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New infestation-waiting for first PCO treatment.
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ewwbugs
newbite
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 17offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sat Sep 18 2010 21:56:28
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Four nights ago my roommate and I discovered that we have bed bugs. She had a bite, and knew what it was from having had them years ago.
I immediately checked out my mattress/bedding to confirm, and saw clear signs of them. We got rid of my boxspring that evening, as there were a couple of "clusters" on it with live bugs, carcasses and faeces, too horrific for me to contemplate sleeping on.
The next evening I washed all my bedding (very hot water, hot dryer), and vacuumed the mattress thoroughly before putting the bedding back on. There were signs of bugs on my mattress cover (not an encasement, just one to protect the mattress) pillows and blankets, and I sucked up a couple of live ones off the mattress.
We contacted our landlord, who said a PCO would be contacting us, I am guessing to set up an appointment.
My main question is what to do while (anxiously) awaiting a visit from the PCO. I bought an encasement and pillow covers but thought it might be better to wait until the PCO had a look/did their thing before putting them on. Does that make sense?
Also right now I am sleeping on a mattress on the floor, is this the worst thing I can be doing? I am not reacting to bites, my biggest concern is to keep them from spreading and get rid of them as soon as possible. I am going to replace the boxspring with some (probably woooden) planks on my (metal) bedframe. Should in wait for the PCO to come before I get these, or is more important to get my bed off the floor ASAP?
What else can I be doing? I having been doing laundry (hot water, hot dryer) and putting the "decontaminated" items in plastic bags in plastic bins. (Although I haven't seen bugs/signs of bugs anywhere except in and around the bed) I have read that caulking up holes is important, can I start doing this right away?
I just want to get this ordeal over with as soon as i can, and am impatient waiting for the PCO!
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SearchandDestroy
senior member
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 452offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sat Sep 18 2010 22:54:26
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Well, most people want to isolate the bed to stop the bites...so if it were me, I'd get the frame and climbup interceptors and move the bed away from the wall, nightstands..etc. If you don't react to the bites then maybe it's different. You could do what one brave couple did and put double sided sticky tape all around the bed so that when the bugs come to you at night, they get stuck in the tape instead.
I'm not sure if you should seal up the cracks and crevices before they are treated...usually they put dust in them. Someone else can comment on this.
They'll probably want to steam the mattress so waiting to cover is usually what they want..but it can be hard to do. You could buy a cheap cover (target) while you wait and then buy the expensive one (protect-a-bed) for after steaming.
Order a packtite...get some 91% isopropyl alcohol and a bottle sprayer to kill anything you see.
Get some plastic tubs so that you can clean out the clutter. Vacuum like crazy..floors, rugs, mattress. Throw out the bag when done.
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