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How to protect Clothes, Upholstery and Furnitue?
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bugdepression
newbite
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 4
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Mar 12 2008 11:22:27
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Getting married in 10 weeks, both of us are all happy and until last week were neck deep in planning an preparation. Then last week it happened. A major major infestation of bed bugs in the very house, she is going to move into.
Apparently I was unaware that my roommate was being bitten by bugs, and he simply kept spraying Bayer in his room and around, perhaps this had them move to the rest of the house.
Depressed. We both had been reading about bugs since last weekend. The 9 years old bed, mattress, sofa and love seat - about 2000$ gone to trash. Even though it "may" have been possible to save them, I could not spend one more night getting over 20 to 30 bites all over. It was just horrible. Spent half of our saved marriage money on a new bed, mattress, and soon to arrive sofa set.
Then I found this morning that bed bugs have reached and made my new bed and mattress their new home. about 25 bit marks over my back and arms.
The PCO (Dewey) comes today. He says he will not spray mattress and upholstery.
Bought Kleen free (is that the name) a contact killer, bought DE - they will arrive today. $25
Bought a 1700$ steam cleaner (lady bug 2200S) that arrives on Friday.
New sofa sets, bed, mattresses etc. $3000
Total cost spent since last one week: $5000 approximately.
QUESTION:
What do I spray on the legs of my bed and sofa sets and other furniture to protect them from bed bugs? My bed has a wooden bottom (from IKEA) and would like to apply powder or spray or lotion for protection.
Same for clothes, mattress covers etc. What can I apply over them?
We read somewhere that Neem oil is good. Wrong. Massaged myself with Neem oil and have bed bugs all over my body as if iron to a magnet.
Done. Depressed. Down.
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completelybuggedout
junior member
Joined: Feb '08
Posts: 101
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Mar 12 2008 11:50:37
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I only wish you would have found this site before purchasing new furniture. Ok, whats done is done so here is where I feel you need to go from here. First off, get the mattress and box spring encasements. There are links on this site to purchase ones that are bedbug proof. Get those mattresses encased ASAP! Next, is there any way you can temporarily cancel the furniture delivery? You really don't want to bring new furniture into infested quarters if at all avoidable. There is really nothing that can be put on your clothes and furniture to deter bb from getting onto them, BUT you can follow the helpful faqs listed on this site as to how to handle those items. The wash/dry on HOT/HOT and bagging into Ziplocs is standard protocol it seems. Removing everything from dressers and nightstands, inspecting and bagging any and all contents is really the only way to go. I highly recommend waiting on the furniture delivery if at all possible until the bb are gone.....that just gives them more places to harbour and makes it more difficult to treat since your PCO won't treat furniture. I am sorry to hear that yet another person is dealing with this nightmare and so close to a wedding on top of it. Please keep us all posted as to what the PCO does and says when he visits.
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heybugdepression -
There are pesticides labeled for use on mattresses. Is Dewey going to treat the mattress at all (with steam for instance)? Will he be applying pesticides to the bedframe? If this issue's a concern for you, I'd start interviewing other PCOs. I mean, what's the point of treating other areas of the house, when the bugs can just harbor in the safety of your bed, feed at their convenience and avoid the pesticides?
If you go with this PCO, then put that steamer to use. Proper steaming is an effective way to kill bedbugs. There's an FAQ on the main blog that goes into detail about this.
There's nothing you can spray on clothing to keep bedbugs away from them. The most common protocol is to launder and dry clothing at the highest heat settings. Heat at the appropriate high temperatures kills bedbugs. I don't have the exact temperature number now and don't want to steer you wrong, but it's in the site FAQs. Look this up, and make sure your washer/dryer can exceed this temperature. These cleaned clothes are then stored in airtight sealed bags to keep bedbugs from infesting them.
http://bedbugger.com/faqs/stuff/
Follow the above link for info on steaming, laundry protocols and other stuff.
I'd be strict about following the laundry protocols, especially when visiting your fiancee's current home. You might inadvertently spread the bedbugs there.
If you want relief from being bitten in bed, one common practice is to isolate the bed. After your bed has been taken apart, cleaned, treated, and you're certain there are no bedbugs in it ... the mattress has been treated and properly encased with no gaps in zippers for a rogue bedbug to escape .... then, pull your bed away from the wall, and create impenetrable moats around the legs of the bed by placing them in containers of oil - mineral or murphy's oil soap, etc. Bedbugs don't fly. They get to you by crawling. The idea is to create an impassible barrier around your bed, so that it's a safe zone and you can get some rest. And some decent hours' rest everyday is what you need to battle these things. Make sure there are no wires or other connections to the wall or floor. Don't bring books or remote controls or other untreated articles that have been lying about the house into bed with you. They might carry an unwanted hitchhiker inside.
