bed bugs ~ help!

[cincynana]

About 3 weeks ago, we discovered bed bugs in our mattress. We vaccuumed like crazy, got rid of the comforter and pillows and washed the sheets. We covered the box springs and mattress in plastic. We didn't think that we had a very bad case of them and felt somewhat confident that we had them licked, or at least trapped. They were only in the mattress in our bedroom and no where else in the house. We didn't find any in our night stands or other things around the bed. We kinda think we got them from a hotel that we stayed at in June, but who really knows.

Then 2 days ago, we saw a couple more. So we vaccummed everything again, but didn't see anymore. Then last night, we found a bunch, again. After my mini-breakdown, we stripped off the (brand new) comforter and bed skirt and pillow shams. They weren't in the sheets or pillows. The mattress and bedspring are in the garage until we can figure out how to get rid of them. Everything is in the process of getting washed again.

I'm hesitant to call an exterminator b/c I know they're going to spray things that I don't want sprayed in our home. But I also don't want these damn bugs in my home either. Has anyone lived through this? What did you use? Luckily we have hard wood floors in our room, so I've been able to sweep and get a few that were on the floor (I'm assuming they fell off the mattress) I'm frustrated and disgusted and I don't know what to do. Did I mention we're suppose to be listing our house for sale this week...

[thewaggonerfamily]

I don't know much, but my sis works for a state health dept. She was telling me about a bedbug presentation she was giving at a conference. I do remember her saying that they can live for a very long time with nothing. (Like if they sealed up a room for 12 mo...) I also remember that they can live/hide in the bedframe (like the wood or metal bed parts) If you don't get anything else I'll try to remember to ask her when I talk to her tonight. I kinda remember her implying they are very hard to get rid of.

[Noisette's_Maman]

Poor you!!!!

Here's some info from Wikipedia...for what that's worth...

"Bed frames can be effectively rid of adult bedbugs and eggs by use of steam or by spraying rubbing alcohol on any visible insects, although this is not a permanent treatment. Small steam cleaners are available and are very effective for local treatment. A suspect mattress can be protected by wrapping it in disposable plastic sheeting, sealing shut all the seams and putting it on a protected bed after a final visual inspection. Bedding can be sanitized by a 120 °F (49 °C) laundry dryer. Once sanitized, bedding should not be allowed to drape to the floor. An effective way to quarantine a protected bed is to store sanitized sleeping clothes in the bed during the day, and bathing before entering the bed.

Food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE) can be sprinked under mattresses, along baseboards and on the edges of bookshelves where bedbugs hide. Food-grade DE, although harmless to mammals, including common house pets and humans, is a virtual death sentence for bedbugs. DE is a drying agent and is actually used in many dry pet foods to keep the kibble dry and fresh.

The DE particles abrade the bedbug, essentially dehydrating it of water and lipids. Neem oil (mentioned below) can be added to the DE (1 cup DE to 20 drops neem oil) in a plastic bag before sprinking it around. Other essential oils that can be added are juniper oil, eucalyptus oil, ylang ylang oil, rosemary oil and tea tree oil. The bedbugs hate the smell of the oils, and for those who don't and pass through, they will eventually be killed by the DE itself. Use 20 drops of each essential oil mentioned for each cup of DE.

Alternative treatments that may actually work better and be more comfortable than wrapping bedding in plastic that would cause sweating would be to encase your mattress and box springs in impermeable bed bug bite proof encasements after a treatment for an infestation. There are many products on the market but only some products have been laboratory tested to be bedbug bite proof. Make sure to check to see that the product you are considering is more than an allergy encasement, but is bed bug bite proof.

Vermin and pets will complicate a barrier strategy. Bedbugs prefer human hosts, but will resort to other warm-blooded hosts if humans are not available. Some bedbug species can live up to eighteen months without feeding at all. A co-infestation of mice can provide an auxiliary food source to keep bedbugs established for longer. Likewise, a house cat or human guest might easily defeat a barrier by sitting on a protected bed. Such considerations should be part of any barrier strategy.

BBC1 aired a television program entitled "The One Show" about the growth of bedbug infestations in London. In the program a pest control officer claimed that the use of insecticides alone was no longer an effective method to control bed bugs as they had developed a resistance to most if not all insecticides that might be used legally in the UK. He stated that insecticide use in conjunction to freezing bedbugs was the only effective control. All items of clothing and upholstery (including curtains) in the affected household had to be deep-frozen for at least 3 days in giant freezers to ensure complete eradication. The exact temperature at which bedbugs must be frozen was not mentioned.

Another method that might be useful in controlling bedbugs is the use of neem oil. It can be sprayed on carpets, curtains and mattresses. Neem oil is made from the leaves and bark of the neem tree native to India. It has been used safely for thousands of years in India both as a natural, effective insect repellent and it is antibacterial. It has recently received US Food and Drug Administration approval for external use. It is also possible to incorporate neem oil into certain types of mattress. Such mattresses are currently being manufactured by a German company."

[lindberg99]

Oh yuck. I was just listening to This American Life and they had a segment about an apartment building that had bedbugs in it.

There is a lot of info at this page http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/bedbugs/

I hope you get rid of them soon. They sound like a big pain.

[cincynana]

Thank you for the replies (and the sympathy, I need it today!)

It seems as if the mattress/box spring was the culprit. I've been cleaning our bedroom all day and haven't found 1 bug, alive or dead. We don't have a head board, so that was good. I bough rubbing alcohol and wiped down the base boards and cleaned out our night stands, vaccummed them and wiped them down with rubbing alcohol. I also ordered a natural bed bug spray that includes a lot of the oils that the wikipedia article mentioned. We have a new mattress and box spring coming on Thursday, but I'll probably still spray it with this spray (crossing fingers that its here soon!) and wrap it just for added insurance. I'll also have to see if I can buy some DE locally. That sounds like the wonder ingredient of bed bug removal! All of the bedding has been washed and dried on hot/high, but its being stored in a rubbermaid tote. Augh. So frustrating. I can't imangine living in an apartment where they're even harder to fight.

Thanks again

[JD1]

We've got 'em too, and we are in Cincy as well. I don't know if you knew, but bedbugs are EXPLODING here.

I highly, highly reccomend you use an exterminator and let them use pesticides- unless you can find one who uses steam. And this from a mom who feeds her family all organic. DE is useful, as well as plastic wrapped mattresses, in conjunction with poison. If you don't do it right, you'll surely take them with you when you move.

We've been fighting them since June- and maybe longer. That's when we knew for sure.

It'll give you a heart attack, but please read this site thoroughly.

www.bedbugger.com

[tuppence]

AAAAIIIIGGGHHHHH!!! Many sympathies!!! I've been through two bedbug infestations and have nightmares still. We ended up throwing almost everything out and finally moving, but that was because we were sharing an apartment and didn't have the control we needed in the space to fix things. Both times though we threw out the bedding and mattresses. The second time it turned out that they'd been in the bookshelves and made their way to the bed. They are incredibly hard to get rid of, so don't feel bad if you end up resorting to an exterminator.

[annekevdbroek]

Yeah, I think bedbugs can end up in curtains, under floor boards, etc. - not just in the bed. I hope you get rid of them.

There are a few instances when I'd hire an exterminator and this would probably be one of those times.