Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Bed Bug Success Stories
After they're gone
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BuggerBeater
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Posted 1 year ago
Mon Nov 21 2011 13:44:19
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It's been one month since I have seen any bed bugs or signs of bed bugs.
After the application of diatomaceous earth, my PCO and I found only a few scattered bugs around the bed, all of them very dry, a symptom of death by desiccation (DE leads to BB losing water from their bodies, killing them).
Yet, I'm still not confident they're gone despite no fecal matter or blood spots anywhere. However, every itch is suspicious even though I never had any reaction to the bites. Now I wake up every morning thinking I have an itch somewhere, then forget about it and its gone.
Has anybody who's resolved their BB problem remained here to offer their take on how it is after they're gone?
When do you know for sure they're gone? Have you taken any steps to preventing a reoccurrence?
I've lost my attachment to things. During my fight, I used to spend hours on anti-bedbug sites like this one and now I do the same on simple living sites. I've never had much clutter but now I long to see my apartment almost entirely bare, just with the essentials.
The disappearance of bed bugs in the 1950's is not only attributed to DDT and other now banned pesticides but also to public knowledge and habits. Some older people I've spoken to say that around that time, metal beds became very popular because they were easier to inspect and clean and didn't offer BB's their ideal living conditions.
I'm on the look for a metal bed with no seams or seams that I can easily seal but I wonder what other habits could be re-adopted to keep bed bugs away.
I have to keep my apartment clean and organized otherwise I just feel horrible and this bed bug situation has left my apartment upside down for the 3 months since its happened. I can't wait to do a deep clean and organize everything pristinely. In fact, I'm looking at hiring a cleaning company to come in and do a power vac of the entire apartment in all the seams and baseboards and then steam clean everything over.
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BuggerBeater
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Posted 1 year ago
Mon Nov 21 2011 14:31:27
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In the spirit of anti-cluttering, I'm going to try an experiment.
I once heard some great advice from chef Jamie Oliver on how to declutter kitchen drawers: You get a box and put every single item from all your kitchen drawers in that box. Over the period of a month, you're going to be taking stuff out of the box to use. Only take out what you use! When you're done with it, put the item in your drawers. Whatever remains in the box after a month, are things you don't really need.
I'm going to do this on a larger scale for all my stuff. I've located a storage unit near me that starts at about $110 per month. That's pretty affordable I think. I'm going to take all the little things in my apartment and leave them at the storage unit. It's open 24/7 so if I need something, I just need to walk over and get it. Whatever I bring home, I'll find a good place for it and keep it there. Whatever is left in the storage unit after a few months is going to get sold or given away in a garage sale.
I'm just concerned with one thing. What if other people have done this and the storage unit itself has bed bugs?? It looks extraordinarily clean for a warehouse like building but it's possible that other people have used it to clean out their places for bedbug treatment. Toronto has a pretty bad bed bug problem.
How do Nuvan strips work? The unit is quite small, 5'x5'. Can I put my things in there with a bunch of Nuvan strips and expect bedbugs to stay away or any still hiding in bags be killed off?
EDIT: I did the calculation 5 x 5 x 7 is 175 cubic feet. Nuvan strips treat up to 200 cubic feet. I just need to find a way to seal the unit. I'll use the Nuvan strips to kill off any potential bugs that may be hiding in my stuff or from the previous tenant and then I'll surround the unit's perimeter with DE to make sure nothing from the outside makes it in during the 2 or 3 months that I'll be renting the unit.
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BuggerBeater
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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Nov 25 2011 13:59:54
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My PCO came in for a 1 month inspection. She gave me the all clear!
I did a thorough check everywhere where I had been finding bugs and in the known "nest" on the headboard and I found nothing. Then the PCO arrived and told me that she's very confident that they're gone but to wait a month before washing floors and removing the residual.
She told me to go back to normal, and put all my clothes and belongings away. For the last 3 months, I've been living out of plastic bags, unable to live life in the clean and organized environment that I'm so picky about having. I think I'm going to get emotional about seeing the floor of my living room and the top of my dining room table again.
I hope I never have to go through this again, but if I do, I've learned some valuable lessons that should make it much less painful the second time around.
I think I'm going to invest in a dry steamer or find a place to rent a top of the line steamer and incorporate it into my bi annual deep clean. I'll also never neglect my bed again. People are aware of dust mites living in their mattress but "out of sight, out of mind" so you never get around to cleaning the place where you spend 1/3 of your life. Spending less than an hour steaming your mattress a few times a year can do wonders for your sleep quality in more ways than one. Breathing environment and peace of mind.
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BuggerBeater
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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Dec 16 2011 19:40:30
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2 Months, no signs of bed bugs. Contrary to my fears, life does go back to normal. I stopped constantly checking for signs, though I still have sticky pads under my bed feet that I'll be checking when I remember until the end of the year.
I still get a little spooked by lint on the floor or bed but it's slowly going away. This was an experience from hell but if it marked me, it did so in a good way: I've been living a clutter free life and I don't give so much value to collecting stuff. I also know how to deal with bed bugs should they dare to enter my life again.
I won't be surprised if they do because I think that the situation is going to get much worse before a powerful entity (i.e. the federal government) steps in and throws serious resources at the problem. But when they attack, I'll know them when I see them and will know how to react.
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Alberta has bugs
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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Dec 16 2011 21:57:30
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Good for you. I am still trying to recover from my experience as well.
Thanks for sharing Jamie Oliver's tip, that is something I may do, wonder if it would work on my junk drawer? -
punaisedelit
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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Dec 17 2011 12:45:01
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Congratulations on being bed bug free
This is a great way to start the new year
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BuggerBeater
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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Dec 17 2011 14:30:56
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Alberta has bugs - 16 hours ago »
Good for you. I am still trying to recover from my experience as well.
Thanks for sharing Jamie Oliver's tip, that is something I may do, wonder if it would work on my junk drawer?It works for just about any clutter. I did it in my bathroom. My mirror cabinet was absolutely stuffed with things that I thought I needed. I could stare at my open cabinet for 10 minutes and couldn't find a single thing I wanted to part with. Then this experience happened and I cleaned out the contents of the cabinet into a plastic bag. I kept them there.
Over the past 3 or 4 months since this has happened, I've gone to the bag a bunch of times to get stuff I needed at that moment. Yet, my cabinet is still very clean and organized. I actually can't remember what I have in that bag and I would be best to just throw it out, but I think I'll review the contents of the bag in the new year and probably realize that I didn't need any of that stuff after all, since I won't have used them for nearly half a year.
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