Personally, I like the idea of having a residual non-repellent pesticide sprayed on furniture and items which surround an isolated bed - not on the bed itself. This way, your sleeping body still acts as bait for these bugs which will then be exposed to the pesticides and eventually die. But they'll be unable to get into the bed to torment you.
Some folks don't like the idea of bed isolation, because they fear that'll scatter the bugs elsewhere throughout the home. Their point might be valid ... I'm not sure. It's something to be considered. One solution to that would be to sleep in your isolated bed but avoid lingering in your home when you're not in motion. Sad, but
I know I wrote a lot, but please read the FAQ on bed treatment and isolation. Really, you should read all the FAQs there. The info is so comprehensive. You'll get a macro view of how you should strategize from here.
http://bedbugger.com/faqs/thebed/
For the couch, if I were you, I would delay its delivery until this was all over. Sofas with all its layers and hiding spots are notoriously difficult to treat.
I know you've spent so much already, but if you live in a single-family house and it's available in your area, true fumigation of your tented house with Vikane is as close to a guaranteed solution as you can get. And the ordeal will be over in days as opposed to weeks or months.
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bugdepression
newbite
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 4
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Mar 12 2008 12:31:42
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Thank you for the advice fellow bedbuggers. Some of the things we did not think of and it will help immensely!
Here's what we are planning
1. The PCO is brought in by the rental management at their cost. So we will just go through with it.
2. The new furniture comes from IKEA packed, knockdown kits. We won't unpack and assemble them for the next two weeks and keep them packed in our backyard instead of the house.
3. The mattresses and pillows will be encased, which my fiance ordered from the allergen site. Until they arrive she is going wrap them in vinyl wraps.
4. The Kleen free and DE comes tomorrow. I plan to staple the Kleen free to my arm and take it wherever I go (just kidding... think there's still some humor left in me in all this bug depression). The DE we will put in all corners (including the wall-carpet edges) of the house and lightly spray it on the wooden planks of my new bed.
5. The steam cleaner arrives Friday. I will unwrap the new mattress from the vinyl casing that we are putting today and steam clean the entire mattress, and wrap it back in vinyl until our mattress casings from Allergen arrive. Same for the pillows.
6. All my clothes, casings, comforters, etc. are either in the laundry or were washed by us since the last 4 days (I swear I've never done this much laundry in my entire life) and dried TWICE in the dryer. Those that we did ourselves, we then either wrapped them in plastic bags or the big ziploc bags and stashed them in the plastic containers that we have place in the backyard. (right now the entire house is in the backyard)
7. I will mildly put DE on the legs or the bottom of all furniture (I know even if it may not be safe... but I'm DESPERATE)
8. Watch for the next two weeks what happens, while slowly bringing my clothes in, either wrapped in plastic or in ziploc bags.
9. After two weeks take up the steam cleaner and do the entire bedroom and living room and the furniture.
10. Not sure what to do if this doesn't take care of it.
11. Taking my car out right now to find a car wash that will also steam clean the car upholstery and wash the carpets. I think I have bugs in the car.
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fightorflight
senior member
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 694
Posted 2 years ago
Thu Mar 13 2008 3:10:35
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Bugdepression - echoing the other posters: I had ordered and paid for some new furniture when I found out I had bedbugs. I went through the first few waves of denial, wondering what I could keep and where to put it. Then I ended up canceling the whole order, which I was fortunately able to do. When you're battling bedbugs is not the time for new furniture, if you can at all avoid it.
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DanDaMan
newbite
Joined: Feb '08
Posts: 27
Posted 2 years ago
Thu Mar 13 2008 9:22:16
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I actually find it kind of invigorating to have bed bugs. It's like fighting a little war. It keeps me busy with lots of work to do around the house. It gives you a tangible and achievable goal in life, something that a lot of people my age seem to lack.
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DanDaMan-while it does keep you busy, I NEVER felt like it gave me a goal. What it did to me, was make me bitchy, tired and stressed beyond belief. I was already busy with 4 kids and an at home daycare business and didn't like the endless hours of cleaning, laundry and having to vacumm 4 times a day. I started to develop OCD and spent endless hours of searching and photographing every bug I found. I am ever so grateful to be away from that situation and being able to sleep without worries! Please don't take offense to what I said, I mean no disrespect, okay?
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"2. The new furniture comes from IKEA packed, knockdown kits. We won't unpack and assemble them for the next two weeks and keep them packed in our backyard instead of the house."
