Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Reader questions (do not fit into other categories)
Moving WITHOUT taking the bugs..
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effinbugs
junior member
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 38
Posted 1 year ago
Fri Aug 1 2008 1:13:51
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My room mate and I are moving at the end of the month and obviously don't want to take the bugs with us!
We are taking as little as possible but we must take our beds, kitchen table and chairs, and futon.
Our infestation wasn't too bad apparently since we noticed it early, thank god! We live in a triplex (two other apartments) and had two treatments from a PCO but had a different guy come back for the third, who told us the previous guy hadn't done it right. Not too sure if the other two apartments have been sprayed lately...
We noticed a huge decrease in bites though (from tons every night to a couple every few days) and haven't seen any of the adult bed bugs in a while, which I think is an improvement since they can't reproduce in the earlier stages(I hope!!)
Anyways, we've had the problem since the end of June and we are moving into a new apartment with two other friends at the end of this month. I am really paranoid about bringing them with us.
We have just had our third treatment but I still got a few bites last night. We inspect and vacuum our beds every day and I am just finding the little ones as of late, which I hope means they are decreasing but which also makes me nervous they'll be able to tag along.
I was thinking of vacuuming our stuff and spraying it with Raid prior to moving, as well as doing all our laundry obviously.
Any success stories with leaving bugs behind when moving?
EDIT: We're starving students so throwing everything out is NOT an option. Our infestation is pretty mild according to the PCO and according to other accounts I have heard (in our apartment anyways...the third floor was worse apparently). Seems to be confined to our beds only now, though I plan to spray my desk, etc. prior to moving.
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fightorflight
senior member
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 694
Posted 1 year ago
Fri Aug 1 2008 1:42:31
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> We are taking as little as possible but we must take our beds, kitchen table and chairs, and futon.
Sorry, I hate to have to tell you this, but realistically, this is not a recipe for success.
Seems to me that those who move successfully fall roughly into 3 categories:
1) Those who move while there is still evidence of bedbug activity in their current homes (this describes you, unfortunately). Seems that most people who have done this successfully, myself included, have taken literally nothing or close to it.
2) Those that move after their current residence has been treated successfully and declared bedbug-free (no signs of bugs or symptoms). Some of these people were able to take belongings and furniture because bedbugs had been eradicated from their residences.
3) People who are able to treat the furniture and belongings they take with them separately, via Vikane commodity fumigation or other means.
Based on this, I would say you would have a better chance of success moving if you were able to stay in your current place and keep fighting until past V-BB Day, since it seems your treatments are already going well.
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effinbugs
junior member
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 38
Posted 1 year ago
Fri Aug 1 2008 1:52:26
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Yeaaah, I'm hoping it will clear up in the next few weeks. It went from like 10 or so bites a night in June to being very sporadic (maybe like a bite every three or four days) after our treatments and after I convinced my room mate to vacuum...
Not moving and not taking stuff isn't feasible for us. Being students, we need our books and papers and laptops (SIDENOTE: How do you decontaminate a laptop without ruining it?). We need all of our furniture since we can't afford new stuff at all. I realize there is still a bit of a risk but I'm looking to decrease that risk as much as I can before moving. I was kind of just hoping for advice on further decontaminating things in preparation over the next few weeks and then just prior to moving.
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fightorflight
senior member
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 694
Posted 1 year ago
Fri Aug 1 2008 2:20:36
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> I was kind of just hoping for advice on further decontaminating things in preparation over the next few weeks and then just prior to moving.
- If the treatments seem to be working, then the best thing you can do is stay in your current place as long as possible while being treated. If you could achieve zero symptoms before moving, that would be the best you could hope for.
- Decontaminating fabric items is fairly straightforward and covered extensively in the FAQs.
- Maybe your best strategy for decontaminating the remaining items is to consult with your PCO, hope he/she is very good and consider strategies for leaving your belongings out and surrounded by moats, channels, swaths, etc. of poison, whether it be PCO insecticide or a very light moat of DE. This strategy relies on the notion that when the bedbugs get hungry, they will leave your things in search of food. I'm not a PCO, but I think the thing you would want to be careful of is that bedbugs also seem very adept at sensing threats to their survival. This is where research and your PCO consult comes in.
Read a lot here, think a lot and develop your own tactics based on what you've learned and your situation.
I do have to add, however, that - encasements or not - I think you would sabotage your efforts and greatly reduce your chances of success by taking your beds. A twin aerobed at Wal-Mart costs $40 (not the most comfortable thing in the world, though...). Weigh the cost of finding something to sleep on in your new place (heck, an inflatable camping pad is more comfortable than an aerobed in my opinion) versus the cost of having to fight bedbugs in your new place.
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