# BEDBUGS! I got 'em !!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259 "2004-02-20T20:21:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/1 "2004-02-20T20:21:16Z")
Yes folks my home is invaded by bedbugs. In fact I didn’t think they existed until last week. “Don’t let the bedbugs bite” was just a cute expression I thought. Of course when your girlfriends says “Either they go or I do” it doesn’t seem all that cute 🙂 So my problem is that for the past 8 days now I’ve been trying my hardest to be rid of the buggers. I stared with normal bug spray, and then bought stuff specially for them. I sprayed the walls, matress, wooden bed supports, every crack in my wooden floor…but they keep on coming back ! The last spray cost me 60? ($80?) but didn’t seem to do the job. Any ideas dopers? ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/2 "2004-02-20T20:25:14Z")
Sounds like it is time for an exterminator. They can get to the source of the problem. They can also kill the millions of eggs that have been laid. Do it now! ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/3 "2004-02-20T20:54:54Z")
Bedbugs will lay their eggs in all kinds of cracks and crevices near the bed. They can get into clothes and sheets, and they can live for a very long time without food. There’s lots of good places describing its life, and how you get them, on the web. I’ve not had them, but I’m pretty paranoid about it because one of the ways of bringing them into the house is from staying in a hotel room that has them, and I travel for work. Good luck, and don’t wait. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/4 "2004-02-20T21:11:45Z")
I recall reading somewhere that they get engorged while feeding at night. Do you have a good camera where you could take a picture of the? That would be so cool! (I recommend doing it while your sweetie is soundly snoozing). Sorry I can’t offer any help on the OP. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/5 "2004-02-20T21:22:53Z")
I pity you. You face huge hurdles. > **[Sleeping With the Enemy (Published 2003)](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/25/garden/sleeping-with-the-enemy.html)** > > National Pest Management Control Assn confirms that there has been national outbreak of bedbugs in last 18 months; experts recommend professional exerminator to combat problem; bedbug behavior and appearance noted; photos (M) > [@](#): > > But the bedbug problem is here — whether in hotels, dormitories or homes. “Every hotel in the city has some type of pest-control program in place,” said Gil Bloom, the president of the New York State Pest Management Association. “The problem is, it is a pest where there is no readily acceptable preventive treatment.” > > … > > Here’s another sobering fact: Raid won’t touch them. Many of the same compounds that work on fleas work on bedbugs. Experts recommend RID and other pyrethrins (made from chrysanthemums). Safest of all, $300 for a good exterminator. > > … > > Cimex lectularius, the common bedbug, is about a quarter of an inch long — but can grow larger — and hides during the day. It can live for months without a blood meal, hitchhike in a pants cuff, hide behind mattress buttons and run like the devil. (The significance of the latter: throw your mattress away, and they will bail out and hide in the baseboards and loose wallpaper, waiting for the new mattress to arrive.) > > … > > But spotting a couple of bedbugs doesn’t mean that it’s time to throw out mattresses. “They usually just need to be cleaned,” Mr. Bloom said. On the other hand, if you miss just one bedbug the problem starts all over. “It’s really just patience and diligence,” he said. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/6 "2004-02-20T22:52:58Z")
Not much to add or help you really, but I read an article not too long ago about bed bugs. The thing that was news to me is that after they gorge on you they often travel well away from your bed and go dormant in places like your stereo equipment, speakers, computer etc. That’s why they’re difficult to get rid of. Also, they seem to be on the increase partly because the economy sucks and the popularity of buying second hand goods is increasing. The more people buy other people’s used stuff well, do you think that’s how you may have gotten them? ---
**Author:** ![Never\_to\_be\_Queen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Never\_to\_be\_Queen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_to_be_Queen)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/7 "2004-02-20T23:44:23Z")
I’ve got em’ too. I asked about them earlier this week in GQ, [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=240339) ---
**Author:** ![BlackPheonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BlackPheonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackPheonix)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/8 "2004-02-21T00:16:07Z")
If it were me I’d hunt them down bug by bug or fumigate. You’re probably best calling an exterminator. ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/9 "2004-02-21T00:32:10Z")
If you’re gonna hunt them down ‘bug by bug’ then you’re gonna need an insider, a snitch, to rat out the bosses. We’re talking a major sting operation here. Sure, you can call the ‘exterminator’, but then he’s got a cut of the deal, see? How do you know he isn’t in on it and you’re the one getting pinched, see? Then you’ve got the outside bug bosses waiting to muscle in on the action. And the copper bugs, you gotta pay them off to turn the other way, see? I don’t think you realize what you’re getting into here, know what I mean? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/10 "2004-02-21T00:50:18Z")
Bedbugs are flightless, so, until the pest control folks can get in and spray, to prevent them from biting you: -launder your entire bedclothes -Isolate your bed from the floor - stand the legs of the bed in plastic buckets, then pour in a little soapy water - if you have a divan bed (or a wood framed one), this might be tricky, but maybe you could prop it up on bricks covered with horticultural grease, or double-sided sticky tape or something, or maybe you could place the bed on a square of lino and encircle it with a stripe of something sticky and uncrossable. -Ensure that your bedclothes don’t drape onto the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/11 "2004-02-21T00:52:22Z")
Are you in an apartment building? The reason your extermination efforts are failing is because it’s not only you who is infested…your neighbors are too! Buy some steel wool and stuff all “holes” in and out of your apartment (i.e., around pipes, radiators, and other openings). Only then can you successfully treat the bugs. Bedbugs are soft creatures - no exoskeleton. The steel wool rips them apart as they attempt to get into your apartment, so you can’t become reinfested. If you continue to be “bugged,” it means they’ve probably gotten into your boxspring where they will make their nest. You might have to replace your bedding. I remember before “boxsprings” when beds had open spring support that people used to spray the springs with some kind of acid - I don’t remember the what kind of acid though. You really had to be thorough too! I can’t see why the exterminator would not tell you about the steel wool. I guess right now you are a guaranteed repeat customer. The steel wool works. Get some today along with some masking tape to cover the unsightly stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-i-got-em/230259/12 "2004-02-23T10:57:40Z")
Thanks for the replies people. 🙂 These bugs sure are neasy aren’t they? My bed is a long way off the ground (2 meters) so I washed all bedcloths and covered the wodden legs with grease so they get stuck in climbing up to get me every night. Took the bed apart, board by board and sprayed every visable surface with very deadly bug-spray. And now it’s just time to pray… Seeing as I’m living in an apartment building I could spend all the moeny in the world getting rid of them only for the neighbours ones to track me down again so in 3 months I’m moving out of the place and moving in with my g/f instead 🙂