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Freezing Bugs
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Obother
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Joined: May '08
Posts: 35
Posted 1 year ago
Tue May 27 2008 2:52:55
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I'm new to this, but curious. I put some of my clothing that is not W/D safe in a space bag inside the freezer. I also added some bed bugs in a sealed container. I'm waiting to see how long it takes for them to die. As it is, the boogers have been living in a plastic bag inside a vitamin jar for several days. I thought they were dead, but they are still hanging on. Perhaps the freezer will work, and I will have a sense of whether freezing clothes actually works. If it doesn't, I plan to invest in a steamer because I can't imagine the dry cleaning cycle going on for months.
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TomIsBugged
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Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 46
Posted 1 year ago
Tue May 27 2008 3:50:01
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Hi Obother,
First off - that sounds like a schnazzy experiment. My 5 bucks says that, since your average garden variety freezer doesn't get all that cold & is subject to temp. fluctuations from opening/closing the door, the bugs will develope a small skating rink and amuse themselves with fecal-hockey & skiing happily atop your frosty clothing for weeks while they secretly wait for a chance to escape.
That all said, do keep us posted on your results! There's more to read about freezing here: http://bedbugger.com/forum/tags/freezing but the upshot is that, if you're going to go down the freezing route, you need very cold sustained core temperatures for extended periods of time. I've sent my own belongings to the planet Hoth (i.e. an industrial freezer warehouse, -28 Celsius). There are probably other treatment options for your unwashables (ex. dry steam) depending on what they are, but do take a boo at what's in the FAQs as well as the rest of the site. Good luck w/the experiment too!
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Hi,
Freezing clothes to remove Bed Bugs does work but in short its a lot more complex than people initially think. It is not a matter of hours or even a few days its a lot longer than that and depends a lot on the type of freezer you are using.
Before you ask me to share what we know it is all based on sets of freezer in our facility which can been calibrated and profiled for weeks before they can be used for this type of work. In short unless you have access to data logging equipment anything I say about it might not get you the same results.
So in short yes it does work but it is a complex task at the best of times.
David
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paulaw0919
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '07
Posts: 997
Posted 1 year ago
Tue May 27 2008 6:03:07
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The normal house freezer, doesn't get cold enough for what you are trying to accomplish, in the time frame you are trying to do so. It's amazing on how this little buggers have adapted. There are stories on how people have kept items in the cold snow for a full winter season and get reinfested when the items were brought back in. (there's more to those stories, but you get the idea.) Think Heat. Heat kills them. Toss the outfit in the dryer on high heat for about 15 minutes (if you are doing only that outfit) and that will kill anything that may be in the material.
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Yes, Paula is right,heat is much quicker.If it's clothing that's delicate just dry on hot without washing.Or if it's dirty wash as you normally would,let it dry,then put it in the dryer on hot.All my delicates survived this method,bb's do not.After removal from the dryer seal as you normally do.
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Obother
junior member
Joined: May '08
Posts: 35
Posted 1 year ago
Tue May 27 2008 9:19:21
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Thank you all so much for your input. Sounds like I should just leave the BBs in the freezer without my clothes. May they slip, fall and break their necks on their frozen urine ice rink!
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lieutenantdan
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Joined: Apr '07
Posts: 1,146
Posted 1 year ago
Tue May 27 2008 15:01:03
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I say forget about freezing bed bugs. It has been said that bed bugs do very well with freeze. Heat and steam is the answer.
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Heat and steam is easier for most people to manage and control and is certainly less variable for small items and possessions.
I do however have an environmental issue with the use of heat. I know it’s an odd one but to keep an area at a constant heat takes more energy than keeping an isolated and insulated area cold. I think it might be one of the main reasons why thermal applications on buildings have a higher success rate with termites than Bed Bugs.
I have also worked out how to offset the carbon emissions of my decon facility in London which I could not do as easily with heat.
David
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Obother
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Joined: May '08
Posts: 35
Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jun 29 2008 20:46:48
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Just for the record, I pulled the BBs out of the freezer for the first time yesterday, and hopefully gave them enough time to thaw. They appear dead. Can't tell if they slipped and fell on the rink or simply got too cold.
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