i have to move can anythign be saved? « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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i have to move can anythign be saved?

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buggerNY

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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Jan 31 2009 16:46:37
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i noticed the infestation about 3 weeks ago. had 1 treatment last week, have another scheduled for next week the thing is have to move, my lease is up in 3 weeks. i am planning on getting rid of my sofa, bed, dressers, nightstands, coffee table, bookshelf and chair. all my clothes have been washed/dried and re washed and dried and stored in bags... i am VERY fearful that these pests are going to follow me... do i have to throw out my shoes? my brand new tv? my dslr? my 2000$ computer? all my books ? or can i treat them safely?
buggyinsocal

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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Jan 31 2009 17:13:52
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First of all, don't throw everything away just yet, and try not to despair.

It turns out, you may be moving at a pretty good time. Many people here have had a lot of luck packing all their belongings into a moving van and having the moving van and its contents treated with Vikane.

It's not a 100% foolproof method all the time, but it is one of the treatments that are more likely to wipe all the bugs out in one go.

Search the forum for posts with the tag Vikane and see what comes up.
buggerNY

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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Jan 31 2009 17:23:21
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thanks!!! i was planning on getting rid of most of my stuff (like the couch/bedroom things) before this happened ive been planning a move for 6 months and held off on new stuff coz it would be easier to have it delivered one time instead of bringing it here just to move it in 3-5 months... so im VERY VERY lucky about that...

my main issue is really my computer/tv/camera/shoes .... the tv and the camera are very new (month old) so they were brought into my apartment after the infestation began and the computer was here all along... i have been reading through the site and others and i havent found any solid info on treating electronics... i cannot part with these items they are part of my source of income and they are used for grad school... also i have shoes that i dont think can go into the dryer or the oven

thanks again
i will def look into vikane
buggyinsocal

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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Jan 31 2009 23:12:46
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Vikane is pretty much the one and only ideal way to treat all of those items at once.

Vikane is a chemical that is primarily used to treat termite infestations. Plenty of places in New York city have experience using it for bed bugs, which is good, because for it to be effective on bed bugs it needs to be used at three times the strength as is used for termites.

Living in So Cal, I've usually seen it used for termites. Vikane does not penetrate through plastic bags, so you can't pack anything in the truck in sealed plastic. However, you can absolutely put your shoes, your books, your computer, etc. in luggage or cardboard boxes and have the whole truck fumigated at one go.

Most people wear one inexpensive outfit while they pack, and then change into "safe" clothes (clothes washed in hot, dried on hot, and immediately sealed into a clean ziplock) after showering at the new place and either seal up and toss or immediately wash the outfit they wore in the bed bug place, right down to their shoes, when they arrive at the new place. Combine that protocol with treating everything in a truck with Vikane, assuming it's done right and you didn't pack anything in plastic, and you've got a very good chance of taking the whole infestation out.

Vikane would probably be used more often for bed bugs because it is so effective, but you can't Vikane an individual apartment, and it's expensive. Cost of treatment wise for a whole building is probably comparable to thermal--maybe more, but from a land lord perspective, it's much more expensive since, at least for termites, the tenants need to be out of the property for several days, and LL are responsible for putting them up at a hotel during treatment.

I didn't do Vikane, although I had a friend in grad school who had to have her rental tented for termites, and I think she left her computer in the house for it. I don't imagine she took any cameras with her for a three day hotel stay, so I can't see any problems with having those items in the truck for treatment.

Again, it might seem expensive up front, but when you tally the time and energy and trauma of ongoing chemical treatment, to say nothing of the laundry and dry cleaning and labor. . . it seems a reasonable cost to me.
aaghbugs

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Posted 4 years ago
Sun Feb 1 2009 16:07:03
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Some people have put their shoes in the dryer and claimed success.

Someone else said they put them in the oven on warm, but for some of them the glue came undone. Still, if your alternative is to throw them away, it would be better to take a chance on ruining them.

Another idea would be to get plastic totes for your shoes and keeping the shoes in them anytime that you are at home with the totes closed. If your new apartment has a patio or something you could try keeping the totes there.
Stevie

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Mar 1 2010 15:56:26
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We've only been in our apartment 2 weeks, and saw the BB within a week of moving in.
We now KNOW our building has been infested for 6 months and it was hidden from us. We saw 3 bugs (2 large, 1 small) before the treatments; nothing since. Together, the two of us were bit a total of 20-25 times (combined) in the 4 days before treatment and 2 days after. This may be a dumb question: is that alot? How big is our problem?