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bugdepression,
I would wait longer than two weeks before unpacking the furniture. If you're waiting to unpack when you're bug-free to prevent the furniture from being infested, than two weeks is too early.
One PCO advises their customers they can presume their home is rid of bedbugs when they go for 55 days w/o any signs, bites, sightings, etc.
Two weeks from now, that PCO should be coming back to your home to retreat. One treatment session almost never does it. Two weeks is around the time any eggs laid by the previous generation will be hatching and new bugs may emerge. So even if there'ss a lull in bites - which I hope happens for you pronto - just hang in there and make sure these bugs are dead.
Also, a good plan would be to do the steaming just before the PCO returns to treat.
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bugdepression
newbite
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 4
Posted 2 years ago
Thu Mar 13 2008 11:49:43
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I don't think Dewey the PCO is coming back. It was a one visit thing. We think Dewey doesn't know much about bedbug elimination and just goes through simply doing it, else they would have told the rental manager that it requires a few visits and not just one.
The entire stuff of the house is outside. Dewey did their thing last night.
We've decided to wait for two days before moving ANYTHING in. Last night we brought the mattress in, vacuumed it, sprayed Kleen Free on it and then wrapped it in vinyl and duck taped the edges including the zipper of the vinyl case. Then I unwrapped a new bed cover and just put it over the vinyl case so I won't accidentally rip the case in my sleep. Did the same for the pillow. then brought in a blanket that had been washed and dried and slept through the night.
This morning there were bite marks over my arms and neck. I quickly removed the bed cover and sheet and stuffed it in the laundry basket in the backyard for washing.
Upon close inspection of the vinyl sheet covering my mattress, I found 4 - 5 dead bugs that seemed to have been flattened and were laying on top of the mattress (were they crushed under me?).
The house is practically empty. We are not bringing anything in until Saturday.
On saturday morning each and everything that is brought inside the house will move in a (fictitious) quarantine area that I've marked just outside the house in the back yard. In this area we will first bring each piece and steam clean it vigorously. Only after doing this will we move it in.
On Sunday we will be spraying DE in all cornors and possible bug hideout places that we can identify.
The new furniture shipment could not be cancelled. I'm a bit late. IKEA said this morning, that it's left the warehouse and cannot be returned unless I bring it personally in (impossible, small car, big furniture, heavy). So I'm thinking of putting the packed furniture in the backyard and not unpack it. Spray it with DE and leave it there for a few weeks.
My fiancée thinks there are bugs now in her house too. So I'm giving her the steam cleaner that she can use to clean all the stuff she's packing to move in to my house. We plan to move her stuff first week of April. It's impossible to delay it any longer.
We are now contacting Orkin to see if they can do any heat treatment. I called the Heat company - Thermapure (found here in the forums) for a possible price quote on a 2 bedroom townhome in Orange County, CA. They said they will find a contractor and contact me back. It's over a day since the call and I haven't heard from them. - *** Anyone know the approximate cost for doing Thermapure in the house? ***
I know there are a few things I should not be doing based on your good advice (moving in new furniture, planning to movie fiancée's stuff etc.)... but we both are caught in a Catch 22 situation. The marriage is less than 8 weeks away and this is pure hell...
Down. Depressed. Done.
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IveBeenBugged
member
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 280
Posted 2 years ago
Thu Mar 13 2008 20:13:32
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I am with angie on the fighting the bed bug thing it is tiring and exhausting and I am impatiently counting down the days until the end of May when my lease is up and I can move out of this building. Vikane take me away!
bugdepression I have to say this is the weirdest post for treatment I have seen. Dewey does not have a clue what they are doing. Why would you move everything in the house out of the house before treatment? The things in the house are possibly infected and unless your having them treated thermally or vikaned once taken out you will just bring the bugs back in with you once you move it back in.
Most times a place is treated (unless thermal or vikane) and the idea is for you to act like bait to draw then out and thus cross over the poison that was put down.
As much of an effort as it is I think you really should check out the FAQ section about treatment.
I myself will be living with very little and not buying a thing until I have my stuff vikaned and I get moved.
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IveBeenBugged
member
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 280
Posted 2 years ago
Fri Mar 14 2008 7:50:22
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I forgot to mention that therma pure is not the only thermal comapany out there. You could try temp-air also and see if they are in your location. I think the homepage is under the name Thermal Remediation from Temp-Air.
I just found it:
http://www.thermal-remediation.com/
Sorry not sure how to post and active link so cut and paste.
The cost is similar to that of vikane which would depend on the size of the house. Rough estimate is around $10,000. It may be more or less depending on the structure.
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