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Bedbugs in laundry room of apartment building? Is it now unsafe to use?
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girl-from-queens
newbite
Joined: May '09
Posts: 2
Posted 10 months ago
Mon May 4 2009 0:54:31
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I live in a 8 floor apartment building in Queens, NY, and one of my neighbors told me she has bedbugs in her apartment. She explained that the office she works in had an infestation of bedbugs, which she and many other employees ended up bringing into their homes. Last week she had the dog who sniffs the bugs out come to her apartment, and after he found the critters, she was advised to take all her clothes and put them into the dryer. Well, the laundry room in our building is a community one, and after knowing how much time this lady has spent there, using the dryer, I am now afraid to go do my own laundry in that room for fear that I too will end up getting bedbugs on myself or my clothes.
My question to all of you who would know is this: is it safe for me to visit the laundry room, as well as use the machines there to clean my clothes? Or should I stay away for now and visit a neighborhood laundromat? Many thanks in advance for help with this matter!
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girl-from-queens
newbite
Joined: May '09
Posts: 2
Posted 10 months ago
Mon May 4 2009 0:59:02
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By the way, I forgot to mention that my building is a co-op. Should I tell the managing agent about this? Is there anything that should be done throughout the building? Or am I a worry wart, lol? Thanks again!
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MyWorstFear
member
Joined: Sep '08
Posts: 324
Posted 10 months ago
Mon May 4 2009 11:25:46
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Well the good news is that you are at least aware of the problem and how it can potentially affect YOUR apartment. Definitely read the FAQ's here so that you know what's involved and what to look for. The apartments immediately adjacent (nxt door and above and below her apartment) to your neighbor who has then, should be notified and possibly treated so that the bugs from this neighbor who does have them, don't run to the neighboring apartments. You said the dog found evidence of them, but is that apartment being treated by a PCO? Just washing her clothes isn't going to get rid of any bugs in her apartment! As for the laundromat....if she actually dried the clothes for 1 1/2 hours on heat high enough to kill them, then the dryer should be safe. If she brought infested clothes into the laundromat that weren't in sealed plastic bags and dumped them all over the floor or onto the folding tables etc., then yes, there could be bugs in the laundry room. Queens is a hotbed of bed bugs so any laundromats could have the same problem so I'm not sure if it would be any better to go to them instead of the one in your building. Since you're in a coop, IIRC, each apartment is responsible for paying the PCO. However this could work in your favor since people can't just break their lease and move as they can in rental buildings. If I lived in your building, I'd want to know about it, but I'm sure you'll find people who'd rather not know! Remember that 60% or more of the population do not react to bed bug bites, so it will take a lot longer for these people to realize they have the bugs.
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MyWorstFear
member
Joined: Sep '08
Posts: 324
Posted 10 months ago
Mon May 4 2009 11:26:22
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sorry, duplicate posting so I erased it
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spideyjg
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 1,614
Posted 10 months ago
Mon May 4 2009 14:27:12
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If the dryers are reaching lethal temps your clothes can come out free of viable BBs and eggs.
See the tag above for dryer testing...
http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/dryer-testing-theory-confirmed
Now bear in mind people bringing infested items can easily result in BBs lurking about the room.
If the neighborhood has BBs there is no assurance that any laundry place is less risky than others.
Jim
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