encasement for bed slats: realistic? « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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encasement for bed slats: realistic?

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sluggums

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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 15 2010 13:09:03
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I am 7 weeks with no bites, and am finally considering getting a new bed. I want one of the simple metal ones from Ikea, nice skinny metal legs...oh yeah. Unfortunately, all the Ikea beds come with wooden slats for a base, BB heaven, should they return. I thought about putting an encasement over the slats as well, do they make special ones for this, or should I buy an extra mattress encasement and just fold up the excess fabric? Wouldn't that creat another place to hide, then, albiet easy to find and blow to hell with alcohol? Is this a silly idea? Anyone tried it, or have another solution? Thanks in advance for replies or other ideas.
Richard_Naylor

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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 15 2010 16:13:50
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There is a misconception that a bed with no available harbourages for bugs is beneficial but the problem is that if you have an infestation, the bugs will occupy the nearest available harbourages to you. If the bed is no good for them, they will be forced to occupy more peripheral harbourages around the room. This makes treatment much more complicated.

If I were you, I would leave the slats as they are. If they do provide good harbourages, any infestation will remain closely associated with the bed and treatment will be much more simple.
nwreader

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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 15 2010 17:25:17
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Hi Richard,
A related question: I'm in the middle of a long needed purge of clutter in my home. It's involving moving stuff up and down and all around as I sort through.

I've also got a lot of travel scheduled for the upcoming holidays. If I were to bring a bedbug or two back with me, would the cleaning mean I'd be more likely to spread them all over the house? Or would a few still be likely to find their way to the bed to start with? I have lovely particle board slats for them to enjoy.
sluggums

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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 15 2010 18:19:20
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Thank you, Richard for the common sense answer. I will just get one for the mattress. Makes total sense to let them create a nest where I can get them easier, should the little mofos return.
Richard_Naylor

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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 15 2010 18:19:50
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A tidy, clutter free bedroom is much easier to check for bugs and much easier to treat if the worst happens. Once you have a confirmed infestation, you should minimise the disturbance to the bedbugs as much as possible. Moving infested belongings around the house obviously makes the problem much more difficult to treat. It also disturbes established harbourages, which causes the bugs to occupy more, and smaller, harbourages that are more peripheral to the bed.

To my knowledge there have never been studies to determine the success rate of a bug, placed in a house, to locate the bed and start an infestation, so I wouldn't like to say. They can live a long time and so have plenty of opportunity to track down where you sleep.