They had a thing on the news in Chicago today 10/29/10. They found bed begs at the Chicago Public School headquarters, Willis (Sears) Tower, Chase headquarter and on the CTA Subway.
I’m live in a low rent building so I’m just waiting to be invaded. I can still see my neighbors bringing in stuff from thrift stores (shudder!!!)
Bed bugs love wood, so avoid that. If you have a bed, get a metal frame. If you have a wood frame, get some bed bug protectors for the legs. You can check YouTube to see how to maket these cheaply at your house.
Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is the best prevention. If you get it, make sure you DO NOT get pool grade. This is not good for humans and is dangerous. You WANT the food grade DE.
I got a huge bag from ACE for only $10.00. If you have it delivered to the store and pick it up it’s free delivery.
DE works because it is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder.
It feels like talc and it’s pretty harmless. There is a lot of misinformation on the Internet about it, 'cause people confuse the food grade with the pool grade, which isn’t harmless.
DE works by having the insects crawl through it. It cuts their exoskeletons and they die.
It’s great because once you put it down, that’s it. You don’t have to touch it again, ever. It will work, unless it gets wet. It doesn’t work when it’s work.
The problem is you have to get the bed bugs to crawl through it. People want them dead not alive and crawling. DE also works on ALL insects and anything with an exoskeleton, so if you use it outside, it will kill good bugs like bees and butterflies and such.
You also want so puff a small power in cracks and baseboards, you can just your mattress with it (put a sheet over it). Don’t put clumps of it, just a fine dusting. You WANT the bugs to crawl through it.
Sprays like Bedlam work and leave a weeks worth of residual. If you use a spray you need to follow directions and you might want to alternate sprays.
Bed bugs are actually pretty easy to kill. A shot of rubbing alchohol will kill them. It’s the eggs that are the problem. If you kill the bugs the eggs will hatch.
Heat is the best weapon. As long as it’s above 120ºF (49ºC) will kill the bugs and their eggs. So a steamer (go slow over each area) or steam carpet cleaner will kill them.
Washing your clothes in hot water and putting them in a drier (over 120ºF) for an hour cycle will kill the bugs and their eggs too. An iron on hot will also kill any bugs in clothes, and dry cleaning kills them too.
Your best prevention would be DE. Put it down in every crack and every entry place the bugs may crawl.
As for mattress covers. They will seal the bugs in or out. I would definately buy one if you get a new mattress, it’s a cheap investment for a new mattress. Make sure you get the kind that are certified for bed bug prevention, as it has a special way of locking the zipper.
I see it becoming a real problem if they are riding the subways and buses in Chicago as anyone can pick them up and bring them home.
Remember bed bugs eat YOU, not food or anything else. Reducing clutter helps as they can’t hide. They can’t climb metal either, at least not very well, so a metal frame is good if you’re thinking of getting a new bed.
Vikane is a gas used to treat bed bugs and a whole bunch of other bugs like termites, if you need it. It’s very effective but you have to seal off the whole building.
You should NEVER use a fogger as it will just cause the bed bugs to run away, then instead of having them localized you get them all over the place.
On the plus side, bed bugs do not transmit disease. This has been one of the reasons why the problem isn’t getting the attention it should. Because they don’t transmit disease they are not a public health hazard, so they are low on the priority list.