Cimex lectularius -the Bed Bug and Its Elimination

Factual Questions
1

First, I don’t want rumors or hysteria, I want the FACTS:

  1. How you do eliminate bed bugs (outside of arson, we’ll rule that out from the start)

and

  1. How you do prevent getting them?
    For the first, I hear stories from being able to eliminate them by thorough cleaning to you have to throw out everything you own that isn’t metal or ceramic. I expect neither extreme is reality. Bed bugs don’t live in dirt, they seek warm blooded creatures to feast upon. So… you can wash your bed linens in hot water and dry them on high setting, right? But how would you get them off a wooden bed frame? Out of a carpet? Your furniture? Really, I don’t want hysteria, or horror stories, I want to know options. If you have something that can’t be boiled in water can you simply bag it in impermeable plastic for awhile (which may be a couple months) until the bastards starve? How do you de-bed-bug your pets?

Prevention: this is a big one for me. I need some new (to me at least) work clothes. I can not afford to purchase new blue jeans for work. The money simply does not exist. So the past few years I’ve been buying second-hand. No problems so far, but I keep hearing Dire Warnings about bed bugs and used stuff. What do I look for, how do I spot the bastards? Of course, I can wash the clothes thoroughly before using them, but how to store them in my car between purchase and laundry without infesting my car?
(Needless to say, if #2 happens I’ll need to know #1 - and it needed be second-hand clothes as bedbugs can infest all sorts of places. No, I can’t simply toss everything I own because the same problem would apply - no money. No money for an exterminator, no money to purchase furniture, clothes, bedding linen, etc.)

2

As I understand from Googleing, they do actually live in floorboard cracks, or wall cracks. They wait till nightfall, and come out. So some tips involve cleaning the walls, ceilings, and maybe even putting your bed posts in pans of water to keep them from climbing up.

You entire post gave me a bad case of tl;dr, sorry, but I just wanted to give you one fact that I did know.

I’ve never had a bed bug problem. I did once have a roach problem, so I bug bombed mom’s house, and the problem went away. Perhaps an exterminator can give you the help that you need.

[ETA]

OK, I read a bit more. You mentioned a shortage of cash, so exterminator is not an option. But bug bomb may be. Or other powders you can spread in cracks to make life difficult for arthropods. And Google for general tips. The local news may be a useful resource. It was NYC’s local news that told me where the bugs hide – not just fabric seams, but wall ceiling and floor cracks.

3

Uh… just to clarify - I do not have an infestation at this time. No bugs in the bed. I am seeking information just in case such a thing occurs.

4

No one should need to gut their house because of a bedbug infestation. Washing your sheets regularly and putting your mattress in one of those impermeable bags should help a lot with prevention. What I’ve done in the past to get rid of roaches and fleas is to spread borax into the carpet. It works into their joints and dries them out. Diatomaceous earth does something similar, it cuts them up internally.

If you’re worried about bedbugs in second-hand clothes, just wash them in hot water before wearing and keep them in the plastic bag from the store you bought them from.

5

Interesting … in my case, twice I’ve lived in an apartment buildings which had sudden out breaks. Once, two floors above me, and then, two doors away on the same floor. Nothing happened to me, and I live like a slob. Bug killing powder (of the sort EviltoJ: mentioned), swept into floor board cracks or sprinkled on rugs, then vacuumed up, seem to hold bugs of all sorts at bay.

6

I worry about it as I see mattresses being tossed from my building a lot and I know that most of the tenants are on the poor side, so they probably shop at thrift stores.

So I have taken as much preventative measures as possible and hopefully I will be safe. LOL

Bed bugs aren’t really the problem so much as the eggs. A simply 1 part rubbing alcohol, 1 part water solution in a spray bottle will kill a bed bug. But it WON’T kill the eggs. That is where DDT was so effective. It took care of the eggs too. Plus it had residual.

