Pillows « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Tools/ideas for fighting bed bugs

Pillows

(8 posts)

Tags:

Louise

junior member
Joined: Jun '09
Posts: 70

Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 10:03:32
#

Login to Send PM

One of the suggestions here is to buy new pillows if you have bedbugs.

May I ask why? What is the difference between encasing a new pillow with, say, a MattressSafe or Protect-A-Bed pillow encasement/cover, and doing the same with a pillow that may (or may not) already be infested?

Louise
buggyinsocal

oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,129

Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 12:38:26
#

Login to Send PM

Pillows are giant balls of insulation.

We know that the hardest items to debug using heat are the ones that are best insulated.

In other words, pillows, comforters, and really plush overstuffed furniture and the items that are most likely to continue to harbor bed bugs deep inside them after multiple treatments or debugging attempts, and pillows are located awfully close to food sources for bed bugs.

Some people feel perfectly comfortable encasing their pillows in god quality encasements.

Other people are creeped out by sleeping on anything that might still harbor bugs.

I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, the fact that I have a cat whole claws might have punctured encasements meant that tossing my old pillows and starting with news ones seemed a much safer plan than using old pillows in encasements.

My guess is that people who suggest tossing old pillows are doing so based on some combination of those factors even though I can't speak for anyone else.
soscared

newbite
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 113

Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 12:58:41
#

Login to Send PM

I put my pillows (2 of them) together in the dryer for 2 hours every few days. Is that not enough?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (<- cry of exhaustion and frustration)
buggyinsocal

oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,129

Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 14:27:35
#

Login to Send PM

ncasing their pillows in god quality

That should read good quality. ::headdesk:: I should know better than to type before breakfast.

In other news, soscared, I think if you're drying them on those heat levels that often, you should be okay.

Please remember that everyone has a different threshold of acceptable risk. People with a confirmed infestation--particularly those with a pretty substantial confirmed infestation that they had for a while and that they had trouble getting rid of--are the ones most likely to have a much higher threshold for acceptable risk. They not be willing to put up with a very, very slight risk in ways that someone who's only had a small infestation would.

I ditched all my pillows because I couldn't stand the thought of there being dead bed bugs inside them, AND my pillows were old and could stand to be replaced. Replacing pillows on top of the expenses I'd already shelled out wasn't a big deal.

I'm still sleeping on my bed which may have dead bed bugs inside it because I had just bought the mattress and couldn't afford to replace it.

Everyone is different. Louise's question was why would someone ditch their pillows. I guessed that a lot of people would make the choices based on that. Remember for everyone who has a legitimate fear that their bed/pillow/couch/comforter needed to be ditched, there is at least one person who needlessly tossed an item that was bug free.

Only you can evaluate what is reasonable and comfortable in your situation.
Louise

junior member
Joined: Jun '09
Posts: 70

Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 15:51:46
#

Login to Send PM

Okay, so what I'm hearing is that once a pillow is encased, it is considered "safe"? ESPECIALLY if you encase it prior to having bedbugs?

It just seemed odd to me that new pillows are considered necessary, because if encasements don't work, one would have to be buying new pillows on a regular (daily?) basis to ensure that they were bedbug-free.

That said, I have ditched a majority of our old pillows and invested in new ones (both at home and at the cabin), but that said (and looking into the future), if we ever do have a bedbug/batbug problem, I really don't want to be repeating that process. It seems not only expensive, but also somewhat wasteful (y'know, clogging the landfills with a continuous stream of possibly-infested pillows...).

If pillows (and comforters) are impossible to treat, it would seem to be best to not use any at all during an infestation. I mean, do people actually try to sleep without pillows? Sleeping is hard enough as it is when one is waiting to be bitten, much less trying to get comfortable without a pillow...but then maybe I'm just a big wimp.

Louise
buggyinsocal

oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,129

Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 16:00:52
#

Login to Send PM

I had thermal, so all my bedding got treating when the whole apartment reached 140 degrees F for many, many hours.

I wouldn't say that pillows and comforters are impossible to treat, just more difficult than other items. Since bed bugs generate so much uncertainty, I think a lot of people have different thresholds of how much uncertainty they can live with.
tinyvampire

newbite
Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 24

Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 17:40:52
#

Login to Send PM

i decided that all of our bedding (expensive down comforter included) and pillows were going to the landfill. so, we're sleeping without pillows (and with 1 sheet and 1 wool blanket each) until we hit that magical 55-60 day point.

in fact, i also decided to get rid of 2 of my parkas (made me sad, but i was bitten in one of them) and a sleeping bag we sometimes used as a blanket (because it collected less cat hair than the comforter) -- just to cover all of my bases with the insulated stuff.

i'd love to get rid of our couch and one lone padded chair too, just to be safe, but then we wouldn't have any furniture (and are totally post-BB treatment and follow-up broke), and my husband wouldn't have a place to sleep (i'm sleeping on a *tiny* twin mattress that's on a metal frame, he on the couch...neither has room enough for both of us)...

:[

-tinyv
fantastapotamus

newbite
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 17

Posted 1 week ago
Sun Nov 8 2009 3:08:35
#

Login to Send PM

right now all I have on my bed for blankets is the fitted bottom sheet, a single pillow (memory foam that I dried for 35 minutes on high) in a pillow case, and a single top blanket.... I found my bedbugs just over a week ago and I'm willing to be a bit cooler at night at the expense of easier identification (and less laundry) at this stage of the game.

I tossed every other pillow I had - 2 or 3 old ones, 4 others that were on my bed when I discovered the infestation (a couple "doubled up" in a pillowcase to make them useful), and I even pulled the stuffing out of my two giant thick pillows out on the couch to be sure. I'm considering pulling the stuffing out of a quilt my grandmother made for me simply because it is quite thick and has bunched up in a few places, and I'd sooner lose the stuffing than lose the quilt completely.

as buggy said, these decisions are all about what gives me peace of mind.

I saw those as the highest risks and decided to just remove them from the equation. in truth all the pillows I tossed should have been gone a while ago, but I hate to throw things away when they aren't completely worn out.

soon, new pillows, new encasements, and eventually I'll bring back the comforter or quilt to the bed when I'm feeling a bit more confident my PCO got rid of the problem and the nights get cooler.