http://bedbugger.com/forum/ Bed bug support forums en Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:09:44 +0000 http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/stains-saliva-water-and-peroxide#post-61639 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:02:15 +0000 longing-to-sleep-tite 61639@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>This is my first post, so forgive me if I repeat previously posted questions. . . .</p> <p>My husband and I discovered bed bugs in our home in July of this year and we've had treatments from Orkin and then Terminix every week to every third week ever since (currently into November). Additionally, our mattresses and box springs are encased in zippered enclosures, our beds and bedding are completely segregated from the walls or any other furniture, my husband applies (and reapplies on a bi-weekly basis) very sticky double sided tape around all the bed posts and a coating of vaseline around the perimeter of the room where the walls meet the ceiling, and he washes all our bedding and steams the zippered encasements and the bed frames on a weekly basis. </p> <p>All this, and I am still unsure if we continue to have a problem. . . .</p> <p>My husband and I never experienced any bites so we can't use that as a gauge. My daughter did get typical bites (red welts) and she doesn't get those anymore, though she has had an on-again, off-again rash on different parts of her face. Additionally, I find about 1-3 new questionable stains per week. Sometimes, it's "anvil" shaped as I've seem bed bug feces described; sometimes, the stains are unmistakably blood; and other times, the stains are more questionable -- e.g., flat black stain with faint yellow to brown around the mark; brownish red smears; etc. We've seen no undeniable evidence since mid-September, at which point I saw one in my daughter's closet (which had been completely emptied due to the issue and no other traces were found ANYWHERE in the closet). The time before that (early September) I saw one in our hallway about five or so feet away from the bedrooms -- this little guy was obviously hungry. I waited to see where he was headed (hoping to find our unknown source) and instead he came directly to me! Since then, we've seen no bugs or skins. However, I fear that we've emptied our rooms so completely that any harborages are further away than we are checking. Also, our Terminix exterminator felt that a chemical that the Orkin exterminator used actually scattered them, which may mean were just dealing with them one by one . . . ?</p> <p>I guess the bottom line is that I feel like I'm going crazy and am looking for some input. I, like all the many other posters out there, search our sheets daily. I find spots neither myself or our exterminators can't definitively identify either way though I've yet to see another bug since September or any other more positive evidence (i.e., typical bites, skins, or eggs). Is it likely our stains are from some other source? More likely the bugs have migrated too far from our beds to easily find evidence? I'm just longing to have a good night's sleep (and would like to think I'm not going crazy but would prefer to be bed bug-free!!), so I'm hoping someone out there has some insight to offer. . . .</p> <p>Thanks in advance for any help ! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/stains-saliva-water-and-peroxide#post-41874 Sun, 18 Jan 2009 07:23:38 +0000 BBcoukHome 41874@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hi, </p> <p>Yes I believe it will still foam on faecal traces if they are either discrete traces scraped off a surface or freshly collected from material.</p> <p>Once you wash the sheets several times the dark "old" stains are actually stains and not blood. To put a little of how I see it behind that I like to think of it as until you wash the sheet the visible sign is due to the actual material of the "spot" after washing the progressively darker or "old" stains are actually due to the chemical reaction of some of the components of blood rather than the blood itself.</p> <p>Both can tell you things but they tell you different things.</p> <p>If the spot you tested did not react it is a strong indication that it is not blood and therefore by inference it is less likely to have anything to do with bed bugs.</p> <p>David </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/stains-saliva-water-and-peroxide#post-41833 Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:28:49 +0000 goawaybugs 41833@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hi David,</p> <p>Thanks for the primer--that was very helpful. Will peroxide still foam on fecal traces even though the blood has been processed or digested? </p> <p>Of course, if a fecal trace is unnoticed and then washed, I assume it becomes an "old" stain which won't react to anything. But if someone is inspecting vigilantly, I guess the chances of an unnoticed stain is unlikely.</p> <p>In any case, the spot I was worried about didn't seem to react to peroxide or saliva, so I guess that's good news. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/stains-saliva-water-and-peroxide#post-41767 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:37:53 +0000 bed-bugscouk 41767@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hi, </p> <p>OK here is the world from my perspective on the subject of stain identification:<br /> <ul><li>There is no definitive test for bed bug faecal traces (one single 100% absolutely no other possibilities test)</li><li>If the mark will not dissolve and smear in saliva it is extremely unlikely to be caused by bed bugs</li><li>Hydrogen peroxide will "fizz" if applied to blood - therefore this method will identify blood but not where it is from and how it got there</li><li>The only way to get a definitive test for faecal material would be a test against specific bed bug antibodies and this would cost a small fortune each test</li><li>Luminol is a fun way to test for blood but it is a restricted product and too toxic to create a "home us" version</li><br /> </ul></p> <p>I have recently upgraded by camera to something a little more meaty, int he next few weeks I will have more galleries up on faecal traces including some that will have about a million time magnification on it.</p> <p>Stains on sheets themselves are more likely to be caused from seepage from a wound or bite which may not be indicative of bed bugs as they can occur through other causes. They are an alarm signal but not a definitive sign.</p> <p>Over the years you develop a "nose" for identifying faecal traces and I am usually about 99% accurate on identification from a samples in front of me. This is mainly because I use digital magnification equipment to get an extreme close up of the surfaces and work out what has happened from there.</p> <p>I am happy to do postal identification on artifacts but with postal it is not the most rapid of services and unless you have a 10 Mpix or greater DSLR camera and a 60mm or greater Macro lens the chances are that I cant be that accurate with the images you take.</p> <p>Hope that helps.</p> <p>David Cain<br /> Bed Bugs Limited<br /> <a href="http://www.Bed-Bugs.co.uk" rel="nofollow">www.Bed-Bugs.co.uk</a> </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/stains-saliva-water-and-peroxide#post-41759 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:48:47 +0000 pleasenotagain 41759@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Glad to hear I'm not the only one confused. I should add that the stains were on top of the comforter but not on sheets or pillows .... </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/stains-saliva-water-and-peroxide#post-41734 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:10:46 +0000 goawaybugs 41734@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I was just about to post a question on this as well! Is smudging always the definitive test, even with peroxide? Seems like lots of things might smudge if rubbed. Or is the test with peroxide more to see if it foams? Or changes color? </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/stains-saliva-water-and-peroxide#post-41733 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:02:07 +0000 pleasenotagain 41733@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>There has been a fair amount of discussion around this topic, but I'm just trying to get it straight. Is there a reliable test to determine whether a brownish-blackish stain is bed bug feces? Does putting on water or saliva and rubbing and seeing if it runs/smudges do it? Is hydrogen peroxide the only surefire way to go?</p> <p>I would really like to be able to be sure that these small stains on my comforter have nothing to do with bed bugs. They are the only signs that I might be infested and I would like to take them off the list if possible. Thanks! </p>