Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums Topic: getting a new matress...

Anonymous on "getting a new matress..."

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:11:59 +0000

Yes, I think that's fair, coop. And there is value in testing to see if you are bitten in order to know when it's over. And, if the idea of sleeping on the floor freaks you out, you could follow Willow's suggestions and try to isolate the air mattress with a vaseline and plastic perimeter.

ficktion on "getting a new matress..."

ficktion — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:11:25 +0000

Thanks to everyone. Coopbugged, how did you get rid of matress and boxspring responsibly? They are both encased now -But i want to keep the expensive allergy encasements for my new raised "aerobed"- Where did u get that air mattress?(you can maybe pm me if u wont to avoid commercial risks): Perhaps I keep the metal frame too, as it is not hard to clean. I have obsessively isolated my bed last time, I am spraying 91% alcohol in the metal legs each morning (as a trap) and more kleen free is on the way.... Willows tips i shall folow too!as i should take my 250 bucks worth dry cleaners home? I am sure my friend does not have them... I'll ditch the matress and boxspring on Wed-and get a new air mattres,and re do laundry,for bedding and all the used-clothes bags. Will call the city now to see if they can help me ditch it...thanks for evrything to y' all

coopbugged on "getting a new matress..."

coopbugged — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:13:28 +0000

well perhaps if someone is looking for an interim solution (before investing in a real bed) an aerobed is a good test... if the bugs are pretty much gone, you won't get bit, and if they do, it is an easy-to-clean solution until you feel you are bug free and ready to invest in real furniture?

willow-the-wisp on "getting a new matress..."

willow-the-wisp — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:44:50 +0000

Some silly ideas and mistakes we make about bed bugs--hey we're not "dummies" we just didn't know! Isolating a bed can take days, it involves many contact kills on all of the surfaces of the bed top bottom inside too! Now ... if one lays on an air mattress on a strip of plastic leaving a few feet on either side and at either end of said air mattress atop plastic--and puts a goop of Vaseline completely surrounding the bed, say 6 inches in from the edge of the plastic--one will be safe--so long as one does not accidentally re-introduce any bb's crossing over to go to sleep. (This is one reason why I suggest only touching the bed when cleaning or getting ready for sleep.) In addition, air mattress to clean? For some of us? Thatâ€™s child's play. Using a crevice tool is great for vacuuming out the hollows of the pool type air bed--(or an aero bed like coops) and with summer, here .... they are all sold cheaply Nomo, is wise here: there is no point in trying to outguess bedbugs unless youâ€™re sure you have the knowledge and skills to take calculated risks (that's what 90% of getting rid of them is calculated risk where and when to vacuume" Where would the PCO spray? Here? or there? Everywhere?). For instance: here's a few Silly things one might do: vacuuming in an area where there are (perhaps only a few bugs hiding in the rugs--and vacuuming away from the bed instead of towards it). Silly silly silly. (Most bed bugsare in furniture under furniture in wall seams and corners and in clothing--if it is dark, you'll find more of htem there. if it is a tight sopt to fit in? You'll find more of them there. I closet corneres in corners near the bed--under furniture near the bed. inside a lamp by the bed. etc ... (These bugs love to be feeling like they are "touching" things on all sides--or on as many sides as they can while at rest and in hiding.) Dropping off dry cleaning at a friends (for temporary sotroage) when you have an active infestation, yet you don't consider the clothes your wearing may have a bug "eager to roam" into their couch or even under their wooden chair in the kitchen, should you sit for a cup of coffee. And your friend? Did you get the bed bugs at his or her house? Or do they have them too? That's like jumping out of the frying pan into the growing bed bug pile for sure. You do all that work and in 6 months pick up your dry cleaning and in the process get a bug or two in their home on the way out the door. More silly ideas: Some of us donâ€™t think we need to wash and dry our pillows for hours! (That was me--I finally realized I had to entumb my pillows in an airless void of plastic--then put into pillowcases. I chcuked most of them--and made pillows from 4-5 paper towel rolls put inside duble plastic bags, each squished together seperatley to let out air--then I put them into pillow cases.) Some of us donâ€™t realize that if we separate our clothing into home/ work/ and bedtime .... These three sets still need to be sealed in plastic--and we need to realize that each could have picked up a bed bug or two. Especially nighttime clothing used previously on a bed we are still being bitten on. So if the bed is not isolated--it would be foolhardy to wear last nightâ€™s clothing to bed tonight. You have to isolate the ENTIRE BED frame and all! Either with 100% coverage of box spring and mattress--with sturdy plastic and duct tape 100% and Pillowsâ€”washed and dried for hours until hot and completely dry plus 20 minutesâ€”or toss them out. OR--USE Allergy covers for all three--and dousing the entire bed fame--not once â€¦ sometimes ... it takes three shots Best to be very through the first time. Then .... NEVER get into, or sit on the bed, unless your in fresh washed clothing. Also--alwaus wash off your feet before allowing them to hit the bed too. Most bed bugs are in the rug and on the floor and in furniture and clothingâ€”if, they are not on the walls already, which will occur as the infestation continues onward treated or otherwise. Those poisons make bed bugs do strange thngs! I say ... think twice beforee giving up on a mattress in the midst of treatment. Put Vaseline on the bed posts ... isolate the mattress and box sponge and change bedding and night clothing often. Some good contact kills to drench stuff with are Murphyâ€™s oil with citrus r alcohol (if you donâ€™t mind rusting and removing the finish off wood) and I hear klean free is very good. It takes a while to come in the mail however Murphy' oil with citrus 3:1 or 4:1 diluted from the concentrated formula ,should suffice and youâ€™d sponge it on and let it dry. 4 pints of r, alcohol would do a bed with headboard and footboard and all the slats and the metal frame and the corners where the metal meets â€¦.. Douse it! Just donâ€™t light any matches, Finally--don't forget to isolate pillows in double sturdy plastic bags and sqeeze all of the excess air out (S L O W L Y ) before sealing them. Put then imto a pillow case and wash the pillowcase every three days, with the entirty of all your bedding. ***never let it touch the floor when sleeping either--the pillow or the bedding. 2 times my pillow fell on the floor in the nmiddle of the night--I left it there and I re- cleaned it the next day by spraying r alcholol on all of the plastic a few times. And I used a new pillow case when it dried.

