I suspect I’m about to receive some unsolicited packages from a house that is chronically infested with bedbugs – books, most likely, but other items are possible.
If I wanted to keep any of these items, am I right in thinking bedbugs are a risk? And if so, is there a reliable way (other than keeping the items out of the house) to defend against said risk?
Keep 'em sealed and bagged and put them in the freezer for a couple of weeks.
If they won’t fit in the freezer, keep them sealed and bagged and out of your house, and leave them for a year or two. Bedbugs can live quite a while without feeding but not indefinitely.
Freezing can work, but under very specific conditions.
https://www.bedbugs.umn.edu/bed-bug-control-in-residences/freezing
As someone who ended up spending thousands to heat treat a house with a bed bug infestation, I wouldn’t take the chance, personally.
From everything I’ve read, bedbugs are extraordinarily persistent and can be difficult and expensive to get rid of, usually requiring professional treatment. Not something you’d ever want to face if you can avoid it. Books, fabrics, and wooden furniture are perfect transports for bedbugs. In your situation I would be very tempted to never let such items into the house if they may be harboring bedbugs.
One possible solution for books and smaller items is to put them into the oven at 135F or more for at least three hours. It might risk damaging the books’ glue, though. And I would double-check the oven temp with a separate thermometer to make sure it’s hot enough.
OK, it’s really going to depend on how high a sentimental value applies. I’ve heard enough here to convince me that the threshold will need to be very high indeed to take any risk. Thanks, all.
I wouldn’t take the chance unless it involved rare and valuable books. Very valuable.
“Bedbugs By Mail” is the least appealing business idea I’ve heard in quite awhile.
Do you have any arch enemies you can send them to?
Heh. Maybe I should start a business, sell people sweet bedbuggy revenge to mail to their enemies. I could start a colony, keep them in a little ant farm.
Open the books outside and inspect them. If it’s possible keep all items in a garage or covered outdoor space and inspect the items. If it’s a lot of furniture, that’s tricky. Bed bugs are really good at hiding. They come in different sizes. Some are clearly visible; others not so much. Freezing can kill bed bugs but you’d probably need to leave them in the freezer for the better part of a week just to be sure they’re dead. If you put them in a dryer, you can kill them in 90 minutes, but obviously not everything belongs in a dryer.
I hope you’re not being confused by the size differences between molts.
Sizes as in stages of the lifecycle
I’d contact a reputable exterminator and see if they’d be willing to take care of the items, soup to nuts, to ensure that they’re clean before you so much as touch them.
Whatever they charge will be cheaper and quicker than dealing with an infestation in your home.
Do you live in an area that still has very hot car interiors? 150 degrees for a few hours kills bedbugs, too.
We brought home bedbugs from a hotel and managed to treat them with something like this, basically a heater in an insulated bag. I had to put a bookshelf worth of books in it and the books survived the 150 degree heat.
If the books are important to you, oven treatment should deal with the bugs, but the tricky part would be getting the books out of the box and into the oven without giving the bugs a chance to spread into your kitchen.
I’d put the whole package in a plastic roasting bag and seal it up well, outside the house. Then it should be safe to carry the sealed bag through the house and put the whole thing in the oven.
I feel like an email to mark rober is in order here…
As someone who has had to battle bed bugs I would encourage the OP to be super-duper careful.
Bed bugs are a nightmare to be rid of once they get in your place. I am not overstating that. To this day I have some minor PTSD from it (not kidding).
If you really want those books then cook them as others have suggested.
Yeah, thank you, I’m not sure what I was even thinking to ask this question. I understand how bad they are and how easily they are transmitted. We’ll see what we get, and if it’s anything but large stacks of cash, it’s probably staying outdoors and straight into the trash. If it IS large stacks of cash, I’ll get back to you on that oven temperature again.
I absolutely understand; I feel the same way.
To the OP, I’m so relieved to hear you are taking it seriously.
You could probably set up a fumigation chamber using dry ice. Please do not asphyxiate yourself. Do not put dry ice in a sealed container.
doi: 10.1603/ME12037