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shark steam cleaner
(6 posts)-
I bought a shark steam cleaner, powerful sucker. Would it be a bad idea to steam the baseboards and all the cracks in my bedroom? I don't want to scare them into hiding.
On another note...Is it wrong to want DDT to be made legal again? Maybe some black market somewhere sells it, LOL.
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bitten123
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Joined: Sep '08
Posts: 343
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Dec 2 2008 15:32:05
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Hi Red, are you going to have a PCO treat? If so, ask them. If you look over this site, there are directions somewhere for using steam correctly. I did use steam on my baseboard, and found that covering the nozzle with a thin, small towel made a big difference in getting the heat to stay hot enough. I used a thermometer to monitor the degrees and went very slowly, something like inch every 12 seconds. There is a report written in Australia explaining the heat needed and how slowly to go. I think if you can reach over 120 degrees and you go slowly you should have good results. I think dry steam is a good thing. I think it has been mentioned here that some steamers can put to much water/steam under the boards and making you prone to mold. I was careful and felt comfortable my area was well dry afterwords. I like steaming everything, it made me feel I was doing something :)
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Steam is one of your best weapons against bed bugs as it is the only thing that will kill eggs. I always use steam in bed bug treatments but you must be careful. Use it on your mattress and base and make sure you cover every square inch whether you can see bugs/eggs or not, being particularly diligent around the bottom webbing of the base. When doing this keep the pressure low (if you have that adjustment or use a wide head through cloth) as high pressure will blow the bugs away before the heat can kill them. Where you see spotting, ala nest, go over it a second time and crank up the pressure to insure you cook the eggs. Give each nest a fairly wide circumference as the eggs are laid randomly and can be hard to see. Always work the floor wall joint around the bed and use high pressure to get right into this area. Cracks etc, once again use lower pressure to not dislodge bugs. Any spotting you see anywhere should be steamed. If you combine this with isolating and treating everything in the room (everything gets isolated on the treatment day but can be treated later before returning just make sure it is 100% sealed)you have a chance of eradicating. I use a residual pesticide as well but this depends on availability (pyrethroids are ineffective in a lot of cases) and your experience as the wrong pesticide can send the bugs "underground" and make subsequent treatments very difficult. Good luck
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I've seen the shark on Amazon for about $99, and I've seen other websites selling other units like these steam cleaner for hundreds more. Anyone had an experience with both?
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If you can afford the investment I would buy a TR5 you can by a home version at a descent price. Plus you can find all kinds of uses for it other than bed bugs. Have a look here but look around for the best price. http://store.healthyspacesonline.com/vapor-clean-tr5.html
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More on steaming and steamer recommendations from readers and PCOs here:
http://bedbugger.com/faqs/pestcontrol/faq-killing-bed-bugs-with-steam/
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