There are bed bug sprays that are effective, the trick is to use different kinds.

Heat is the major way to fight the eggs. Over 120º (49ºC) is the least amount of heat to kill the eggs. A wash in hot water and an hour dry on high will kill the bed bug eggs out of your clothes.

NEVER use bombs. That won’t work at all. Bed bugs can simply hide. It just drives them into the walls where it’s safe and they come back out.

Bed bugs love wood, so a metal frame is better. Most metal frames are too hard for bed bugs to climb up on.

Diatomaceous earth (DE) is the best preventative. It feels like fine talc to humans, but it actually is siliceous sedimentary rock and it cuts the bed bugs exoskeleton as they crawl over it. Then they die.

VERY IMPORTANT.

There are two kinds of DE. Food grade is perfectly safe. This is what you want.** POOL GRADE DE IS NOT SAFE**. When you use DE make sure to dust it. You don’t need a lot. The idea is for the bed bug to crawl over it. If you put it in a lump they just move around it. DE also works for anything with an exoskeleton. So it’s good for roaches, ants, and such. It works outdoors as well, but DE will not work once it’s wet.

So you can apply it and leave it for as long as you want, so long as it stays dry it’s fine.

If you want to prevent bed bugs and roaches just sprinkle it it places where you think bed bugs (or other bugs) will crawl through it.

For mattresses, make sure you buy covers that are certified bed bug proof. Be careful with rips in mattress covers. You can put DE on your mattress and then put a sheet over the DE. Put DE over mattress slats and anyplace else that has wood.

You can use an iron or steamer to take care of bed bug eggs in carpet or on mattress tops, though if bugs are living deep in the mattress the heat won’t penetrate enough.

Bed bugs usually live within 10 feet of their food source which is people. That is why if you suspect an outbreak don’t move sleeping quarters as they seek you out.

Bed bugs use carbon dioxide you breathe out to find you. You can use dry ice to build a simple bed bug detector, (see YouTube videos for construction of one). So if you move sleeping quarters they are likely to just follow you.

I would avoid buying any kind of upholstered furniture from second hand stores, but as other posters said, clothing is safe but wash it and dry it first. Dry cleaning also kills bed bugs and their eggs.

Remember about a third of people do NOT react to bed bug bites, so it’s possible to have them and not know it.

Bed bugs have been found in movie theatres, in subways, on buses, in public libraries so it’s easy to get them. Like lice, they are born to hitchhike

I’m crossing my fingers I don’t get them, but I’m sure one day I’ll be posing here, “Help I got bit by a bed bug” <knock wood against that>

BTW Borax (Or boric acid) does not kill bed bugs. It is very effective against roaches though. Bed bugs don’t have the sticky pads on their feet like roaches, that is why it has minimal effect on them

7

As mentioned above, temps above 120F for a short while kills them. Freezing for a week will also do the job.

8

Broomstick - so you don’t have an infestation? You are just worried about getting one? Well, there is nothing like being prepared! :slight_smile:

Hereis a search I did on NPR about a story I heard sometime in the last few months, I think it is the first or second one in the list, but I don’t have time to look at it right now. Anyway, check out what NPR has to say and LOTS of info on how to get rid of them and prevent them.

Some surprising things I found out are that they can live in Wall Sockets, Coffee Makers, Tub Drains, behind artwork, and they only come out at night.

9

Actually bed bugs prefer night but they’ll come out in daylight if they get hungry enough. And for freezing, it does work but it’s very difficult to do, because even in zero degree temps it’s very easy for bugs to find small cubby holes to hide where the temperatures are just fine for them. Heat is much better.

Also storage spaces are a major problem. Bed bugs but even more so, roaches and ants infect storage areas.

10

Yeah, well, I need new work clothes, they’re known to occur in second hand items, and no question prevention is a heck of a lot cheaper than treatment. My area hasn’t been slammed nearly as bad as, say, New York but these days they’re everywhere.