Question by Jim:
We have bed bugs… How do we get rid of them without hurting the kids or the dogs?
My girlfriend found dead bed bugs after we had been getting bitten at night. She vacuumed, washed the bedding in hot water, dryed bedding in hot dryer, and sprayed isopropyl alcohol on everything in the bedroom. It seemed as if they were gone and then POOF 5 months later here they are again. What can be used to kill them without hurting the dogs or the kids???? Are there any ONE TIME USE products out there?
Best answer:
Answer by leslie S
She did good but there is no one time thing that will stop them. They will hatch much later, they only travel through humans and lay almost dormant until a human comes into contact with them.
They are not more prevalent or travel well with dirty stuff but hot water, chlorine bleach ect. do get them off the bedding/clothes.
A pyrethrin based spray, available at a local exterminator supply store, is OK for animals and kids when used correctly. has to reapply at least twice in 6 week intervals.
The US virtually wiped out bed bugs over 10 years ago but a new strain has traveled here in the last 3 years.
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The problem is she didn’t kill all of them- you only need a small number to survive and breed. Hoovering will also bring them to the surface.
You will need to get a bed bug exterminator although I don’t know if this will cost more than a new materess. There aren’t any products that I know of but I am sure there is a vareity of harmless methods they use if you do some research.
Prevent bed bugs in the future by airing the bed regularly, washing the linen weekly, flipping over the matress and keeping outdoor clothes and shoes off the bed.
Hope that helps
They can stay dormant for a year without contact with any person or animal. Sprays do not seem to work here in NY because the type in NY is getting immune and NO sprays are safe. If they kill these bugs, we do not need the residue or need to breathe that stuff in.
Freezing them will do it. But our pets do not do well frozen, neither do our plumbing. People has washed their clothes, with bleach, and they still move on the clothes when putting in dryer. Heat will kill them, so hanging rugs, blankets, clothes outside will get them out of the seams, etc.
They hid under and in blankets, sofas, chairs. Also they hid in magazines, books and in our shoes. They run fast, and try to leave their victims for the day and return at night.
One good way is to clean everything and then seal mattress, pillows and blankets in another duvet. Use double stick tape around all legs, bed, chairs, sofa. You can put bowls of oil and set your bed legs in it to catch more.
Steam cleaning does wonders, and using steam cleaning of sealed wood floors is good, also do all your closets, inside heating ducts, behind pictures.
Worse come to worse, call a pest control. They can use frozen carbon dioxide to freeze them out instantly behind doors, closets, under sideboards, etc.
Hard to get rid of and you can bring them home anytime. So make sure you check your street clothes. Also, change shoes. Pack and seal anything you are not using to check over time to get rid of small clusters you might have missed.
Good luck.
There are some sprays that do work and are safe to use around kids and pets etc.
The one that comes to mind is called BedBug Terminator which is made by a company called Kleen-Free. The spray is non-toxic.
I am not sure if it is in stores or you just buy it online. I do feel for you as bedbugs are hard to get rid of.
Using alcohol is not going to work, unless you spray it directly on a bed bug. So are any other kinds of spray killers. Alcohol evaporates quickly.
Only way to kill the existing bed bugs is to put the heat over 120 degrees. So your GF is doing great washing bedding with hot water and applying the hot air on the beddings.
Now you need to put something to protect you guys from incoming bed bugs. When we had a bad bed bug infestation, we used Bed Bug Powder. It is natural powder and is safe to kids and animals. We don’t have a kid, but a cat. He always stays in the bed room where we put Bed Bug Powder all over, and he is doing great!
Just put a little dust amount of the powder on the mattress and pillows before you put the sheet back on, and on the carpet floor.
The site says to repeat applying the powder until bed bugs are gone, but actually we did only once, and it worked great!
Good luck!