also died.”

(Taken from the Yahoo Bedbugger Group, click here and join to read message 3739).

Your home freezer is bound to be much warmer than Lou’s professional one.

Also, Lou said in another message that I can’t locate right now, that when he removed some bed bugs from the freezer after shorter period (which I think was within a day, maybe shorter), they appeared dead, and then defrosted and were still alive.

Lou’s data suggests 5 days works if your freezer reaches -29 degrees (-34 C) F. But we have suggested freezing for weeks to be safer, if it does not get that cold.

And freezing does not mean placing it in a freezer you use all the time. If the door is opening and shutting, the temperature will rise each time the door is opened.

Some people have bought $200 box freezers to freeze important stuff. Pricey, but so is tossing shoes and important things out. Putting the stuff in and leaving it undisturbed for two weeks seems promising, but if the freezer does not stay below 0 degrees F, be warned: we really do not know how long it will take to kill bed bugs at other temperatures.

Attention: the above FAQ was written before the invention of a tool which many readers will find useful. The Packtite allows people to easily use heat to remove bed bugs from items such as unwashable clothing, books, papers, shoes, etc. You can read more in the Packtite FAQ.

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