I’m on the second floor of a duplex. The first floor has not seen any signs. In fact, they wouldn’t even let the exterminator in on his second visit because they didn’t like the smell of what he sprayed and they don’t think they have a bug problem. Their place is always very neat and clean and uncluttered so they probably would notice any bugs.
This duplex is part of a double. The other half is identical (actually a mirror image) and also has an upstairs and a downstairs apartment. It’s owned by a different landlord and I have no idea if they’re infested or not but I haven’t seen any bedding being thrown out or aired.
I have not seen a single bug since the three I killed after encasing the mattress, so I’m not sure of how to proceed at this point.
I’m a little leery about calling the landlord again because he’s liable to think a recurrence indicates that I’m at fault in some way and I don’t want to get thrown out (I don’t have a lease at this point). I’m thinking of moving anyway but I want to have some time to search for a new place and not be rushed into a decision.
Well cleanliness has nothing to do with it. They eat you not food, but they can hide in clutter.
Could you be picking them up somewhere and bringing them back? Like on a sofa or chair from somewhere else? About a third of all people don’t have reactions to bed bug bites, so it’s possible to have them and not notice.
My understanding why little is done because they do not spread disease. So while they make you itch, you can’t catch anything from then, unlike mosquitoes which can spread various illnesses.
Fortunately they don’t spread illness, but I do have a bad reaction to them. For some reason they like my ankles. Either that or that’s the only place that I react.
I could be picking them up elsewhere. Where I work, we have people from our other offices coming here and staying in local hotels while they’re here. They could be unwittingly bringing them into the office.
I’m thinking of getting rid of my carpets, where they could be hiding, and just going with the hardwood floors. That and doing some de-cluttering may help.
I was in NY for awhile and everyone talks of bed bugs there. Seems everyone has a story. I have heard steam kills them and the eggs. A good steam cleaner will kill them and a shark hand steamer will help.
The real problem as my NY friends say, is the eggs not the bugs which can be killed with an equal part of rubbing alcohol to equal part water spray.
That will stop the bugs not the eggs.
DE also is supposed to work well. It works when they walk over it and it scrapes the exoskeleton and kills them. The problem is it isn’t an instant kill. I’ve used DE on roaches and it works but takes time. DE kills any bugs and doesn’t work once it’s wet
Maybe steaming the mattress once a week would work? I wonder if the DE would work on carpets. It seems like they must be in the carpets and getting picked up either by me or by items that touch the floor then the mattress.
I’ve seen and killed two (both at the same time) since my last post on this thread. They were on the futon. My futon (which is currently my sole piece of furniture other than my kitchen set) and my pillows all have “bedbug proof” covers and the futon has metal legs so I’m guessing the eggs were in the carpet or walls or something and when they hatched the bugs somehow got on me and then onto the futon. Other than those I haven’t seen anything. I haven’t had any welts.
I’ve only seen two more (now dead) about six feet apart at the top of my wall. It’s rather chilly in there, which is probably keeping them from getting better organized.
Lute do you live in an apartment? If so maybe your neighbors bring them in. I would look for new tenants with second hand upholstered furniture. That or check where you work. I am now all itchy…
Can’t hurt to sprinkle some diatomacious earth around, just to make sure. Mattress covers specifically for BB’s are also invaluable, and cheaper than replacing mattresses.