We called in our own PCO, but we know they're throughout the building, so we're really nervous about leaving safely. We are leaving: we can't live this way. We're moving April 1st and will have been treated twice. The landlord is atrocious in every way -- has not even answered his phone since I told him (the day we found them).

In Canada, we don't have vikane. PCOs won't treat truckfulls here because no chemical can be used on everything here and they steam can't be thorough enough on a full truck and/or will ruin some things.

What do you say? Do we ditch everything? We threw out the bedroom furniture. We're willing to throw away all the furniture. We can eventually buy new furniture, but we can't really get rid of:

our clothes and dishes
our plants
electronics (2 mac computers, tv, dvd player)
his paintings
my guitars
my sewing machine and serger
our books and cds

Oh, we also don't have packtite in Canada, so that's not an option. Can we safely move any of these things with some kind of treatment, or do I have to have my heart broken again??
wchicago

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Mar 1 2010 16:22:40
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hi stevie

clothes -throw everything in the dryer (put them all in dry) on high heat for 45 minutes. if you can, get an instant read meat thermometer and make sure the temp of the clothes coming out is 140 Fahrenheit or above (open door of dryer before cool down setting, put thermometer in middle of pile, close door for a minute, open door, read thermometer). dry heat won't really damage any clothes - all of my dry cleanables, silks, bras, etc survived this just fine. as long as they go in *dry.* Put in sealed XXL ziplocks immediately out of the dryer. preferably don't put those bags back in your apartment if you can help it, but as long as the bags are sealed air tight it should be ok even if they have to be stored in your apartment -though i would empty the contents into new *clean* bags before i brought them into the new apartment.

plants -hmmm, no way to treat them. i think they have to stay behind sorry

electronics - some folks say electronics rarely get infested. to be safe, i would treat them with hot shot pest strips. ddvp can be corrosive to metal, but you only need to store them in a bag with a strip for 3 weeks or so, so the risk may be worth it for peace of mind

the paintings and the guitars and the books- hot shot pest strips to the rescue again. sealed with strips in bag, 3 weeks. read up on ddvp (nuvan pest strips or hot shot pest strips) before you use them. you can put ddvp into the search box.

cds and dishes should be easily inspectable/washable with hot water and/or 91% alcohol

i don't know anything about sewing machines, sorry.
almostfreeofthem

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue May 4 2010 9:01:37
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First and foremost, thanks to all the knowledgable people who share their advice on this site.

I have been in a bugged apartment for 9 months and while my landlord "seems" sympathetic, he refuses to believe that his exterminator is not good. Sadly, his exterminator is really, truly not good, and practically useless in teh battle against bed bugs. So I'm moving out.

Great to hear that dishes and CD's can be washed with water and inspected. Does the same go for pots and pans, and plastic containers?

I'm having the landlord dispose of everything else - furniture, rugs, etc - as I can't afford VIkane. I am only taking clothes that I can wash and anything that will fit into my PackTite. I have the luxury of moving slowly over 2 weeks and am going to do it right. But I want to be sure that those things mentioned above - plastic containers, pots, pans, etc - can all come wiht me if i wipe them down right? Is water enough? What if I put them in a dish washer?

Thanks!
buggedout16

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue May 4 2010 9:21:59
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Put all of those things you mention (plasticware, pots, pans etc) through a dishwasher on the hottest setting, if you can; and include the "hot dry" option if it's available. (Except CDs/DVDs; hand wash those with soap and hot water in the sink, don't want to risk scratches!) Dry and seal them securely in ziploc bags afterwards.
almostfreeofthem

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue May 4 2010 22:10:26
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Thanks BuggedOut. I'll do that. My only worry with that is I don't have a dishwasher at my current apt, but I do at my new apartment. I'll plan to wash them first here and transport them in a closed bag, and put them in the dishwasher when I get there.

As far as a metal coat rack stand, I was planning to wipe down with 91% alcohol. Seem good?
cilecto

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue May 4 2010 22:24:38
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almostfreeofthem - 6 minutes ago »
As far as a metal coat rack stand, I was planning to wipe down with 91% alcohol. Seem good?

Alcohol will kill all stages of BB (but not eggs) that it hits direct. As will many soaps (like Murphy's) which may be gentler on your finish. The visible outside surfaces of any object, which can be inspected and wiped down in many different ways, are less of an issue than the "hidden" parts, nooks, crannies and hollows. These are where AFAIK bugs and eggs (if any) could be hiding. If your item can be dismantled and scrubbed inside and out, or better, heat treated, I think that would be more prudent.

Also, bear in mind that since this thread started, new tools (such as the Packtite) have become widely available.