An assault on all fronts « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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An assault on all fronts

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bugbuster

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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Nov 11 2009 15:50:20
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My daughter's school has bedbugs, but not her classroom. My building has bedbugs, but not my apartment.

I have mattress encasements, check for stains, watch where I sit, and have trained my kids and husband to be on the lookout for bugs on their coats and to report any suspicious bites to me asap.

What else can I do to protect myself from what feels like an inevitable infestation?
upagain

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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Nov 11 2009 16:02:02
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"Inevitable infestation" is how I feel sometimes too. I can understand what you are feeling. Is the school in NYC? School infestations seem to me to probably be one of the biggest spreaders of the little demon.
bugbuster

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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Nov 11 2009 16:56:57
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Yes, Upper West Side public school. We've had problems on and off for a year.
OhDearMe

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Posted 2 years ago
Thu Sep 9 2010 18:23:03
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bugbuster - 10 months ago »
. . . watch where I sit, and have trained my kids and husband to be on the lookout for bugs on their coats and to report any suspicious bites to me asap.
What else can I do to protect myself from what feels like an inevitable infestation?

I so know what you mean. I never had a problem sitting on Manhattan subway benches before. NEVER again. (As far as I know I am not a victim but I am terrified of becoming one.)

I now stand on the subway, and get freaked when surrounded by too many people because I know they could have hitchhikers on their clothes or bags which could make their way to me. But alas, this is life in NYC.

Unfortunately I have to take cabs sometimes. I am ordering a Packtite. I think they are going to become a necessity. :/
Eve

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Posted 2 years ago
Thu Sep 9 2010 22:14:45
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Regarding hitch hikers from school, I can't comment. But perhaps this would be a good time to start looking at gaps between your apartment and the rest of the world. Perhaps read up on how to apply DE dust into wall voids and then seal them:

http://bedbugger.com/2007/03/30/faqde/

The DE dust is nearly permanent. If you can afford it, you can get a PCO to do it for you as a prophylactic measure.

In preparation and if it suits you, you can look at doing whatever decluttering would be good for you now to take that off the list of stuff you would have to do if heaven forbid you should be infested.

I'm told that a PackTite is a good investment and might be good if you bring something home that looks a bit dodgy like a library book or the kids clothes after the rumours about bugs become bugs in their classrooms (the kids get cleaned in the shower, not in the PackTite ).

In other words, more or less what you're doing already. Getting educated and planning first steps.

Eve
OhDearMe

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Posted 2 years ago
Thu Sep 9 2010 22:35:42
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Eve - 20 minutes ago »
(the kids get cleaned in the shower, not in the PackTite ).
In other words, more or less what you're doing already. Getting educated and planning first steps.
Eve

Haha, thanks for that clarification.

DE is almost permanent? Really? Reapplication is unnecessary?
PANewBugger

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Posted 2 years ago
Thu Sep 9 2010 22:50:28
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There is a DE FAQ on this site that you should read - DE seems to work, but it can cause respiratory problems, some people have reported vacuums breaking down with DE, I believe it does need to be reapplied, and evidently, some PCOs won't treat if you have DE already in place.

The PackTite is a great tool - it returned a sense of security that we lost when we discovered bed bugs. When we travel, buy anything new, or need to retreat one of our items, we place it in the PackTite.
Eve

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Posted 2 years ago
Thu Sep 9 2010 22:51:43
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Yes, DE acts in a purely physical way so doesn't actually have "potency" to worry about. As long as there is a supply that the bugs need to step through it does what it does. It acts by absorbing lipids in the insect coating, hence drying them out, and also by acting as an abrasion agent. It's important to use very little of the stuff and pay attention (read the safety precautions) because you don't want to get it in your lungs either.

As you google through the internet you will hear all sorts of insane claims of DE as a miracle product. Virtually all the sites that sell some form of bed bug powder are basically this with some rebranding and a small amount of pyrethrin (which does degrade over time). I managed to solve my own problem with it and with alcohol washes of my bed frame. But DE is a very slow acting agent. It takes according to various report between 2 and 15 days to kill. That didn't bother me because I just wanted them dead between hatchling and functioning adult.

Any claims you may read about spreading it about and never seeing another bug again are purely bogus. Be really suspicious if the come-on video features piles of the stuff because this is counter-productive.

It is, however, standard practice of many PCOs to blow a thin layer into the voids in your wall either through the baseboards or by drilling small holes and then covering them again. A bug that has had to walk through it on its way to your apartment will probably be sickly.

Eve