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my pco said I could put stuff in my normal freezer for 1 day
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mangycur
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Joined: Sep '07
Posts: 275
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Oct 28 2007 14:58:17
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is she full of it? the other faqs said you need a professional deep freeze and to leave stuff in for much longer.
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chrismarker
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Joined: May '07
Posts: 16
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Oct 28 2007 15:41:42
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hmmm one day doesn't sound sufficient, especially since most household freezers are not all THAT cold... i think she's quite misinformed. you need to really blast the bastids with c-c-c-old not with barely icy temps
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jimmypop2008
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Joined: Sep '07
Posts: 47
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Oct 28 2007 16:49:55
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a heard a few weeks in a regular freezer, and even then some have "come back to life"
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How cold does your freezer get? Do you intend to open it during the time you are freezing this stuff? How thick is the stuff?
No one can tell you what will work for sure with your freezer. How long freezing bed bugs takes depends on these kinds of factors, but I seriously doubt a day would be enough.
Here's something to consider: entomologist Lou Sorkin froze bed bugs. He has a seriously cold freezer. This is what he said:
"I had them in a freezer at -29dF for 4 hours and some 1st instars lived. But [in] 5 days they also died."
(Taken from the Yahoo Bedbugger Group, click here and join to read message 3739).
Your home freezer is bound to be much warmer than Lou's professional one.
Also, Lou said in another message that I can't locate right now, that when he removed some bed bugs from the freezer after shorter period (which I think was within a day, maybe shorter), they appeared dead, and then defrosted and were still alive.
Lou's data suggests 5 days works if your freezer reaches -29 degrees F. But we have suggested freezing for weeks to be safer, if it does not get that cold.
And freezing does not mean placing it in a freezer you use all the time. If the door is opening and shutting, the temperature will rise each time the door is opened.
Some people bought $200 box freezers to freeze important stuff. Pricey, but so is tossing shoes and important things out. Putting the stuff in and leaving it undisturbed for two weeks seems promising.
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mangy,
I love that you have a female PCO, though. I think this is the first time anyone here has reported having one. -
Margaret
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Joined: Oct '07
Posts: 16
Posted 2 years ago
Mon Oct 29 2007 3:12:39
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Our PCO here in St Petersburg, Russia, was also a woman--well beyond child-bearing years, let's just say. She was a lady in her 60s, I would guess, who arrived in a modest skirt and sweater, hung her coat on the coatrack, put on a lightweight green smock (sort of a govt-employee uniform rather than protection), and asked for a pitcher of water for the pesticide in her tank. She had a mask for her nose-mouth, but she had my husband and me leave before she started working. I think my landlady was present the whole time (probably with no mask) since she later told me everything the PCO had treated.
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Heather
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Joined: Oct '07
Posts: 12
Posted 2 years ago
Mon Oct 29 2007 8:52:49
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It's amazing how misinformed some PCOs are. My first PCO was so misinformed I called the company to request someone else ("You need to take care of these right away because they can cause all kinds of diseases" "Bedbugs won't hide in your shoes, don't worry" "You can wash your clothes in the regular cold cycle to clean them"... Um No!). I find I educated most of the PCO people that came threw my home. As far as the freezer, one day would not work. 2 weeks minimum and thats if its really really frozen. I think it's easier to kill them with heat (above 115degrees I believe).
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Margaret,
A woman PCO in Russia does NOT surprise me.
From what I gather, the Soviets were very egalitarian as far as training people for jobs. -
mangycur
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Joined: Sep '07
Posts: 275
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Oct 31 2007 22:20:10
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I can put a thermometer in to find out how cold it gets. I dont' cook so I'm not in and out of the freezer very often. I have some wigs in there for 3 weeks, now. I opened the freezer a couple of times to get ice cubes over a week ago. I don't need the wigs really, but I might want them again in the future-- so I can leave them longer. Ultimately, I'm more concerned about my PCO. She's such a new yorker--you know, she'll give contradictory instructions and doesn't seem to care that she's not making sense. I just wanted to get a feel from you all about this.
She is the phone person, and the actual exterminators happened to be men. The one who came for the first spray had different opionions than the ones who came for the follow-up. So far I think they all did good work, but they have differing opinions about what I need to do next (for example, to caulk or not to caulk my floor cracks.)
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There are some bad PCOs. But I would not write one off for not knowing the freezing temps and times. This is a really murky area and I am sure few PCOs are up on it. That does not excuse her recommending a procedure that will not work.
I'd be more worried about her other instructions. Did they give you a prep sheet? Did they tell you to bag everything (not just washed clothes) and if so, did they say when to take it out?
If you feel like your techs and the receptionist are all giving different information, I think you should call the manager. Others have done this to good effect. The truth is, this industry is growing fast and bed bugs are a new ("new to us") problem. So they may be having trouble keeping up and training everyone, but someone is in charge there and probably knows more (if they are a decent PCO). And they should be alerted to the mixed info. you're getting.
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