Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Tools/ideas for fighting bed bugs
Paint Stripper gun?
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aussiebug
newbite
Joined: Nov '08
Posts: 25
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Dec 3 2008 1:53:46
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I mentioned this in another thread a while back but would using a paint stripper gun do the same as a steamer ? We have an old bed so except for setting it on fire I don't care if it is damaged a bit, we will be moving in the next couple of months and demolishing our house we will take the furniture with us, my intention is to treat everything in the room a while before we move (we are only moving next door for 10-12 months while our house is built)
When we move back into the new house we will be buying NEW furniture for much of the house (but not all)
This weekend I will be tiding up the shed (corrugated iron garage in the back yard) so I have enough room to store everything we won't use in the next 2 months, I will bag everything and leave close to the shed walls, over our summer it often gets around 40 degrees C (over 100F) inside the shed it would be close to 120F
ALSO: Can anyone give me their comment on the following:
If I bag with Vacuum bags and include naphthalene will this be useful, or would I be wasting my money, my thoughts on vacuum bags are that by removing the oxygen from where the bugs may be will suffocate them, or WILL it?
If the naphthalene is in the vacuum bag and the air is sucked out then will the naphthalene only be effective (if it works at all) directly where it is?If this is the case then would I be better off using just zip lock bags?
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Hi,
Heat guns work in a very different way to steamers. I have used them in the past to drive bed bugs out of hiding locations but stopped due to one reason, namely that many divan or box frame beds have synthetic fibers in the wadding that backs the fabric. The heat gun was hot enough to melt this and release rather noxious fumes into the room that I was working in.
As a result I would not recommend using one in this type of setting.
David Cain
Bed Bugs LImited
www.Bed-Bugs.co.uk -
I also think heat guns could be quite dangerous and I doubt you could be meticulous enough without torching the whole thing. I wouldn't trust normal weather conditions as the bugs will work their way away from the heat and it would be too random as to whether you got a complete kill (as is the problem with black plastic in the sun).
I have tested napthalene over a twenty four hour period and it failed although Doug Summers, whose opinions I respect, has told me others have had success over longer periods. I have tested Baygon egg kill crawling insect surface spray in Perth in a storage bin and this killed within 24 hours. I am sourcing a new product as the pyrethroids are not as effective on some colonies but the baygon, at this stage is effective here.
I hope this helps and good luck
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spideyjg
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 1,612
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Dec 3 2008 11:37:40
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A typical heat gun puts out 500-1000F air which is far in excess of safety for fire, toxic fume release, and burns.
There are more expensive ones that have adjustable temp controls that can dial it way back.
I have one that adjust from 130F-900F and setting the dial is very sensitive and the difference between 225-300 is tiny.
Unless you have one that is adjustable and a method for validating the temperature, it is not recommended.
Jim
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Kids don't try this at home, not only is the heat gun capable of starting fires, melting unmentionables and volatilizing fumes. Its damn likely you'll end up burning yourself.
While some folks may love the smell of napalm in the morning, it's best when that burning flesh smell is not coming from you or the cat. -
aussiebug
newbite
Joined: Nov '08
Posts: 25
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Dec 9 2008 22:05:23
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Firstly I don't recommend doing this if you're not EXTREMELY careful and I would have NEVER done it inside the house!
I DID try the paint stripper gun, we VERY carefully took the bed apart (the bed is an antique wooden one from the 1920's but I modified it some years ago with a slat base) we took each piece outside (back yard) and placed it on thick plastic sheeting, then with a mask on (and a fire extinguisher at the ready) I very thoroughly went over every single bit of the bed with the gun concentrating on gaps and joins. It was very obvious in some areas where eggs were laid, they were particularly in knots on the pine base I had made, it appears that they prefer a rougher area rather than where it was very smooth.
The gun has duel heat settings 500 & 1000 Deg F so I was very careful not to hold it too close to the timber at times the "sap" from the knots on the wood started to "bubble" so I knew the eggs in that vicinity were being well and truly "cooked".
The only thing I was disappointed with is that I did expect some live bugs to emerge so I could fry them, but none appeared.
We don't care about the bed (or most of our other furniture) being damaged as we will be moving to the house next door in the next 2 months while we demolish and rebuild when we move back into our new house most of the furniture will be brand new we just don't want to transport any other visitors with us ! -
spideyjg
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 1,612
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Dec 9 2008 22:39:45
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Wood is a great insulator and hopefully you got them but don't bet the farm on it. Certainly eggs visible and in the larger cracks are probably toast.
At this point is where you hit every crack with DE or some residual dust to make that thing inhabitable, or seal it up
If those cracks and gaps are still there they are like a BB open house for the ones elsewhere in hte house..
Jim
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aussiebug
newbite
Joined: Nov '08
Posts: 25
Posted 1 year ago
Fri Jan 30 2009 3:21:51
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Well we have moved house and I "heat gunned" all the beds and other timber furniture in the yard as we moved it it took ages I then vacuumed and sprayed with a surface spray, we either washed and dried all bedding clothes etc and took to the other house (right next door) we threw some bedding out even though it has hardly ever been used we put it in 2 black bags and have left it in a metal trailer in the driveway for 2 weeks now, we are having a terrible "heat wave" at the moment several days around 45-46 deg C (around 115F) and I am curious if the items did have any bugs in them would they be "cooked" I would imagine the temperature inside the black bags would be far hotter sitting in the burning sun day after day!
Anyway, fingers crossed we have left them behind in the house that will be demolished in about 2 weeks and when we move back into our newly built one we will be BB free for ever!
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