Great. Now what? « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Great. Now what?

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buggingout

newbite
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Posted 5 years ago
Sun Aug 19 2007 14:06:11
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My boyfriend and I began to notice our first bites this week and now our apt has been disassembled and bagged up as I twiddle my thumbs (or scratch my bites) waiting for the pest control guy to arrive.

I am so tired right now, after putting in a long night of vacuuming and tossing stuff out, and sleeping in some wonky uncomfortable position under the bright lights.
I havent seen a moving bug just yet, but I think I found the husk shed by one, not to mention a lot of little black flecks I guess must be their excrement.

The pest folks gave us a prep sheet of things to do, all of which Ive done. But Im a little concerned with how well I followed the get-rid-of-clutter request. This is a studio apt, and tends to look cluttered when everything is pushed away from the walls. Not to mention the 20 something garbage bags full of clothing from the closets that I havent been able to wash yet.

Am I going to have to throw out all my books? Theyre still in the shelves, just pushed away from the wall.

Ive read some of these stories here, about people who eventually moved or streamlined their lives down to a closet of 3 shirts. And then there was a story from someone I used to live with who barely did anything to get rid of them (in terms of throwing things away) aside from call a pest control person, and she never had any other problems.
I hope this doesnt become some ongoing mess, whereby I end up sleeping on a tarp in a bare new apt, in Dubuque or someplace. The past 2 days have been such a major annoyance, I cant even imagine keeping this up for as long as some of the other people on here.

I saw a mattress and other furniture out on the street the other night when we were coming home, and wonder if the building next door is infected. I checked the registry and didnt see anything, but this being Chinatown I imagine that not a lot of folks who get it bother to register.

If this keeps up, Im not above sleeping in an all-glass hyperbaric chamber, a la Michael Jackson. Or moving to Dubai, also like Michael Jackson.

Oh, what's the final word on dry cleaning? Does that actually get rid of them as well as hot water and drying on hot? And what about leather shoes?
Anonymous

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Posted 5 years ago
Sun Aug 19 2007 17:06:10
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"And then there was a story from someone I used to live with who barely did anything to get rid of them (in terms of throwing things away) aside from call a pest control person, and she never had any other problems."

^^ Well, I hope that not everyone has to go through the 'throw out everything and live out of a bag' scenario because it just isn't practical or possible for everyone. I'm not even sure if I have them yet, but I know there's no way I could "streamline" us down to a couple of bags.
wantmyskinback

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Posted 5 years ago
Sun Aug 19 2007 19:24:33
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Hi there Buggingout and Sixteen. I wound up streamlining my home. It was tough and tiring...and living in bags for 3 + months while the goopy build up of pesticides stuck to my baseboards was enough to make me crazy. But worse than this...it cost alot of money in the end.
I happen to like my minimal existance now. I know where everything is...and I still keep my clothing in ziplocks (but in my drawers now).
It's a process and I'm sorry you are going through it.
I never had a real serious problem. I never saw bugs only bites. But I was proactive about it and learned a great deal from this website. Now I think twice before I travel...and bring all my things in ziplocks.
Nobugsonme

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Posted 5 years ago
Sun Aug 19 2007 21:12:39
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A lot of us (including a PCO here) are skeptical about dry cleaning. All the fact sheets say it's a good alternative to hot wash and dry. But some have speculated they had bed bugs survive it.

Do it if you have to, but remember many dry clean only clothes can survive--while dry-- 20 minutes in a hot dryer. Michael Potter recommends 5 minutes for a dry sock in a hot dryer (many items are thicker, more complex, so I say 20) as an alternative to wash and dry. But this is only good for dry clothes. We clothes have to be dried so much longer. Even leather shoes could probably stand 5-10 minutes in a hot dryer.

I can't promise your stuff will be OK. If it is precious, dry clean it.
buggingout

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Posted 5 years ago
Mon Aug 20 2007 12:30:50
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Thanks guys! It's incredibly helpful to hear from other folks during this crisis!
I was up from 9 until 5am washing and bagging (in triple!) every garment my bf and I own. The logistics of this clean-up can leave a person cross-eyed. Talk about meticulous. Putting on clean, hot out of the dryer clothes in the bathroom of the laundromat, taking my infected clothes and washing those. This morning, I put my sleep clothes in a ziploc to be washed again later. I put my favorite sweater in a ziploc in the freezer indefinitely for safe keeping.
Another night of terrible sleep and jumping at the sight of my own freckles on my arms and legs. Dont think I racked up any new bites but then again, I spent probably a total of 3 hours in bed, getting maybe one hour of ok sleep. Tonight I think I may have to take a tylenol pm and just let them eat if they want.
Cant decide if Im walking a fine line between OCD or just being practically thorough here, in all my cleaning and bagging and endless examining of things. Oh, and have people had any problems of contaminating you jobs? If I have to do my office, Ill really die.
Nobugsonme

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Posted 5 years ago
Mon Aug 20 2007 13:47:40
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ps go to the FAQs and read the clothing FAQ which describes and links to the Potter information in greater detail!
TorontoBugged

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Posted 5 years ago
Mon Aug 20 2007 15:16:46
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hi Buggingout,

I threw all of my books that were in my bedroom out. The way I looked at it to make myself feel better, we tend to accumulate a junk in our lives and having all that newsprint and carbon in your house/place is not that healthy anyway. If I ever need to look something up, I have the net and the library. If you ever walk into a bookstore or a printer room at your office, and take note of the smell, you can tell the air quality is bad so it's probably a good thing to try and keep paper and printed matter out of your house as much as you can.

I have not bought a book or magazine ever since.

I have to say out of the 3 options you wrote about - Dubai, hyperbaric chamber or Dubuque - Dubuque sounded the scariest so I googled it :p