Anonymous on "getting a new matress..."

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:46:31 +0000

Hey coop, no one discounts your experience, but I actually think that they do climb up air mattresses. You were not bitten anywhere else in your home after you tossed your bed, if I remember? So it is possible that if there were any bugs left, they died during the first treatment. It's not like you know that you still had bugs and therefore can surmise that they could not climb up your bed. I'm just reluctant to subtract from the known set of bedbug abilities. I think they are smart and adept and their whole existence is bent on survival. Better not to underestimate them. Further, I had an air mattress on a metal cot, after getting rid of my bed, and I still got bites. If the bugs are living somewhere else, they will find a way. As far as bugs upside down, when they crawl onto ceiling fixtures, they are hanging upside down, are they not? However, an air mattress on the floor is easy to clean, so that even if bugs come on, you can clean them off and they will eventually die from further treatments. The air mattress on the floor can work, but one cannot say that it is an isolated bed.

coopbugged on "getting a new matress..."

coopbugged — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:31:52 +0000

I dunno... the raised aerobed has plastic sides that are convex (they bow outwards) so it may be that the bugs have a very hard time climbing it, since they would have to hang on almost upside down to get up the slippery sides. I put vaseline on the cord and the hard plastic motor parts just in case. But it seems likely that in our case, the bugs were hanging out in our upholstered bed frame, and when we tossed that (carefully, chopped up, bagged and marked) we eliminated 90% of the problem, maybe 100%.

Anonymous on "getting a new matress..."

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:23:29 +0000

A bed directly on the floor, raised aerobed or not, is not an "isolated" bed. I'm so glad that it worked for coop, perhaps because the bugs were gone with the original bed that was tossed, but I suspect it will not work for someone whose bugs are living/hiding elsewhere. If bugs can climb metal, I would say that they can certainly climb plastic. EDIT: Not that a non-isolated bed is reason to despair that treatments won't work, but it's clear that ficktion wants an isolated bed. Ficktion, having bites after the first PCO treatment is normal. They don't get all the eggs and the emerging nymphs bite. Sometimes they don't get all the adults either, that's why they have to return. Not sure what type of frame you have, but if you cannot take it apart to clean really well, or if the PCO did not drench it in pesticides--I'm afraid it probably takes that much to really reach all crevices--then you could decide to toss it, responsibly. Bugalina used an air mattress on a cheap metal frame and it worked very well for her. It is possible that you are right and they're in there. But you need more PCO treatments no matter what you decide about the bed.

coopbugged on "getting a new matress..."

coopbugged — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:09:02 +0000

nothing. it's a raised aerobed; it inflates to the height of a regular bed.

nyjammin on "getting a new matress..."

nyjammin — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:56:32 +0000

Coop: what did you use to raise your aerobed?

coopbugged on "getting a new matress..."

coopbugged — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:30:29 +0000

I tossed my whole bed (mattress and uphostered bed frame, where 10 bugs were found when we dismantled). We lived on a raised aerobed for 6 weeks, no bites! We just bought a new bed (no bites so far). The raised aerobed was fine -- needs no frame and it's high up off the floor -- though not great if there's more than one person sleeping in it. But you could also just buy a new bed and encase the mattress and box spring when it arrives... that way, any bugs that may be hanging around will not be able to infest your new set. But I'd avoid buying a new bed frame or headboard until you're sure you're bug free.

ficktion on "getting a new matress..."

ficktion — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 09:37:44 +0000

A week after the PCO visit i am getting bitten, it is been 4 days and i ma getting bitten once a day/night. These are tiny bites, especially the ones this morning, 2 littlepen- point dots,that are like little burnt marks ,very different from my first big bites, yet still the 3-pattern.I have done everything there is to do.Re-isolated my bed.I have 3 sets of clothing -bed-inhome-outhome.... OK to the point I want to ditch the matress-I believe they are only there (and my isolation doesn't work) .I've heard sucess stories, albeit its risks...if it gets re-infested i m back in square 1 which is where i am anyway, right. Any comments or suggestions on how to do it in Boston/Cam? My PCO wont take care of it. Im thinking either new complete bed or just an air matress for now(but where shall i put it on if i toss the frame too)?