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What about Boiling Water?
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Margaret
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Posted 5 years ago
Mon Oct 22 2007 8:11:42
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I am currently living in St Petersburg, Russia, where there are no Home Depots, no Ex-lg ziplock bags, no clothes dryers at laundromats and no DE as far as I can tell.
People here say they haven't heard of bedbugs since the 1960s, when people lived in communal apts.
The only advice I've received, in addition to calling the exterminator, is to pour boiling water on the sofa, etc, where they may be living. I can see how that would kill the ones on the surface of the sofa, but would probably not reach the ones in the middle. Or it might drive the beasties into the middle of the mattress.
The sofa, by the way, is a futon-like sofa-bed, with the seat and back of the infested sofa unfolding to form a queen-sized bed.
Any advice on non-US/non-Canadian means of treatment are most welcome!
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lieutenantdan
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Posted 5 years ago
Mon Oct 22 2007 10:13:17
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Hi Margaret,
Russia WOW!
Sorry that you have this problem too. As you can imagine water on a sofa may kills bed bugs or may not kill them all but what then.
What happens to the wet cushion? I realize that you may not have the products available that we have here but I do not think that is a good solution. Can you get a steamer or hot iron?
Can you please tell us how badly infested Russia is with bed bugs? -
your host
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Posted 5 years ago
Mon Oct 22 2007 10:39:59
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Margaret,
Another suggestion (I also replied to you in another thread):
Click on the link in our sidebar (at bedbugger.com) to the War on Bed Bugs. Frank is a huge exponent of integrated pest management techniques. Some, like isolating the bed, are hard for you. But Frank also discusses steam, and other methods. I do encourage people to get a PCO to treat, but in your situation, IPM may make a lot of difference.
Google +"integrated pest management" and +"bed bugs".Also, keep pushing for those Russian PCOs. I would suspect they probably have access to some serious chemicals. I could be wrong, but my understanding is that much of the world has better pesticide options than we do in the US.
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oldtimer
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Posted 5 years ago
Mon Oct 22 2007 10:50:09
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Margaret,
You might want to download Stephen Doggett's Code of Practice from Australia. A link is located on the right side of the blog page. See if some of the listed agents can be imported or if you can find a PCO that will follow the protocols that are provided.
Can you order products from EU countries?
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
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Posted 5 years ago
Mon Oct 22 2007 10:52:44
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Good idea, Doug.
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buggeroff
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Joined: Jul '07
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Posted 5 years ago
Mon Oct 22 2007 16:23:58
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A mattress encasement may be a better bet for the futon. You might have to wrap some duct tape around to make it fit the futon, but they're not all that expensive, there are probably no Russian import restrictions on them and National Allergy ships overseas. You might even find a comparable product made more locally (Germany maybe?).
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your host
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Posted 5 years ago
Mon Oct 22 2007 19:16:22
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My understanding was that Margaret's sofa-bed did not have a separate futon-type mattress that could be encased. If it does, that's easy peasy. If not, and it's the whole sofa that folds out (have seen some in eastern Europe), then it is impossible to encase.
Margeret? -
Margaret
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Joined: Oct '07
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Posted 5 years ago
Tue Oct 23 2007 7:52:41
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Thanks for helpful replies--I don't have much Internet time nowadays, or would've replied sooner.
I don't know how infested Russia is. As I said above everyone says they haven't heard of bbs since the 60s, but I've heard of a few cases in the last week, anecdotally. I'll research the question.I'll check out IPM--I'd already taken a peek, but will go into more detail now that the PCOs are starting. I've been living with my landlady in her apt until the PCOs come just because my allergic reaction is so strong. Now the bites are calming down and I'm getting ready to face the apt with Bedbugger techniques in play. Deep breath.
Nobugsonme is right--it is not a futon with a separate mattress, but precisely an Eastern European sofa that folds out. The base is like a wooden box/trunk, the sides are two arm cushions, and the seat and back fold out into into side-by-side mattresses. It is (was...) super-comfy! We have a double-size metal cot in the 2nd room that we can isolate somehow, and we may be sleeping on that for the forseeable future.
Tomorrow at 10am the municipal Sanitation Dept is going to treat the whole building (the bugs started on the 3rd floor and made it up to us on the 5th). According to my landlady, they blast every apt in the building once and guarantee it for a whole year. I am wondering what is going to happen when the little eggs hatch in 6-17 days weeks...but we'll take that as it comes. My landlady keeps saying, It's guaranteed for a year!
We are skeptically optimistic that the Sanitation Dept PCO blast will kill all the eggs, even in the middle of the sofa-bed (hmmm). As my husband just said, there's a reason that the life expectency is a lot lower here.
Meanwhile, working on getting some products from the West and finding out more about Russian hardware stores and laundry facilities.
Many thanks for all your advice!!!! I'll post separate questions under proper headings, as much as possible.
--Margaret -
your host
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Posted 5 years ago
Tue Oct 23 2007 15:08:02
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"Tomorrow at 10am the municipal Sanitation Dept is going to treat the whole building (the bugs started on the 3rd floor and made it up to us on the 5th). According to my landlady, they blast every apt in the building once and guarantee it for a whole year. I am wondering what is going to happen when the little eggs hatch in 6-17 days weeks...but we'll take that as it comes. My landlady keeps saying, It's guaranteed for a year!"
This is something that might work--only because you are in Russia. They will have other pesticides.
I will say this, treating the whole building is VERY good news. If they come back, perhaps the MSD will too.
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torontobedbugger
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Joined: Sep '07
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Posted 5 years ago
Tue Oct 23 2007 16:14:10
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long live eastern europe! they are immediatelly going to treat the entire building! and no more no less the municipal sanitation department! so much about dirty foreigners bringing bedbugs to the north america.
i wish you luck, margaret! -
UESbugs
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Joined: Oct '07
Posts: 80offline
Posted 5 years ago
Wed Oct 24 2007 23:31:52
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I'm moving to Russia, bedbugs and all! Bring it on! Hit me with the supercharged Ruskaya chemicals!!!
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