Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Tools/ideas for fighting bed bugs
The Best Advice We Got
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for981
newbite
Joined: Apr '11
Posts: 1offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Apr 24 2011 18:41:47
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We recently had a problem with bedbugs. There were 3 units on our floor of 8 that were contaminated (strangely, 2 of them were at opposite ends of the hall). I'll pass along the most important things we learned.
*Until you have a specimen, dead or alive the exterminators and certainly a landlord is not going to treat your place. Put some glue traps or those plastic bedbug traps under the footers of your bed and see if you can catch one. You can get the plastic traps on Amazon or the pest company may sell you a set, at a premium. If you want one, you can also buy mattress/box spring encasements for less money on Amazon.
*If you own the property or are at least willing to spend a few hundred of your own money, you can bring in a dog to detect bed bugs. Your landlord should be willing to cover the expense if you get a positive reading.
*Put your sheets, clothes, towels, etc in the dryer for 30 min and then keep them in sealed plastic bags. The dryer has to get up to 120 degrees, so it can't be a cool dryer. Generally bugs do no live on people when they're moving, but I suggest taking a shower with a clean towel from your bags and and wearing clean clothes from your bags, each time you go out. You could also vacuum your shoes and keep them in a bag when you're inside. This is mostly overkill, but follow this and there won't be much chance that you'll take them outside your home.
*To keep them off you, get a roll of carpet tape from the hardware store (they generally can't cross this) and roll it around perimeter of the fitted sheet of your mattress. Don't let any sheets hang down below the tape or your pillow/mattress touch the headboard. I put a layer of masking tape underneath the carpet tape, because the glue of carpet tape will stick to the sheet and ruin it. Put a sheet on your couch and do the same thing. Keep in mind that any gaps underneath the tape, where the sheet is bunched, will create an easy tunnel to crawl through. Use a layer of masking tape here too, if you don't want to ruin the sheet.
*We found it worthwhile to put our top sheet and comforter in the dryer each night and to vacuum the couch and top of the bed.
*Vacuum the carpets, mattress, couch, etc, every day. You may want to wait until you have a specimen, to confirm an outbreak, but a lot of vacuuming, with a good vacuum with knock them down. Change the bag or seal it in a plastic bag (if they're expensive), as they can survive in the bag and crawl out.
*Talk to several exterminators and ask a lot of questions. Some of these guys are good, but many of them are not. Don't think a bug company name means they're good.
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